Beef tagine

By Jamie Oliver

A beef tagine is a strew with attitude, Jamie's beef tagine recipe is all about the spices and slow cooking, giving all the flavours time to develop

Ingredients

• 600g stewing beef
• 1 onion
• ½ a bunch of fresh coriander
• olive oil
• 1 x 400g tin of chickpeas
• 1 x 400g tin of plum tomatoes
• 800ml organic vegetable stock
• 800g butternut squash
• 100g prunes
• 2 tablespoons flaked almonds
• SPICE RUB
• 1 level tablespoon ras el hanout spice mix (see tip)
• 1 level tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 level tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 level tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 level tablespoon sweet paprika

Instructions

1. 1

   Mix all the spice rub ingredients together in a small bowl with a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper.

2. 2

   Put the beef into a large bowl, massage it with the spice rub, then cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge for a couple of hours, preferably overnight.

3. 3

   When you’re ready to cook, peel and finely chop the onion, and pick the coriander leaves, finely chopping the stalks.

4. 4

   Heat a generous lug of oil in a tagine or casserole pan over a medium heat, add the meat and fry for 5 minutes to seal. Add the onion and coriander stalks and fry for a further 5 minutes.

5. 5

   Drain and tip in the chickpeas, followed by the tomatoes, breaking them up with a spoon, then pour in 400ml of stock and stir well. Bring to the boil, then cover and reduce to a low heat for 1½ hours.

6. 6

   Meanwhile, deseed and chop the squash into 5cm chunks, then destone and roughly tear the prunes. Toast the almonds in a dry frying pan until lightly golden, then tip into a bowl.

7. 7

   When the time's up, add the squash, prunes and remaining stock. Give everything a gentle stir, then pop the lid back on and continue cooking for another 1½ hours. Keep an eye on it, adding splashes of water, if needed.

8. 8

   At this stage, remove the lid and check the consistency. If it seems a bit too runny, simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, more with the lid off – the beef should be really tender and flaking apart now, so have a taste and season to taste.

9. 9

   Scatter the coriander leaves over the tagine along with the toasted almonds. Serve with a big bowl of lightly seasoned couscous and dive in.