My lamb kefta & egg tagine recipe is inspired by a dish from Moroccan chef Hassan M’Souli that I had at his Manly restaurant Out of Africa. I love eggs and I love the way this dish looks with them cooking in the sauce as it arrives at the table. A mainstay of Moroccan cooking, tagines are both a finished dish and the cooking vessel in which the food is prepared and served; you could use a large frying pan with lid as an alternative. While couscous or flatbread is traditional, I like to serve this with steamed basmati rice, and lots of yoghurt and harissa (Moroccan chilli paste) on the side, plus a glass or two of Tahbilk Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre – I find the spice and fruit in this wine work wonderfully with the tagine’s flavours.
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 450g lamb mince
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 red onion, cut into large dice
- 1 red capsicum, cut into large dice
- Salt flakes, to taste
- 400g Italian canned tomatoes, chopped
- ½ cup water
- 1 preserved lemon, rinsed, skin only finely sliced
- 10 large green olives, flesh sliced into thin strips
- 4 eggs
- Steamed basmati rice or instant couscous,
for serving
Chermoula
- 1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
- ½ cup coriander leaves
- 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- ½ tablespoon sweet smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt flakes
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoons lemon juice
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
Method
- Make Chermoula: combine all Ingredients in a food processor to form a smooth paste. Set aside.
- Mix 2 tablespoons of the Chermoula into the mince and form 12 meatballs. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a tagine or large frying pan over a medium heat. Add onion, capsicum and salt, cover and cook for 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly coloured.
- Remove from pan and set aside, leaving as much oil as possible in the pan.
- Add meatballs and cook for about 5 minutes, turning them to colour on all sides. Remove from pan and set aside, leaving as much oil as possible in the pan.
- Return onion mixture to the pan, stir in tomato, water and remaining Chermoula and bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir preserved lemon and olives into the sauce and return meatballs to the pan.
- Turn to coat in sauce, cover and simmer for 5 minutes, checking occasionally to ensure they aren’t sticking and adding a tablespoon of water at a time if it starts to get too dry.
- Arrange meatballs to create 4 separate ‘compartments’ and break an egg into each one. Spoon sauce over to submerge them as much as possible, increase heat to medium-high, cover and cook for 3-5 minutes, until eggs are just set.
- Serve with rice or couscous.
