Simon Pegg’s Favorite Dish is a Moroccan Classic
- Simon Pegg, known for his iconic supporting roles in major film franchises, has a love for Moroccan cuisine, particularly lamb tagine.
In any great meal, the main course is only part of the story. To truly bring it together, you need standout side dishes to complete the experience. The same goes for a great film; the lead actor might shine, but it's the supporting characters who help make the whole motion picture work.
And one actor who's made a name for himself playing iconic supporting roles is Simon Pegg . According to Radio Times , Pegg "has achieved the Holy Grail of nerd-dom: appearing in the trinity of Doctor Who, Star Wars and Star Trek . And he's very proud of it."
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The British actor has also more than just dabbled in action films. Since 2006, he has played Benji Dunn in the Mission: Impossible film series. As a key member of the Impossible Mission Force, Benji works alongside and is the close confidante to Ethan Hunt (played by the Tom Cruise ), traveling the globe to help ensure those high-stakes spy missions go off without a hitch.
While filming the fifth installment of Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation in Morocco, Simon fell in love with the local cuisine. As he tells Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty on an episode of Jamie and Jimmy's Food Fight, one of the dishes he has fond food memories of was lamb tagine. Here's what to know about this vibrantly complex dish and how to make it at home.
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What is Lamb Tagine?
The word "tagine" refers to both a North African cooking dish with a conical lid, and the aromatic stew traditionally cooked inside that dish. The tagine inside the dish is stew-like and is often made with savory meats, such as lamb or chicken , fragrant spices and sweet ingredients to create a complex dish with a richly flavored sauce.
Pegg has mentioned his love for lamb tagine in a number of interviews. In a 2014 reddit Ask Me Anything session , Pegg signed off by saying, "I'm going downstairs now, to a restaurant, here in Casablanca, to have a lamb tagine."
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How to Make Simon Pegg's Lamb Tagine
You can find the full recipe for Simon Pegg's lamb tagine on Jamie Oliver's website. Here's a very quick rundown on how you can make the dish at home.
Start by steeping saffron in hot water and soaking pitted prunes to soften. While those ingredients are soaking, get to work on the rest of the dish.
Season chopped onions and garlic with ginger, salt and pepper. In a tagine or large pan, heat some olive oil and add a cinnamon stick to flavor the oil. Add some diced lamb shoulder and cook the meat until browned.
Push the meat to one side of the pan, add the onions and garlic and cook until soft and caramelized. Add in some baby zucchini, baby carrots and chopped butternut squash, as well as the saffron, prunes, and the soaking liquids.
Add some extra water, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer until the flavors meld and the lamb is tender, 1½ to 2 hours. Serve with couscous, yogurt mixed with some harissa paste and warm flatbread.
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