This duck tagine manages to keep the duck breast rosy pink whilst delivering on the big flavours harissa, almonds and dates!

North African Duck Breast Stew.
A tagine is a dish named after the receptacle it is cooked in… A conical pot that returns the condensate from the recipe back into the pan.
However, the name has come to signify a simple stew, rich with the flavours of North Africa or Persia.
This version is pretty light and in comparison to my something like my butternut squash tagine and sweet potato tagine.
This version features pretty classic flavours and textures.
Almonds, harissa paste, honey and dates work with a load of onions to create a great base for the richness of duck breast.

The Duck Breast.
Whether you are cooking a Moroccan lamb tagine, chicken tagine or even my rabbit tagine the meat is usually slow cooked in the stew.
This recipe takes a slightly different approach.
It is developed to be a pretty quick dinner and a light dinner. But it still hits all of those North African flavour triggers.
We begin by starting the duck breast in a cold pan. It is the same technique used in my duck with orange sauce recipe.
This helps to render out the fat, which we drain off. It is the same reason that I remove the skin entirely from my tamarind duck leg recipe.
In this instance, though we keep the skin as we are able to keep a nice texture when cooking the duck.
The timing of this recipe results in a duck breast that is just past medium.
If you want to take it to medium then you can cook it for an extra 10 minutes or so.
If you want it cooked less then you will need to cook the base for a while first and add the duck later.

Serving Suggestions.
Tagines have big flavours and for that reason, I prefer blank canvases as side dishes.
In this instance, I served this with a herby buttered couscous, but also serve it regularly with bulgur wheat.
Timing-wise, both can be comfortably made around this recipe making it a simple complete meal to make.
Although you could just as easily get some baby carrots and use the spicing from this Moroccan carrot recipe to make a vegetable side.

Duck Tagine Recipe
North African/Persian flavours are no stranger here and this duck tagine features more than a passing nod to those ideas.
Ingredients
- 350 g (12 oz) Duck Breast
- 1 Cinnamon Stick
- 300 g (2 Cups) Onion
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- 65 g (1/3 Cup) Pitted Dates
- 50 g (1/3 Cup) Blanched Almonds
- 10 g (1/2 Tbsp) Honey
- 1 Tbsp Harissa Paste
- 1 Tsp Orange Blossom Water
- Salt to Taste
Instructions
- Cut a diamond pattern on the skin side of the duck breast ensuring that you do not go through to the flesh.
- Season the duck generously with salt and then place skin side down in a cold dry pan.
- Throw in the cinnamon stick and then turn on the heat to medium/low and cook for 10 minutes.
- Drain off any fat after 5 or 6 minutes.
- Top and tail the onion cut into 5mm thick half moon shapes.
- Tear the dates into bite sized pieces.
- Mince the garlic cloves.
- After 10 minutes remove the duck and set aside.
- Drain all but a scant covering of duck fat from the pan, increase the heat to medium-high and fry off the onions for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes add in the almonds, harissa paste, garlic and honey and stir to coat.
- Pour in enough water to cover the base of the pan to a depth of 5-7mm.
- Add the orange blossom water, season with salt and then place the duck breast on top skin side up.
- Add a lid and place in the oven and roast for 15 minutes at 200°C or 400°F.
- Remove from the oven and allow the duck to rest for 5 minutes.
- Cut into bite-sized pieces and return to the pan with any resting juices and mix before serving.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 674Total Fat: 34gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 25gCholesterol: 238mgSodium: 395mgCarbohydrates: 44gFiber: 8gSugar: 27gProtein: 51g
Calorific details are provided by a third-party application and are to be used as indicative figures only.
Amanda Wren-Grimwood
Saturday 11th of May 2019
Duck breast is so versatile and perfect with those sweet flavours. My family would really love the earthy flavours and the crunch of the almonds too.
Brian Jones
Monday 13th of May 2019
Thanks Amanda
Chef Mireille
Saturday 11th of May 2019
I love your unusual tagines like duck and rabbit - looks so hearty and delicious!
Brian Jones
Monday 13th of May 2019
Thank you Mireille
Jagruti Dhanecha
Friday 10th of May 2019
Tagine is a beautiful dish to serve at any time, spicy flavours from the harissa paste make all the difference to this recipe, like the addition of rose water in this recipe.
Brian Jones
Monday 13th of May 2019
Thank you :)
Beth Neels
Friday 10th of May 2019
I love tagines, but have never made it with duck! Yum! I want to get a real tagine (the pot) some day! I can't wait to try this! We adore duck!
Brian Jones
Monday 13th of May 2019
Thanks Beth
Adrianne
Thursday 9th of May 2019
Wow what a fancy looking dish. The cous cous does sounds like it would be the perfect accompaniment as you say. I will have to give this delicious sounding dish a go, cheers!
Brian Jones
Friday 10th of May 2019
Enjoy :)