Other

Beef Shin and Apricot Tagine

Name: Beef Shin and Apricot Tagine
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 4 min
Yield: 6 people
Ingredients: 1kg beef shin, bone in; Olive oil; 2 onions, roughly chopped; 4 garlic cloves, roughly smashed; 1 tsp sweet paprika; 1 cup beef stock; 1 400g tinned chopped tomatoes; 1 Tbsp. tomato paste; 150g dried/soft eating apricots; 2 Tbsp. apricot jam; 100g dates, pitted and roughly chopped; 1 400g tinned chickpeas, drained; 1 cinnamon stick; Salt and freshly ground black pepper; 4 Tbsp. flaked almonds, toasted; Coriander leaves, roughly chopped; Spice rub:; 1 Tbsp. ras el hanout; 1 Tbsp. paprika; 1 Tbsp. ground cumin; 1 Tbsp. ground ginger

Substitute beef shin with oxtail.

Method

In a small bowl, combine all the rub spices together.
Lightly coat the beef shins in olive oil. This will help the rub to stick.
Generously apply the spice rub to the beef, cover and allow to marinate for at least an hour or refrigerate overnight.
Pre-heat the oven to 150°C/300°F.
Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium-high heat. Working in batches, add a few shin pieces at a time and fry until evenly browned. Transfer the beef to the tagine dish.
Lower the heat (pour in more olive oil if necessary), add the onions and gently fry until soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic and paprika and sauté for an additional minute.
Pour in the beef stock, tomatoes, tomato paste, apricots, apricot jam, dates, chickpeas and cinnamon stick and bring to the boil.
Spoon the mixture over the beef shin into the tagine dish, cover with the lid and cook in the oven for 3 hours. Check on the dish half way through cooking time and add a bit of water to the tagine if it is drying out.
Remove the tagine from the oven, garnish with the toasted almonds and fresh coriander leaves.
Serve the beef and apricot tagine with warmed naan bread, couscous or steamed rice.