Tagine of Lamb with Caramelized Baby Onions and Pears
- 3 pounds boned shoulder of lamb
- 5 tablespoons sunflower or vegetable oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- salt and plenty of black pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon saffron threads
- 1 pound (about 2 cups) shallots or baby onions
- 3 large pears
- ¼ stick (2 tablespoons) butter
Instructions:
The sweetness of the pears goes surprisingly well with the lamb.
- Cut the meat into 6 or 8 pieces, and put it into a wide pan with 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat; turn to brown the pieces all over. Add the chopped onion and barely cover with water. Stir in salt and pepper, ginger, cinnamon, and saffron, and simmer, covered, over a low heat for 1½ hours, turning the pieces over a few times.
- To peel the onions or shallots, blanch them in boiling water for 5 minutes and, when cool enough to handle, peel off the skins and trim the roots. Sauté them in a skillet in 2 tablespoons oil over a low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, shaking the pan, until the onions have slightly colored. Then add them to the meat and cook for a further 30 minutes, until the meat is very tender and the baby onions are so soft that, as they say in Morocco, “you can crush them with your tongue.” Toward the end of the cooking time, cook uncovered to reduce the sauce. There should be only a small amount of liquid remaining.
- Wash the pears. Quarter and core them but do not peel them. Sauté them in a large skillet in a mixture of butter and the remaining tablespoon of oil over medium heat until their cut sides are slightly brown and caramelized. If they have not softened right through (that depends on their size and degree of ripeness), put them into the pan over the meat, skin side up, and continue to cook, covered, until they are very tender. It could be 15 minutes, but you must watch them as they can quickly fall apart.