Cooked for 8 hours in the Crockpot this lamb tagine is the ultimate in healthy comfort food. Melt in the mouth lamb, sweet, a little sticky round in the edges, in the best way possible, with a beautiful crunch from the toasted almonds. Savoury heaven in a bowl.
Ok so the cooker part still hasn’t arrived…it could be another week before it does. I shall not go on about it anymore…I only mentioned it because it’s driving me mad to explain why I’m now the proud owner of a ginormous Crockpot.When the oven broke the day after Christmas I went straight around and bought one. I was having friends over that evening and had plans to make slow cooked beef.
To make a long story WAY shorter my first Crockpot meal was a disaster. I bought the wrong cut of meat with not much available to me and it ended up like leather. The second however was a MIGHTY success!!! I’m a MASSIVE lamb fan. Lamb shoulder is by far my favourite cut…slow cooked to perfection it pretty much melts like butter in the mouth. As irresistible as a chocolate!
I made this last week before I decided to give up sugar for January/go Whole 30! That said it’s Whole 30 compliant, just not sugar free with the addition of the prunes. Sugar in savoury dishes I’m letting slide once it’s from a fruit! For me it’s more about changing my evening sweet snacking habit/reliance and optimising my nutrition at every opportunity.
So far so good…and with savoury meals like this at my finger tips it’s by no means a hardship cutting out my sweet treats in one fell swoop. In to the Crockpot before bed, read to devour upon waking! Though I did choose to hold off until after my workout! I removed the sauce and thickened it but a day later and I reckon the sauce would be the perfect consistency having sat in the fridge overnight should you choose to hold on to leftovers (details in the recipe below).
Don’t laugh..I ate the whole thing myself over the course of three days. Absolutely divine! I was pretty damn sad when it was all gone! The first batch with a side of plain and simple cauliflower rice, but I went with eggs and greens round two, a just a big badass bowl of it straight from the fridge a couple of times; me and my cold food love will never die. What wowed me even more was how beautifully tender the meat stayed even once chilled. I had expected it to toughen up a little but not one bit, just as delicate, and incredibly moreish!
I’ve been incredibly slow about getting back in to recipe creating since Christmas. This week was all about getting back in to the swing of normal workday and workout routine but I’m brimming with ideas and ready to get cracking.
This whole slow cooker thing could definitely catch on I must say. Cooking while you sleep…doesn’t really get much more hands off!
What’s your favourite Crockpot recipe? Link me up to a recipe if there’s one on your own blog or online!
Lamb Prune Almond Crockpot Tagine
by Michelle Hunt
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours!
Keywords: slow-cooker entree soup/stew gluten-free grain free paleo soy-free almonds lamb prune
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Ingredients (Serves 4 – 6)
2.5lbs (1.2kg) lamb shoulder meat diced in to large bigger than bitesize chunks
1 medium white onion thinly sliced
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp ghee (or 1 more tbsp coconut oil)
3 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1 tsp – 1.5 tsp Himilayan Rock Salt to taste
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 cups (500ml) water (the lamb should be covered….add up to 250ml more if necessary!)
1 cup (125g) prunes
3/4 cup (90g) whole raw almonds
2 tbsp (30g) raw honey
optional 1 tbsp tapioca flour to thicken the sauce
Instructions
Preheat Crockpot while you prepare the ingredients. Set it to low.
Melt 1 tbsp of coconut oil in the pan. Brown chunks of lamb on all sides (I did it in two batches so as not to overcrowd the pan)…3-4 minutes per batch and set to one side.
Melt ghee in a pan over a medium heat. Add onions and cook for 10-15 minutes until lightly caramalised – deglaze the pan with water as it gets dry and scrape up any brown bits from the pan. Set to one side.
Mix together water, cumin, ginger, coriander, the cinnamon stick, honey salt and pepper and place in to the Crockpot. Add the meat and onions, place the lid on top and leave to cook for 7 hours.
Remove lid and mix in the prunes and continue to cook for 1 more hour.
Add remaining tbsp of coconut oil to a pan. Toss almonds in oil and cook for 2-3 minutes. Stir through tagine before serving; though it’s perfectly fine to leave them in their if you plan on keeping it warm or even reheating it later! Season tagine to taste.
Serve with cauliflower rice if desired. Naturally sweet, fragrant, melt in the mouth belly loving deliciousness!
Optional – strain sauce from the tagine. Whisk tapioca flour (or arrowroot flour/powder with 2 tbsp water). Add sauce to a pot over a medium heat, bring to the boil, whisk in tapioca flour or arrowroot and leave to simmer for 3-4 minutes until thickened. Return to Crockpot to serve! If not serving this within a couple of hours its best to leave the sauce as it is.
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