- 1 red onion
- 1 carrot
- 1 sweet potato
- 1 garlic clove
- A thumb of turmeric
- 1 chicken stock cube
- 250g diced lamb
- ½ tsp harissa
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 150g pearl barley
- 1 bergamot lemon
- A handful of flat leaf parsley, leaves only
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 600ml boiling water
- Peel Set aside.
- 1.
Heat a large pan for 1 min. Add 1 tbsp olive oil and the lamb. Cook for 5 mins, stirring a few times, till browned all over.
- 2.
While the lamb cooks, peel and thickly slice the onion. Transfer the lamb to a bowl using a slotted spoon. Add the onion to the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5 mins till just softened, stirring a few times.
- 3.
While the onion cooks, trim and peel the carrot and thickly dice it. Peel and thickly dice the sweet potato. Peel and grate or crush the garlic and the turmeric (do this onto a plate as the turmeric may stain). Crumble the stock cube into a heatproof jug. Pour in 600ml boiling water. Stir to dissolve.
- 4.
Return the lamb to the pan along with any resting juices. Add in the carrot and sweet potato. Add the turmeric, garlic, ½ tsp harissa (it’s quite hot, so using a little now means you can add extra at the end if you want) and 1 tsp cinnamon.
- 5.
Pour in the chicken stock. Tip in the pearl barley and stir everything together. Cover and cook over a medium heat for 45 mins till the pearl barley and lamb are tender. Stir every 10 mins or so. If it gets too dry, add a little more water.
- 6.
While the tagine is cooking, cut the bergamot lemon into wedges. Squeeze the juice from 2 of the wedges into the tagine.
- 7.
Taste the tagine and add more salt, pepper or harissa if you think it needs it. Serve in warm bowls, scattered with parsley leaves and with bergamot lemon wedges for squeezing.
- Tip
Chilli cool
The harissa spice mix we’ve sent you is a traditional Tunisian blend of chilli, caraway, cumin, coriander, paprika and garlic. It’s pretty fiery, and is great used in marinades for chicken, steaks and fish, or stirred into mayo for dunking chips. - Tip
Bergawho?
Bergamot lemons are a real seasonal treat. Also called Limonette de Marrakech or Lemon Beldi, they only grow in Marrakech, Morocco. The trees flower once a year, from December till February (the usual lemon tree has 4 flowerings a year and 3 to 4 crops). Fragrant and floral, they add a fresh flavour to this tagine. Store your bergamot lemon in your fridge till you're ready to cook with it.