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Butternut squash tagine with lamb meatballs
- Prep time:
- 20 mins
- Cook time:
- 45 mins
- Serves:
- 4-6
Big Moroccan flavours bring Paul Merrett’s recipe to life, with a classic combination of lamb, mint and dried apricots
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Ingredients
For the meatballs
- 500g minced lamb
- 20 mint leaves, finely chopped
- 3 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
For the tagine
- about 200ml Olive oil
- 1 red onion, diced
- 1 yellow pepper, seeds removed, cut into 3cm squares
- 1 red pepper, seeds removed, cut into 3cm squares
- 1 Butternut squash, peeled and roughly cut into 3cm cubes
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds
- 1 tsp Fennel seeds
- 1 tsp ground Coriander
- 1 pinch dried red chilli flakes
- ½ tsp smoked Paprika
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 x 400g cans chopped plum tomatoes
- 400g can Chickpeas, drained
- 20 green olives
- 100g Dried apricots
To serve
- steamed Couscous
- chopped coriander leaves
Method
1. For the meatballs: mix the minced lamb, mint and garlic together in a bowl until well combined. With damp hands, pinch off small pieces of the mixture and roll into bite-sized balls. Place on a tray, cover with cling film and chill until needed.2. For the tagine: heat a little of the oil in a large casserole and fry the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes, or until softened but not coloured. Add the peppers and fry for a further 2-3 minutes, or until softened.
3. In a separate pan, fry the butternut squash in some more oil for 3-4 minutes, or until lightly browned all over. Transfer the squash to the casserole, then add all the spices and stir well to coat evenly.
4. Tip the tomatoes and chickpeas into the casserole and add a few splashes of water to loosen the mixture.
5. Meanwhile, in the pan used to cook the butternut squash, fry the meatballs for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown all over. Drop the meatballs into the casserole, stir well and cook over a medium-low heat for 15 minutes.
6. Add the olives and apricots and cook for a further 15 minutes, or until the apricots are tender. Serve with couscous (cooked according to the packet instructions) and a sprinkling of fresh coriander.
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Latest Comment
View all comments (6)Sorry about that Caron, I have checked Paul's original recipe and he uses a whole butternut. I have amended it now.
Ps The butternut squash is missing from the recipe! I used 3/4 of a large one.
My whole family really enjoyed this, including our 2 young foster kids. Although the recipe just says 'olives', on the show it was advised to use whole olives. I would use pitted olives next time as the kids found it a worry having the stones in. Also I substituted ground cumin and cinnamon as thats what I had in the cupboard. We will bre having it again this week for 3 reasons: 1) It was fab! 2) I have half pot each of fresh coriander and mint to use up. 3) I managed to get 2 packs of lamb mince half price and froze one!
KathaA and Helen if you look at Silvano's recipe of chicken and squash tagine she has used one butternut squash I am sure it will be the same for Paul's good luck it looks great.
Help Ive got everything ready to cook this dish tonight and have just found out NO amount for the squash thabks
HOW MUCH BUTTERNUT SQUASH DO I NEED? THERE IS NO MENTION OF IT IN THE RECIPE