Incredible warming Moroccan spices make this healthy Lamb, Date and Butternut Squash Tagine perfect for chilly autumn and winter evenings. Serve with buckwheat for an extra health kick!
A few months ago now, I embarked on the Sirtfood Diet as a bit of an experiment to see whether it lived up to its impressive claims (spoiler alert – it did!). The thing I loved about it, was how it focused on eating more of the good stuff, rather than excluding the bad stuff. (Though obviously if you are filling your body up with lots of good stuff, you are likely to naturally eat less of the bad stuff). As a result, both during the diet and in the months following I have been eating much more healthily and have lost quite a bit of weight to boot!
If you want to find out more about the Sirtfood Diet and how it went for me check out these posts…
- What is the Sirtfood Diet and does it really work? Part 1
- What is the Sirtfood Diet and does it really work? Part 2
- What is the Sirtfood Diet and does it really work? Part 3
- What is the Sirtfood Diet and does it really work? Part 4
One of the things I loved most about the Sirtfood Diet was the fabulous recipes – after the first few days, which are quite restricted, the diet was a joy – full of delicious recipes that I thoroughly enjoyed, as did my family, and it was great knowing they were all full of goodness. One of the recipes in the Sirtfood Diet book was for a butternut squash and date tagine – I loved it, but as I was eating it, I couldn’t help thinking it would go brilliantly with lamb. The vegetarian version was nice, but a little too sweet for my tastes and I just knew adding lamb would balance it out perfectly – and it did.
I am so pleased with my version of this tagine – it is absolutely packed with delicious flavours: dates, butternut squash, chickpeas, lamb and spices such as cinnamon, cumin and turmeric, but it is also wonderfully nutritious – each element of the dish is full of goodness and I have served this with buckwheat for an extra health kick. Despite its name, buckwheat is not actually related to wheat – it is gluten-free (though do check the packets as sometimes there is cross contamination), low in calories and full of goodness. To find out more, check out my post: What is buckwheat and how do you cook it?
I think this tagine is wonderful with a side of buckwheat, but if buckwheat is not your thing, this would be great with rice, couscous or flatbreads. Wine-wise, this would go brilliantly with a Grenache-based red from the South of France, such as Côtes du Roussillon or Cotes du Rhone. Alternatively try this with a Rioja or Ribera del Duero. (Fun fact: you are allowed to drink red wine on The Sirtfood Diet!)
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Lamb, Butternut Squash and Date Tagine
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 red onion sliced
- 2 cm ginger grated
- 3 garlic cloves grated or crushed
- 1 teaspoon chilli flakes or to taste
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
- 800 g lamb neck fillet cut into 2cm chunks
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 100 g medjool dates pitted and chopped
- 400 g tin chopped tomatoes plus half a can of water
- 500 g butternut squash chopped into 1cm cubes
- 400 g tin chickpeas drained
- 2 tablespoons fresh coriander plus extra for garnish
- Buckwheat, couscous, flatbreads or rice to serve
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 160C / 140C fan / gas mark 3 / 325F.
- Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a large ovenproof saucepan or cast iron casserole dish. Add the sliced onion and cook on a gentle heat, with the lid on, for about 5 minutes, until the onions are softened but not brown.
- Add the grated garlic and ginger, chilli, cumin, cinnamon and turmeric. Stir well and cook for 1 more minute with the lid off. Add a splash of water if it gets too dry.
- Next add in the lamb chunks. Stir well to coat the meat in the onions and spices and then add the salt, chopped dates and tomatoes, plus about half the tomato can of water (roughly 200ml / a little less than 1 cup).
- Bring the tagine to the boil and then put the lid on and put in your preheated oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Thirty minutes before the end of the cooking time, add in the chopped butternut squash and drained chickpeas. Stir everything together, put the lid back on and return to the oven for the final 30 minutes of cooking.
- When the tagine is ready, remove from the oven and stir through the chopped coriander. Serve with buckwheat, couscous, flatbreads or basmati rice.
Notes
- If you don’t own an ovenproof saucepan or cast iron casserole dish, simply cook the tagine in a regular saucepan up until it has to go in the oven and then transfer the tagine into a regular lidded casserole dish before placing in the oven. Add on an extra 5 minutes cooking time to allow for the fact that the casserole dish will need extra time to heat up.
- Suitable for freezing.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
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Jessica Cantoni says
Sounds absolutely yum!! Next week I’m on a mission to make a slow cooker lamb tagine, as since starting work, it’s becoming really difficult to create dishes after a long day at work! Will try this one though on a weekend 🙂
xx
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Jess – slow cooking does sound like a really good idea for busy days – still don’t own a slowcooker though! Really need to rectify that!! Good luck developing your lamb tagine – looking forward to seeing what you come up with 🙂 Eb x
Veronica says
I think I might have mentioned before that lamb is hubby’s favourite food. I’m always on the lookout for new ways to try it. This looks perfect. Thank you!!!
Eb Gargano says
Yay! Well I am always happy to help with that one… loads of yummy lamb recipes here >>> https://www.easypeasyfoodie.com/tag/lamb/
Jessica Cantoni says
This sounds lovely! The Sirt diet sounds interesting! Do you think you’ll carry it on after your trial? Xx
Eb Gargano says
I actually did the Sirtfood diet a few years ago. I didn’t carry it on exactly when I had finished, but I focused on trying to include as many sirtfoods as I could into my diet. And stuck to the 3 meals a day, chocolate as a treat in the evenings routine 😀 Eb x
Louise Fairweather says
Your deals always look so good Eb! Something different that I will need to try. Thanks for sharing #cookblogshare
Eb Gargano says
Thanks Louise! I’d love to hear how you get on if you try it 😀 Eb x
Jon says
Delicious! Made this tonight and the flavors were great. I halved the chili flakes and salt and it still had a kick and I didn’t miss the salt. Used an acorn squash as well. Also, major difference was the fact I used an Instant Pot. Thought it would be a good idea to try and I’m glad I did! In saute mode, I did everything your instructions say up until step 5 which is putting it in the oven. At that point, I added the squash and chickpeas, turned off saute mode, turned on the pressure cooker function at normal high pressure, and cooked it for 15 minutes (once it got up to pressure for about 10 minutes). Thought this would be a good amount of time just to get the squash nice and soft and it turned out to be fantastic! Overall these ingredients go so well together it’s a knockout. Reminds me of a Moroccan restaurant we frequent often in Brooklyn. Cheers!
Eb Gargano says
Aw, thanks for this lovely review, Jon! So pleased you enjoyed it and I loved reading how you adapted it for the instant pot 😀
Mrs. S says
Hello. I don’t usually see lamb neck cuts in my area. Can you suggest a substitute cut. Thank you in advance.
Eb Gargano says
If you can’t get hold of lamb neck fillet, I recommend using lamb leg steaks (or pre-diced lamb leg) Enjoy!
Tracey C says
Made this a couple of times now and absolutely love it! Managed to get lamb neck at my local butchers the first time I made it, second time had to use lamb steaks – thought it tasted better with lamb neck. Making it again this weekend when friends are coming for dinner. Thank you😋
Eb Gargano says
Aw yay! I am so happy to hear that. Thank you so much for letting me know… and especially for the 5* review! Eb 🙂