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    Home » Recipes » Uncategorized

    Updated: Nov 14, 2019 by Marc Matsumoto · 30 Comments

    Pomegranate Lamb Tagine

    The other day I had a nice surprise waiting for me in the mail. POM sent a case of 100% pomegranate juice for me to try. I was excited to open it up and try one because POM Peach Passion Tea is probably one of my favourite beverages of all time (makes great cocktails too).
    Recipe Pin

    The other day I had a nice surprise waiting for me in the mail. POM sent a case of 100% pomegranate juice for me to try. I was excited to open it up and try one because POM Peach Passion Tea is probably one of my favourite beverages of all time (makes great cocktails too). Upon unscrewing the caps off one of the gourd shaped bottles and taking a gulp, I'd have to say that there's probably a reason why most of their products includes other juices.

    Pure pomegranate juice is very tart, slightly bitter, and has a "healthy" taste. I wouldn't say it's bad... it just makes me want to mix it with other things. This of course got me thinking. Ever since I made lamb kebabs marinated in pomegranate molasses this summer, it's become one of our favourite meals.

    Given that it's winter though, and currently 23 degrees F outside it's not exactly grilling weather. Nor is it the kind of weather that makes you crave light summery foods. Still, I was pretty sure I could take the sweet, citrusy, floral flavors of the kebabs and intensify them to make a tagine that could fend off the calorie burning chill while reminding us of our favourite summer dish.

    When cooked in a traditional tagine, the steam circulating through the conical lid helps gently cook the meat without adding a lot of braising liquid which makes for a rich unctuous sauce (a dutch oven works fine as well). I abandoned any notion of what flavors "should" be in a tagine and just layered the flavors until they were too my liking.

    I started by browning the lamb to create a thick layer of fond on the bottom of the pot, which served as my base. Then I caramelized onions, ginger and a preserved Meyer lemon. This combo alone smelled fantastic, but I wanted to add a bit more depth and complexity, so in went some Vietnamese cinnamon and coriander seeds. For the liquid I added a small bottle of POM. As I mentioned before, pure pomegranate juice is really tart, so I finished the braising liquid with some dates for sweetness.

    Two hours at a low temperature yielded melty tender lamb and a bright, rich sauce that was awesome on a fluffy bed of couscous.

    📖 Recipe

    Pomegranate Lamb Tagine

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    Units

    Ingredients 

    • olive oil
    • 1 ½ pounds lamb stew meat (cut in large chunks)
    • 1 onion (large sliced thin)
    • 1 tablespoon ginger (minced)
    • 1 preserved lemon (quartered)
    • 2 cinnamon sticks
    • 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
    • 8 ounces Bottle of POM (or other 100% pomegranate juice)
    • ¼ cup dates (chopped)
    • 1 teaspoon kosher salt

    Instructions

    • Generously salt and pepper the lamb. Heat a tagine or dutch oven over medium heat until very hot. Add some olive oil and then the lamb. Do not disturb until nice and brown on one side. Use tongs to flip and brown the other side. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
    • Lower oven rack to lower middle position and preheat to 275 degrees F.
    • Add the onions, minced ginger and preserved lemon to the pan and saute for about 20 minutes. Add the cinnamon sticks and coriander seeds and continue caramelizing the onions another 10 minutes. Return the lamb to the pot, add the POM and dates. Bring to a boil and salt to taste.
    • Cover and place in the oven. Braise for 1 ½ hours or until the lamb is fork tender. Serve with cous cous.
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      Recipe Rating




    1. manggy says

      December 22, 2008 at 2:46 am

      Oh, darn! Does that mean I need a real tagine pot-thing? I saw tons of those when I was in California-- they don't sell them here. Maybe I can improvise with an aluminum foil cone, ha ha ha. Or better yet, I can drop by and sample this delicious dish! 😉

      Reply
    2. Giff says

      December 22, 2008 at 2:54 am

      marvelous use of that POM 🙂

      Reply
    3. manggy says

      December 22, 2008 at 6:46 am

      Oh, darn! Does that mean I need a real tagine pot-thing? I saw tons of those when I was in California-- they don't sell them here. Maybe I can improvise with an aluminum foil cone, ha ha ha. Or better yet, I can drop by and sample this delicious dish! 😉

      Reply
    4. Giff says

      December 22, 2008 at 6:54 am

      marvelous use of that POM 🙂

      Reply
    5. Shelby Ruttan says

      December 22, 2008 at 7:46 am

      Sounds delicious! I'm definitely going to have to try the POM!

      Reply
    6. Darius T. Williams says

      December 22, 2008 at 8:51 am

      OMG - yet another home run!

      Reply
    7. Shelby Ruttan says

      December 22, 2008 at 11:46 am

      Sounds delicious! I'm definitely going to have to try the POM!

      Reply
    8. CourtJ says

      December 22, 2008 at 12:14 pm

      Haha, you were commenting on my post just as I was reading yours! I am definitely going to try this one, I have lamb in the freezer and a pomegranate in my fridge 🙂

      Reply
    9. Darius T. Williams says

      December 22, 2008 at 12:51 pm

      OMG - yet another home run!

      Reply
    10. Melissa says

      December 22, 2008 at 2:06 pm

      Oh, I love POM and I love Lamb! This is one I will definitely have to try. 🙂

      Reply
    11. Heather says

      December 22, 2008 at 3:54 pm

      I made a very similar dish last year for my first Joust, and made pomegranate "molasses" by reducing a whole bottle of POM to thick syrup. It works really great! I made my lamb with roasted lemons (I didn't have preserved lemons) and Israeli couscous with mint pistou. It's been a long time - I might need to bust that out again soon.

      Reply
    12. CourtJ says

      December 22, 2008 at 4:14 pm

      Haha, you were commenting on my post just as I was reading yours! I am definitely going to try this one, I have lamb in the freezer and a pomegranate in my fridge 🙂

      Reply
    13. Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella says

      December 22, 2008 at 5:44 pm

      That looks fantastic! I got some POM wonderful too and I wanted to use it in a dish and a tagine is a great idea. It reminds me of cranberry juice but quick thick, we found it best when watered down with mineral water or plain still water 🙂

      Reply
    14. Melissa says

      December 22, 2008 at 6:06 pm

      Oh, I love POM and I love Lamb! This is one I will definitely have to try. 🙂

      Reply
    15. Heather says

      December 22, 2008 at 7:54 pm

      I made a very similar dish last year for my first Joust, and made pomegranate "molasses" by reducing a whole bottle of POM to thick syrup. It works really great! I made my lamb with roasted lemons (I didn't have preserved lemons) and Israeli couscous with mint pistou. It's been a long time - I might need to bust that out again soon.

      Reply
    16. Peter says

      December 22, 2008 at 7:55 pm

      Free swag is always accepted and ever better when it can be consumed!

      The coriander seeds and cinnamon...I can smell it now and the POM juice is no doubt responsible for the deep colour here.

      Reply
    17. Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella says

      December 22, 2008 at 9:44 pm

      That looks fantastic! I got some POM wonderful too and I wanted to use it in a dish and a tagine is a great idea. It reminds me of cranberry juice but quick thick, we found it best when watered down with mineral water or plain still water 🙂

      Reply
    18. Christie @ fig&cherry says

      December 22, 2008 at 11:33 pm

      I got sent some POM too! I'm making it into a granita... stay tuned! 🙂

      Delicious combination for the tagine too.

      Reply
    19. Peter says

      December 22, 2008 at 11:55 pm

      Free swag is always accepted and ever better when it can be consumed!

      The coriander seeds and cinnamon...I can smell it now and the POM juice is no doubt responsible for the deep colour here.

      Reply
    20. Christie @ fig&cherry says

      December 23, 2008 at 3:33 am

      I got sent some POM too! I'm making it into a granita... stay tuned! 🙂

      Delicious combination for the tagine too.

      Reply
    21. Marc Matsumoto says

      December 23, 2008 at 3:06 pm

      Mark, nope, a dutch oven or heavy pot will work just fine. Just make sure it has a tight fitting lid.

      Thanks Giff, HoneyB and Darius!

      CourtJ, must have been the blogdar. Let us know how it goes.

      Melissa, if you try it, come back and tell us how it went.

      Heather, I just checked out your POM and lamb dish. Looks great! Love the mint pistou.

      Thanks Lorraine, I like the idea of watering it down it some mineral water.

      Peter, I actually debated about the whole "accepting swag" thing, but free eventually won out:-)

      Christie, looking forward to seeing your granita. That's a great idea by the way since the pomegranate makes a great palette cleanser.

      Reply
    22. Marc Matsumoto says

      December 23, 2008 at 7:06 pm

      Mark, nope, a dutch oven or heavy pot will work just fine. Just make sure it has a tight fitting lid.

      Thanks Giff, HoneyB and Darius!

      CourtJ, must have been the blogdar. Let us know how it goes.

      Melissa, if you try it, come back and tell us how it went.

      Heather, I just checked out your POM and lamb dish. Looks great! Love the mint pistou.

      Thanks Lorraine, I like the idea of watering it down it some mineral water.

      Peter, I actually debated about the whole "accepting swag" thing, but free eventually won out:-)

      Christie, looking forward to seeing your granita. That's a great idea by the way since the pomegranate makes a great palette cleanser.

      Reply
    23. Kevin (Closet Cooking) says

      December 28, 2008 at 3:32 pm

      I have been wanting to try using lemon preserves and combining them with dates, pomegranate and cinnamon sounds good!

      Reply
    24. Kevin (Closet Cooking) says

      December 28, 2008 at 7:32 pm

      I have been wanting to try using lemon preserves and combining them with dates, pomegranate and cinnamon sounds good!

      Reply
    25. thepinkpeppercorn says

      December 30, 2008 at 12:54 pm

      I'll bet the POM juice and meyer lemon is smashing. Fabulous!

      Reply
    26. thepinkpeppercorn says

      December 30, 2008 at 4:54 pm

      I'll bet the POM juice and meyer lemon is smashing. Fabulous!

      Reply
    27. large pot sale says

      November 07, 2010 at 8:34 am

      Oh!...that's great helpful, it's so right to me! Million thanks for the article,

      Reply
    28. Homemade canning says

      January 30, 2011 at 12:18 pm

      Finally, and you will need to use all your self control for this tip, let the chutney mature before you eat it. Whilst you could put it away for a month or two, all my best tasting chutneys have been stored for 6-18 months before opening. It really does improve the maturity and flavor of the chutney.

      Reply
    29. Mike Ficus says

      November 14, 2019 at 8:26 am

      1. Is the preserved lemon sliced, whole, minced?
      2. The Pomegranate juice is omitted from the ingredients list. How much?

      Reply
      • Marc Matsumoto says

        November 14, 2019 at 10:12 am

        Hi Mike thanks for bringing this to my attention. During a move of the website a number of years ago, we had a problem where some of our older recipes randomly lost some fields in the ingredients list. I've restored the missing ingredients and notes for this one, but please let me know if you see this for any other recipes on our site.

        Reply

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