Lamb & Sausage Couscous
Submitted by cinderella
Braised lamb shoulder and merguez-style sausages served over couscous with a cumin and cayenne broth. A North African-inspired feast with carrots, zucchini, and white wine.
YIELD
8 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
90 minREADY
2 hrsThis is a proper North African-style couscous feast built for a crowd. Lamb shoulder cubes get browned hard, braised in white wine and chicken stock with cumin and cayenne, then served alongside spicy merguez-style sausages and zucchini over fluffy couscous. Guests ladle the strained broth over everything at the table.
Browning the lamb in batches without crowding is where the flavor starts. Those dark, caramelized bits stuck to the bottom of the Dutch oven are the fond, and deglazing them with the vegetables and tomato paste builds a sauce with incredible depth. The flour added after the vegetables thickens the braising liquid into a velvety broth.
The sausages cook separately with the zucchini in the oven at the same time as the lamb. Keeping them apart prevents the sausage fat from making the lamb broth greasy, and you discard the rendered fat before combining everything.
Chef Tips
- Pat the lamb completely dry before browning. Wet meat steams instead of searing, and you won’t get the crust that builds the broth’s flavor.
- Don’t skip straining the broth. The aromatics have given everything they have after 75 minutes. Leaving them in makes the broth cloudy and bitter.
- Use merguez sausages if you can find them. Their North African spice blend (harissa, cumin, coriander) ties the whole dish together. Hot Italian sausage is the closest substitute.
- Serve the couscous, meat, and broth in separate dishes and let guests build their own bowls.
Variations
- Add a can of drained chickpeas to the lamb stew in the last 20 minutes for a more traditional couscous royale.
- Swap zucchini for turnips, cut into wedges, for a heartier root vegetable version.
- Stir harissa paste into the strained broth for extra heat at the table.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 325℉ (160℃).
Pat the meat dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper as desired.
Heat the oil in a large covered casserole or Dutch oven over high heat on top of the stove.
Add the meat, without crowding, in batches if necessary, and brown well on all sides.
Remove pieces to a plate as they are done and reserve.
Repeat until all meat is browned. Do not pour off fat.
Replace the casserole over medium heat.
Add the onion, carrots, celery and tomato paste.
Cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Use your spoon to loosen and dissolve the brown bits stuck to the bottom of the casserole.
Add flour and cook, stirring, an additional minute.
Add wine, meat (and any juices on the plate), stock, cayenne and cumin.
Cover, bring to a boil and place in the oven for 1¼ hours, or until meat is tender.
Meanwhile, combine sausage and zucchini in an ovenproof dish, cover and place in the oven until sausages are cooked, about 20 minutes.
Follow directions on the back of the box and cook the couscous.
Remove stewed lamb and the sausage/ vegetable mixture from the oven.
Using a slotted spoon, remove the meat from the sauce and place it in a serving bowl.
Pour off and discard any excess fat from the sausages and add sausages and vegetables to the lamb.
Pour the thin gravy through a fine strainer into the serving bowl and discard the vegetables and spices that remain in the strainer.
To serve, place the couscous in another serving dish.
Pour the broth into a pitcher or soup tureen.
Encourage guests to place couscous in their soup bowl, top with the meat and vegetables and moisten with soup.
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