Today we’re going back to Middle East to prepare together one of the most famous Moroccan tagine! The Mrouzia is a meat tagine sweetened with honey and raisins, and served with a delicate mix of spices and toasted almonds.

Traditionally Mrouzia is prepared with lamb, but it is excellent and much more delicate prepared with beef.

The flavor of this recipe is largely influenced by ras el hanout a traditional set of spices, literally translated from Arabic meaning “head of the shop” to indicate that in this set there are the best spices you can find in the store. Difficult to find it in the supermarket, but if you look in a Arab butcher-shop you’ll able to find this spice.

Last advice to better prepare the dish: do not use the pressure cooker. If you do not have a traditional tagine, use a thick-bottomed pan, preferably a ceramic one, and simmer the meat for a long time (at least 2 hours), it will become more tender and will soak much of the flavors of spices.

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Stampa

Mrouzia: meat tagine with almonds and raisins

Cuisine Egg free, Gluten free, Lactose free

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 2 hours

Total Time 2 hours 10 minutes

Servings 4 people

Difficulty

Ingredients

• 500 g beef or lamb
• 1/2 tablespoon ras-el-Hanout
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 pinch of saffron
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 onion
• 75 g of raisins
• oil and butter for frying
• 2 tablespoons of honey
• salt
• almonds
• 2 cinnamon sticks

Instructions

1. Prepare the marinade by mixing all the spices (leave aside the whole cinnamon sticks) with a little water.
2. Pour over the meat and let it rest a few hours.
3. Toast the almonds, you can toast them in the oven at 180°C for 10 minutes, or in a pan, but you have to be very careful not to burn them.
4. Chop the onion and golden it with oil and butter (of course you must omit the butter if you want to prepare the tagine without lactose).
5. Add the meat and let it brown.
6. Cover with water, add the cinnamon sticks, close the pot and cook for about two hours.
7. Meanwhile, soak the raisins in a little warm water.
8. When the meat is tender: add the drained raisins and honey, and let thicken for ten minutes.
9. Serve the meat topped with the raisins and ultimately almonds.