Recipe: Lamb Tajine from Quercy with Blonde Peas from Planèze

Name: Lamb Tajine from Quercy with Blonde Peas from Planèze
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 120 min
Total time: 330 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 4 beautiful thick slices of farmhouse lamb collar from Quercy; 8 slices of farmhouse lamb breast; 7 oz (200 g) of sand carrots peeled and cut into thick batons (Créances if you can find them); 7 oz (200 g) of long bitter turnips (if possible) cut the same way; 1 small green cabbage cut into 4, well cleaned, core removed; 1 large onion peeled and cut into large mirepoix; 4 garlic cloves degermed and crushed; A little fresh ginger grated; Placed in a large tea ball: thyme, lemon, bay leaf and coriander seeds; 2 tablespoons of good tomato paste (in summer, 10.5 oz (300 g) of ripe tomatoes diced); 2 tablespoons of good quality ras el hanout; 7 oz (200 g) of blonde peas from Planèze soaked in cold water 9 hours before (or cooked chickpeas added at the end); 1.75 oz (50 g) of blonde raisins of fine quality

By chef patrick Asfaux 4/5 (10 reviews) · 🍳 21 made it

Prep 30 min

Cook 120 min

Rest 3h

Total 5h30

Servings 6 serv.

Just a bit of history. First of all, the word tajine is masculine, as you know, it's the name of the earthenware dish in which you cook by braising. We find recipes since time immemorial. Thus, in ancient writings, we speak of those served to the Grand Caliph Hârûn-al-Rachid, who reigned from 786 to 809. This date corresponds for us to the time of Charlemagne. The tajine is a dish said to be « Berber » having its origins from the indigenous people of North Africa, the Amazighs. This dish was moreover adored by the Romans who could thus cook these tajines in their earthenware ovens. Of course, for those observing Ramadan, you can replace our Quercy lamb with halal meat, and even if you wish, replace our peas with chickpeas.

Ingredients for 6 servings

Adjust for

servings

4 beautiful thick slices of farmhouse lamb collar from Quercy
8 slices of farmhouse lamb breast
7 oz (200 g) of sand carrots peeled and cut into thick batons (Créances if you can find them)
7 oz (200 g) of long bitter turnips (if possible) cut the same way
1 small green cabbage cut into 4, well cleaned, core removed
1 large onion peeled and cut into large mirepoix
4 garlic cloves degermed and crushed
A little fresh ginger grated
Placed in a large tea ball: thyme, lemon, bay leaf and coriander seeds
2 tablespoons of good tomato paste (in summer, 10.5 oz (300 g) of ripe tomatoes diced)
2 tablespoons of good quality ras el hanout
7 oz (200 g) of blonde peas from Planèze soaked in cold water 9 hours before (or cooked chickpeas added at the end)
1.75 oz (50 g) of blonde raisins of fine quality

Step-by-step directions

1 First, take a large casserole, pour in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and, when it is very hot, brown your pieces of lamb.

2 At the same time, drain your soaked blonde peas, rinse them, then place them in a casserole with 2.1 qt (2 liters) of cold water, thyme and bay leaf. Cook gently, as the cooking time of the tajine is about 2 hours. You will only salt them 10 minutes before the end of cooking.

3 When your pieces are browned, salt and pepper, add the onion, carrots, garlic. Sweat for 10 minutes, then add the ras el hanout and tomato paste. Pour water until 5 cm from the edge, salt with coarse salt and add a little dried chili.

4 Wait for boiling and count 1 hour 30 minutes at low simmer and covered. After this time, add the cabbage leaves, olives, raisins and cooked chickpeas if chosen. If you use them, count 20 more minutes of cooking.

5 There you go, your tajine is ready. Taste its seasoning as well as the cooking of the blonde peas. Arrange harmoniously in a large round shallow dish or a tajine. The blonde peas will be drained, the thyme and bay leaf removed, then we add boiling tajine cooking liquid to them and serve them separately.

Chef Patrick's Comment

Thanks to my friend Henri Bouniol who still grows his magnificent blonde peas without fertilizers or pesticides (from the same family as chickpeas but finer) in Planèze near Saint-Flour, in the heart of Auvergne.