Which is better: summer cooking or winter cooking? I vote winter cooking, with an emphasis on “cooking.” In the summer, you don’t need to do much: slice a peach, add some arugula, a splash of olive oil, a sprinkling of vinegar and you’ve got a salad. In the winter, that won’t cut it. You’ve really got to cook in winter and that’s a happy thought when it’s nineteen degrees out and you’re freezing your tush off. The only thing better than eating a deep, satisfying dish like this lamb and squash tagine is the process of cooking it. As the title says: it’s better than a space heater.

A Lamb Shoulder to Cry On

The first thing you’ll need to do to make this tagine is to procure some lamb shoulder. If you’ve been reading my blog from day one (that would be January 8th, 2004), you’ll know that lamb shoulder is one of my favorite ingredients. It’s got the heft of beef, but with a little more funk, and it braises up beautifully. I bought mine at Paisano’s, my local butcher, which already has it cubed up as stew meat.

Back here (here being home), I rubbed the lamb with a flavored butter per the recipe I was using: from Andrew Tarlow and Anna Dunn’s Dinner at the Long Table. (The butter is smashed with ginger, cumin, turmeric, and garlic.)

Sharpen Those Knives, We’ve Got Onions to Slice

This recipe calls for seven sliced onions. That’s right. Seven sliced onions.

To make that happen, I got out my knife sharpener and made sure my chef’s knife was super sharp before I jumped in. It’s really true: “The sharper your knife, the less you cry.” If I shed a tear or two, it was only because I was listening to the Beaches soundtrack while I cooked.

These onions get cooked down in olive oil with a pinch of salt for a while, until they give up their liquid. Then you add more spices: cumin, coriander, and pepper.

When those bloom after ten minutes, you add your marinated lamb, cover with a parchment seal, and then the lid and braise in the oven for two hours.

Bring on the Squash

My CSA sent this koginut, so that’s what I used when it was time to add the squash. But you can use any winter squash.

You just cut it up into 2-inch pieces and add them to the lamb and the onions.

That goes back into the oven for another hour and after that, you just take it out and let it cool down for thirty minutes.

Who needs a hot tub when you’ve got a lamb and squash tagine? I felt like Bilbo Baggins eating this and so did Craig and our pal Josh who joined for the feast.

Throw out that space heater and get yourself some lamb shoulder stat.

Lamb and Squash Tagine

A gloriously warming winter stew from Andrew Tarlow and Anna Dunn's Dinner at the Long Table.

Print Recipe

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 3

Servings: 4 people

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Moroccan

Calories: 500

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

4 tablespoon unsalted butter at room temperature
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
Large pinch of saffron
2 cloves garlic smashed to a paste with salt
2 pounds lamb shoulder neck, or leg (boneless is good, bone-in even better), cut into large cubes
Olive oil
7 yellow onions thinly sliced
Kosher salt
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 cup lamb or chicken stock or water
2 to 3 pounds sweet winter squash such as sweet dumpling or red kuri, 1 half peeled, seeded, and cut into 2-inch cubes (keep the other half for another use)

Method

Here’s the rub. Made of butter and vibrant spices, this rub is fragrant and bright, like inky yellow paint. The butter is a necessary fat—lamb is a lean animal. In a large bowl, stir together the butter, salt, ginger, cumin, turmeric, saffron, and garlic until well incorporated. Add the lamb and massage the spiced butter into the lamb, making sure to cover all of it well. Once your lamb is nicely coated, you can cover and refrigerate it overnight or proceed with the recipe.
Preheat the oven to 300°F. Heat the oil in a tajine or heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onions, season well with salt, and sweat until the onions release their liquid, about 20 minutes. Add the cumin, coriander, and pepper, stirring to let the spices bloom for about 10 minutes. This is the fragrance. Add the lamb, with all of its buttery rub, and the stock and bring to a simmer.
If you’re not using a traditional tajine, cut out a parchment paper round that’s the circumference of your pot and tear a nickel-size hole in its center. Place on top of the simmering stew. Cover the tajine or pot and slide it into the oven. Bake for 2 hours, then carefully remove the lid and parchment, if using. Add the squash, re-cover the tajine or pot, and bake for 1 more hour. Let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes. Just before serving, adjust the seasoning. Put the tajine in the center of the table, within reach of everyone.

Notes

To serve, I cooked up a simple batch of couscous and added golden raisins, chopped cilantro (which I also sprinkled over the stew), and Aleppo pepper.