One pot, a raid on the spice drawer, and couscous to catch every drop

This is tagine cooking without the tagine — lamb shanks simmered in one pot with cinnamon, cumin, a spoon of honey and a tin of chickpeas until the meat gives up and the sauce turns into something you'd happily eat on its own. That's the quiet genius of the chickpeas: they drink up the spiced, marrow-rich braising liquid and become half the meal. Twenty minutes of proper cooking at the stove, then the pot minds itself while the kitchen fills with the sort of smell that brings people wandering in asking how long.

2 hrs 55 mins 2 servings Prep 20 minsCook 2 hrs 35 minsMain CourseMoroccan

Ingredients

  • 2 Your Farmer grass-fed lamb shanks
  • Salt and pepper to season
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 brown onion, finely diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp sweet paprika
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 400g tin crushed tomatoes
  • 500ml chicken stock
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • Couscous, fresh coriander and lemon wedges, to serve

Instructions

Season the shanks well. Heat the oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat and brown them all over, 8 to 10 minutes; set aside.

2 lamb shanks2 tbsp olive oil

Lower the heat to medium and cook the onion for about 6 minutes until soft. Add the garlic, ginger, ground spices and cinnamon stick and stir for 1 minute until fragrant.

1 onion3 cloves garlic1 tbsp ginger1 cinnamon stick

Add the tomatoes, stock and honey, stir well, and return the shanks and their juices to the pot.

400g tomatoes500ml chicken stock1 tbsp honey

Bring to a gentle simmer, lid on, and cook on the lowest heat for 1 hour 45 minutes, turning the shanks halfway.

Add the chickpeas and simmer, partly covered, for 30 minutes more, until the sauce is thick and the meat is leaving the bone.

400g chickpeas

Fish out the cinnamon stick and season to taste. Serve the shanks over couscous with the chickpea sauce spooned over, scattered with coriander, lemon wedges alongside.

couscouscorianderlemon wedges

Appears in

Lamb Share B only — Shanks (2 pack)

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Tagine Thinking, One-Pot Doing

North African cooks have been solving the shank problem for centuries — the tagine is just a clay slow cooker, after all. The cut is the lamb's lower leg, tight with connective tissue that wants hours of gentle, moist heat, and this dish gives it exactly that while doing double duty: as the collagen melts and the marrow seasons the pot from inside the bone, the chickpeas soak it all up like small round sponges. Sweet spices and honey against rich, grass-fed lamb is one of the great old pairings, and it works best when the lamb has real flavour of its own. Your Farmer® shanks come two to the pack in the Share B pack of our grass-fed meat boxes.

Swaps and Variations

Two tablespoons of ras el hanout can stand in for the cumin, coriander and paprika if your spice drawer runs that way. A handful of dried apricots or pitted dates added with the chickpeas leans sweeter and more festive; chunks of pumpkin in the last 30 minutes make it a fuller one-pot meal. Chopped preserved lemon at the end is the proper Moroccan flourish if you have a jar. Forequarter chops take the same treatment with the simmer cut back to about an hour. If you're weighing up how these packs work, here's what makes a lamb box delivery different.

Storage and Leftovers

Day two is this dish's best day — the spices settle in and the sauce thickens as it sits. It keeps 3 to 4 days in the fridge and freezes for up to 3 months. Reheat gently on the stove with a splash of water. The stretch move: shred the meat off both bones back into the chickpea sauce and it will honestly feed four over couscous — the same pot, twice the plates. There's always a spare pack of shanks for when word gets around.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use ras el hanout instead of the individual spices?

Yes — swap the cumin, coriander and paprika for about 2 tablespoons of ras el hanout and keep the cinnamon stick. Blends vary in strength, so taste the sauce at the halfway turn and adjust.

Is it spicy? My kids won't eat hot food.

No — this is warm-spiced, not hot. Cumin, coriander, cinnamon and sweet paprika bring aroma and depth without chilli. If your crew likes heat, add harissa or chilli flakes to the adult plates at the table.

Can I stretch it to feed four?

Yes — shred the meat from both shanks back into the chickpea sauce rather than serving them whole, and cook extra couscous. The chickpeas and sauce carry it comfortably to four serves.

Can I make it in a slow cooker?

Yes — do the browning and spice steps in a pan, then transfer everything except the chickpeas to the slow cooker for 7 hours on low. Add the chickpeas for the final hour with the lid ajar so the sauce can thicken.

Can I leave out the chickpeas?

You can, but they're doing real work — soaking up the braising liquid and turning it into a side dish. If you skip them, simmer the sauce uncovered a little longer to thicken, and serve extra couscous.

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