Lamb and Apricot Tagine

It's a clay casserole dish with a flat bottom and lid shaped like a pointed dome. This shape helps to keep the food inside nice and moist. The idea is that as the steam forms, it drips down the pot from the top down the sides – think of the roof of a house when it rains.

At the top of the lid, you'll notice a slight indent. This is where you add cold water. The water helps to create steam on the inside, which further helps to keep the ingredients moist.

That's why you don't need much water to cook food; the meat still comes out tender.

Tagines have a heavy bottom and are traditionally used for cooking on an open flame or over hot coals. Modern tagines are used for cooking in an oven or on a stove.

They were first used in North Africa over 1,000 years ago and are even mentioned in the 9th century One Thousand and One Nights.

Some highly rated tagines in various sizes are available on Amazon, such as the Le Creuset and Emile Henry.

However, due to the quantities I cooked with this time, I opted for the largest pot in the house, my beloved 12.4 liter Le Creuset pot. You can also use a large pot and need to add a little more water than you would in a tagine.

The first rule of thumb is that the meat should be grass-fed, not grain-fed. Grass-fed lamb is free from antibiotics or hormones, which are often added to corn-fed lamb.

Secondly, although you can turn this recipe into a low-fat one, reducing the amount of oil used and using lean cuts would be better, and the meat will come out on the dry side, no matter how long you cook it.

So you're ideally looking for marbled, stewing steak, such as lamb loin, neck fillet, and off-cuts. You can even use lamb shanks! The shanks will need a longer cooking time, about 4-5 hours. The shoulder would work, too.

The typical spice mix into lamb tagine includes coriander, cumin, cinnamon, and sometimes spices like paprika and even star anise.

Traditional tagine recipes don't call for the meat to be browned beforehand. Instead, the typical way of cooking a lamb tagine is to place the meat straight into the pot and add the other ingredients as it cooks.

However, I like to twist classic recipes, and for me, searing the lamb first brings extra flavor to the meat itself and the sauce.

It can be time-consuming, but you do need to chop the vegetables up for this recipe.

If you regularly practise batch cooking, buying a food processor is a smart investment to save you from crying. My trusty Magimix 3200 and its special accessories have never let me down.

Grate the onions and ginger. If you don't have a food processor, chop the onion and grate the ginger by hand.

About an hour to two hours. This recipe calls for low and slow cooking so that it will have a cooking time of around two hours.

Rich meats and fragrant spices characterize these cuisines.

If you're a fan of Middle Eastern cuisines, you'll love cookbooks like The Jewelled Kitchen and Comptoir Libanais. The former was written by blogger friend Bethany Kehdy, who runs Dirty Kitchen Secrets.

The book features enticing Lebanese, Moroccan, and Persian recipes and beautiful photography. Bethany also runs guided tours called Taste Lebanon.

Comptoir Libanais is an affordable restaurant specialising in Lebanese and Middle Eastern cooking. Discover the restaurant's secret recipes that keep their fans returning for more.

This pot of food feeds 16 people, so it's ideal for lunch on a Sunday for a big family gathering. Otherwise, if you're like me, a tad lazy and like to do batch cooking, freeze the tagine into individual-sized portions.

Leftovers stay good in the fridge for about three days. Store them in an airtight container after allowing them to cool completely. You could also freeze lamb tagine leftovers. Again, place them in an airtight container after letting them cool completely.

It reheats great in the microwave, on the stove, and covered in the oven. Reheat until piping hot.