tagine

I have posted previously the recipe I tested for morrocan lamb - I made it in a pot but at Christmas my lovely sister gave me a beautiful tagine dish. Not only does this mean my New Year's Eve dinner could be made in a proper dish - the dish itself is black and aubergine in colour - perfect for the new kitchen!

I was trying to cut down on time in the kitchen over new year so I made up the morrocan lamb dish up until the point you add the chickpeas. I then froze it. I defrosted it overnight and then popped it in the tagine with the chickpeas and followed the instructions to slowly heat the dish in the oven. This worked very well - even though I am sure some will frown upon it - and I added the fresh herbs and toasted pine and pistachio nuts just before serving. This meant that on the day the preparation was only about an hour giving me more time to drink wine and chat to Andy and Calum.

It was great to be able to serve it directly at the table and you could keep the lid on to keep it all warm for serving seconds. Also, taking the lid of to reveal the dark tasty sauce and meat, with the bright green flashes of parsley and coriander topped of with the crunchy nuts was a good 'reveal' - food deserves to have a bit of the spotlight.