Lamb Tagine w/ Chickpeas & Apricots

This is my favorite Moroccan dish--"tagine" being the name of the cone-shaped ceramic vessel that it's traditionally cooked in. It can be prepped quick in a dutch oven and then slow cooked.

Ingredients

• 2 cans of chickpeas
• 2 tsp grapeseed/olive oil
• 1 lb ground lamb (or chunks)
• Several carrots
• 1 tsp salt (divided)
• black pepper
• 1 small onion
• 3½ cup beef/chicken broth
• 3/4 cup chopped dried apricots
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tsp minced ginger
• 1 tsp tumeric
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp sweet paprika (regular paprika works too)
• 1/2 tsp cinammon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 cup chopped parsely (optional)

Feel free to be a bit extra generous on the spices (heaping teaspoons) for more flavor.

We find it simplest to cook it all in a dutch oven, but you could also use a frying pan and slow cooker.

Instructions

1. Brown lamb and season with pepper and half of the salt. Set aside.
2. Saute onions until brown.
3. Add all the remaining ingredients except the salt & chopped parsely.
4. Cook for 4 hours (or less if you're in a hurry).
5. Add remaining salt & parsely before serving.

Serve over couscous or rice. We tried wild rice and it was a great combo.

Moroccans like to drink piping-hot green tea with mint or wormwood leaves and lots of sugar. It pairs very well with this dish.