Butternut Squash & Sausage Tagine

A few weeks ago I bought my very first Tagine. I've wanted one for a while but never actually got around to buying one. I found a a glossy red one in Dunelm which now sits nicely on my windowsill (as it won't fit into any of my cupboards!). 

We all love the Moroccan flavours in dishes that I've cooked previously (Moroccan Meatballs & Moroccan Lamb are two of them) so I decided to use up some sausages and throw everything into the Tagine and cook in the oven for a couple of hours, and it turned out perfectly, with clean plates all round!

 

Butternut Squash & Sausage Tagine - serves 4/5

12 good quality sausages (I used apple & herb)
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 butternut squash, peeled & chopped
1 Bramley apple, peeled, cored & chopped
1 400g can of chickpeas, drained
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 lemon, sliced into wedges
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
500g passata
fresh coriander

• Heat a frying pan and fry the sausages to brown them
• Add the sausages to a large tagine, followed by all of the other ingredients apart from the fresh coriander
• Give everything a quick stir to combine and distribute evenly
• Place the tagine lid on and place in a preheated 150C oven for 2 hours
• Serve on a bed of cous cous and scatter fresh coriander over

Weight Watchers Filling & Healthy : this recipe is suitable for filling & healthy (just point the sausages or replace with lean chicken)

Moroccan Lamb and Rhubarb with Lemon & Coriander Cous Cous

After failing to get my hands on any rhubarb via my allotment friends I resorted to the supermarket - £2 for 3 skinny sticks of rhubarb is outrageous! However, after my eldest went to his best friend's house for a sleepover at the weekend he returned with tales of rhubarb and apple crumbles (it's all about the food with him), "erm rhubarb you say? they have rhubarb growing in their garden?", "yep, loads of it". I considered donning a balaclava under the cover of darkness & scaling the fence (or 2) that divided our house from the best friend's to get my hands on the much sought after rhubarb, but instead opted for the safer option of sending my son around armed with a bagful of spiced lemon cookies as a trade.

Low and behold, the next day appeared a big bag of fresh & tasty rhubarb

Time to get on and rustle up the next for entry into the Swallow Charity Recipes For Life Challenge for May, which you can read more about here.

I have no idea if they even grow rhubarb in Morocco but I figured that the cinnamon and dried fruit made this dish Moroccan even if the rhubarb didn't. The rhubarb creates a really rich tangy sauce which I think would be great in a chilli too.  There's not much to this recipe, just a case of throwing the ingredients in & leaving it to do it's thing.

 

Moroccan Lamb and Rhubarb - serves 3/4

3 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp cumin
1 tbsp plain flour
2 lamb leg steaks, diced
Tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 tsp chilli flakes

180g rhubarb

1 tbsp sugar

400g Can of tomatoes

100ml water or stock

50g dried Apricots, chopped
50g juicy raisins

Lemon & Coriander Cous Cous


200g dried cous cous
grated zest of 1 lemon
Handful coriander, chopped
250ml boiling water

• Mix the cinnamon, coriander and cumin with the flour
• Toss the lamb into the flour & spices & coat well
• Heat the oil in a heavy based lidded pan 
• Add the garlic & chilli & fry for 2 mins
• Add lamb & flour and fry for 5 mins until browned on all sides
• Add rhubarb & sugar & cook for 2 mins 
• Add tomatoes and water (or stock)
• Stir, place lid on & simmer for 30 mins stirring occasionally
• Stir in the apricots and raisins, place the lid on & cook for a further 15 minutes, until the lamb is tender
• Add the cous cous to a bowl
• Add the lemon zest & coriander
• Pour over the boiling water and stir
• Place a lid or plate over the bowl and leave for 5 minutes
• Fluff up with a fork and serve

Garnish with sliced or ground almonds & fresh coriander (optional)