Lamb marka with courgettes and potatoes (marqa bel qraa)

meat Tunisian Jewish · regular · 160 min, including 35 hands-on

Marqa bel qraa, the Shabbat stew of the Jews of Tunis: lamb shoulder simmers in a reduced red sauce with tabil and harissa; courgettes peeled in alternating strips become meltingly tender, while the potatoes absorb the sauce.

Ingredients for two

Method

1. Pat the lamb dry and season with 1 g salt. Chop the onion and crush the garlic. Heat 20 g oil (2 tbsp) in a 22–24 cm casserole over a medium-high heat. Sear the lamb in a single layer for 8 minutes, turning twice, until brown on several sides. Set aside on a plate.
2. Reduce the heat to medium, add the remaining 20 g oil and soften the onion for 6 minutes, scraping up the browned bits with a spatula. Add the garlic for 1 minute, then the tomato purée, harissa, tabil, paprika, turmeric and pepper. Stir for 2 minutes: the tomato purée darkens, turns glossy and leaves a red film on the base. If it catches and darkens too quickly, add 2 tbsp hot water and scrape: the red film should stay glossy, never black.
3. Pour in 400 g hot water, return the lamb with its juices and add 5 g salt: the liquid should just reach the top of the meat, without drowning it. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook over a low heat for 1 hour 15 minutes. There should be small, gentle bubbles, not a vigorous boil; stir once halfway through.
4. While the lamb simmers, peel the potatoes, cut into 3 cm wedges and keep in a bowl of cold water until the next step, then drain. Peel the courgettes in alternating strips, leaving every other strip of skin for a striped effect, then cut into 4–5 cm lengths. Check the lamb after 1 hour 15 minutes: a fork should go in with only slight resistance. If still tough, cook for another 15 minutes before adding the vegetables.
5. Taste the sauce: it should be distinctly salty, as the vegetables will absorb it; add the remaining 2 g salt. Put the drained potatoes in the casserole and press into the sauce. If the liquid does not reach halfway up them, add the reserved 100 g water, heated. Cover and cook over a low heat for 15 minutes, gently turning the wedges once.
6. Stand the courgette pieces between the potatoes, with a cut end in the sauce, and do not stir again; shaking the casserole halfway through is enough. Cover and cook for another 20–25 minutes: a knife tip should pass through the courgettes without resistance; they should be meltingly tender but whole, the potatoes easily pierced and the lamb falling apart under a fork. Uncover, increase to a medium-high heat and reduce for 8–10 minutes, until the sauce coats a spoon and leaves a red trail on the bottom when pushed aside. Taste once more, adjust the salt and harissa, scatter over chopped coriander and rest for 5 minutes. Serve in shallow bowls with bread for mopping up.

On your plate

Cooking tips

Tunis variation: add 150 g drained tinned chickpeas (pois_chiches_boite) with the potatoes in step 5. To prepare a day ahead, cook just the lamb (steps 1–3), cool and refrigerate. The next day, bring the sauce back to a simmer and continue from the potatoes. Allow up to 15 minutes extra cooking time depending on the tenderness of the shoulder. Even better reheated the following day.

Equipment : 22–24 cm casserole with a lid, spatula, vegetable peeler

Marqa bel qraa, the Shabbat stew of the Jews of Tunis: lamb in a red tabil and harissa sauce, with courgettes peeled in alternating strips and added towards the end.