Blanche Vaughan's perfect lamb tajine

I spent a wonderful New Year in Marrakech with friends, searching out excellent Moroccan food. Much of the best food we ate was in roadside cafes or market stalls where individual tagines bubbled temptingly over a stove, the lids lifted to show cleverly layered ingredients slowly cooking in their earthenware pots, flavours and spices seeping together. The tagine pot works like an oven in itself, allowing steam to condense in the conical shaped lid and the moisture to remain inside. It is the perfect transportable oven and can be placed to cook directly on coals. I used a domed pot to create a similar effect and layered the spiced lamb, sliced Jerusalem artichokes and potatoes with preserved lemons and olives to make a delicious one-pot meal. We’ve had a great crop of Jerusalem artichokes growing this year and I’ve been enjoying eating them in many ways: thinly sliced raw in salads, caramelised in a tart and pureed velvety smooth in a soup, but this was a recipe where they worked especially well. Their sweetness was wonderful with the fragrant, salty preserved lemons and olives. LAMB TAGINE WITH JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES, PRESERVED LEMONS AND OLIVES Serves 4 -6 1kg lamb shoulder, cut into chunks 1 tsp ras al hanout ½ tsp ground ginger ½ tsp ground turmeric pinch of saffron lots of salt and pepper light olive oil for frying 1 shallot, grated 1 small bunch of fresh coriander, chopped 500ml lamb stock or water 500g Jerusalem artichokes, sliced 300g small waxy potatoes, sliced 2 preserved lemons, thinly sliced a handful of green olives Toss the lamb pieces in the spices and season well. Choose a pot to cook the tagine in, preferably one with a good solid base and a lid but not too deep sided. Heat the oil in the pot and brown the pieces of lamb. Add the grated shallot and coriander and cook together for a moment. Pour over the stock or water and bring to the boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook, uncovered for an hour or so or until the meat is soft and the liquid reduced slightly. Lay the sliced artichokes and potatoes over the top of the cooked meat. Depending on the size of your pot, this may become two or three layers. Between each layer lay slices of preserved lemon and olives and season well. Put on the lid and cook slowly for almost an hour or until the potatoes are soft.