Lamb marries well with the gentle sweet flavours of orange, dried fruit and spices such as ginger, paprika and cinnamon. I especially like parsnips in winter and they have made a wonderful addition to this tagine. Accompany with some winter greens like beans or broccoli.

Ingredients

• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 tblsp oil
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp each ground ginger, paprika, pepper and salt.
• 1 boned leg New Zealand Quality Mark lamb (see Cook’s Tips)
• 2 oranges
• 3-4 medium sized parsnips, peeled
• 2 red onions, peeled and finely chopped
• ½ cup currants
• ½ tsp saffron
• ½ cinnamon stick
• 1 cup chicken or vegetable stock

To Garnish

• 100 grams (about 1 cup) toasted blanched almonds
• chopped fresh parsley

Method

1. In a small blender or processor put the garlic, oil, cumin, ginger, paprika, pepper and salt and process to a paste. Alternatively mash ingredients to a paste in a pestle and mortar.
2. Trim fat from lamb. Cut the meat into 3cm pieces and place in a bowl. Toss with the garlic paste and leave refrigerated for one hour, or up to 4 hours.
3. Grate the rind from the oranges then cut away the bitter white pith. Segment or dice the flesh and set aside. Cut the parsnips into even thick chunks.
4. Place the marinated lamb in a large casserole (see note). On top put the orange rind, parsnips, onions, currants, saffron and cinnamon stick. Pour over the stock.
5. Cover and simmer at 180ºC for 1½ hours until the meat is tender. Serve the casserole garnished with the orange segments and almonds.

Cooks Tips

- I used a full leg of lamb and had the butcher bone it for me to save time. If you are buying meat at the supermarket, do ask the butchers there as they are usually happy to help. - I prefer to brown the lamb before placing it into the casserole. This is generally not done with traditional tagines.