Jenny Morris’s Saharan lamb stuffed with couscous and fruit Recipe

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Jenny Morris’s Saharan lamb stuffed with couscous and fruit

In search of a unique Sunday roast? This fruity lamb tagine takes its cue from the flavours of Morocco. The recipe features in Jenny Morris's new book, Taste the world with Jenny Morris.

Serves: 6

lamb

Ingredients

For the couscous stuffing :

2 tsp olive oil

½ cup chopped onion

½ cup finely chopped red pepper

½ cup finely chopped carrot

handful of pitted and chopped dates

10 toasted and chopped almonds

10 toasted and chopped walnuts

2 Tbs sultanas

2 Tbs cranberries

10 pitted and chopped prunes

2 chopped dried figs

10 chopped dried apricots

1Tb chopped preserved lemon

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground ginger

1 cup cooked couscous

½ cup chopped parsley

Salt and black pepper

For the flavoured butter:

3 crushed cloves of

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp freshly ground white pepper

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes

1/4 tsp dried cloves

1/2 tsp ground coriander

3/4 tsp salt

100g soft butter

For the casserole base:

2 thickly sliced onions

1 thinly sliced preserved lemon

1 bulb of

(optional) dried fruit

250ml chicken stock

The lamb:

1.5 kg deboned leg of Karoo lamb

Method

Make the flavoured butter first. Place all the ingredients into a bowl, mix well and chill. Remove from the fridge 20 minutes before you need it and set aside.

Now make the couscous stuffing. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan, and sweat the onion for a minute or two. Add the remaining ingredients, except the couscous and parsley. Season the mixture with salt and pepper and stir over a moderate heat for five minutes, adding a little water if it starts to stick. Remove from the heat and stir in the couscous and parsley.

Preheat the oven to 160 °C. Lay the lamb onto a flat surface and open it up gently with a knife. Spread the flavoured butter paste onto both sides of the butterflied lamb. Spread the couscous filling onto the lamb and roll it up tightly, securing with string or toothpicks.

Scatter the casserole base ingredients, except the chicken stock, over the bottom of a casserole dish or deep oven tray. Place the stuffed lamb on top and pour over the chicken stock. Cover with foil and roast in the preheated oven for two-and-a-half hours or until cooked.

TIP: I like to use a few dried apricots, figs, prunes, dates and cranberries for scattering over the base of the casserole dish.

Recipe extracted from Taste the world with Jenny Morris, by Jenny Morris, published by Jonathan Ball. On sale now for R295.