Vegetable Tagine
By Abi and Sadhbh of The Sustainable Food Story
Tagine is a delicious sweet and spiced, North African stew, often made in a tagine pot, but it can be made in any heavy based pot with a lid.
Our well-travelled friend, Vero, brought this recipe back to us in London, when we worked together at The Skip Garden Kitchen, where we grew, laughed, loved and learned to cook great vegetarian food together. She’s currently travelling through Mexico, or maybe Belize by now. We can’t wait to see her again and cook the latest new recipes with her.
Tagine is a great year-round stew to make for a big group as it really saves a lot of time to be able to roughly chop up the onions, garlic and ginger and then just blend it together. It then reduces down to a fragrant paste, which becomes a thickener for the sauce.
Start by blending up your onions, ginger and garlic in a food processor. You can chop them if you don’t have one. Heat oil in your pot, then add blended mixture and all your spices, including cinnamon sticks. Sauté for 5-10 minutes until the onion paste gets sweet and sticky.
Then, add your prepared vegetables to the pot. Sauté the leek into the mixture at this stage, if using. If you want to keep some bite in the peppers and zucchini, add them 5 mins later than the carrots and eggplant. A great way to prepare a tricky to peel squash (like ours, pictured) is to roast it whole for 20-25 minutes until it softens enough to cut in half easily. Then you can scoop out the seeds, and if the skin is too thick to eat you can scoop the flesh away from it and just use the flesh. We often find that the skin softens enough and is also edible (and a great source of fiber and micronutrients) so we chop up the whole thing and add it to the pot.
Next, add the can of tomatoes/tomato paste, vegetable stock, chickpeas, dried fruit, preserved lemon, half of the almonds, honey/agave, and harissa paste and stir everything together. Bring to a boil, then stir. Lower the heat to a simmer and allow to cook 40 minutes to an hour with the lid on, stirring occasionally to ensure it’s not sticking. This slow cooking can also be done in the oven, if you have the right pot for it. Top up with a little water if it gets too thick and starts to stick.
We recommend preparing couscous, or other grains, to accompany the dish. We like to add a little ras el hanout spice mix, and always add salt or vegetable stock to couscous or grains as they cook. Turning your couscous into an herby tabbouleh is a delicious, but slightly more elaborate option to accompany your tagine. Serve the vegetable tagine on a bed of couscous, or grains, with a sprinkle of fresh parsley or coriander leaves and the remaining sliced almonds.
Enjoy!
Vegetable Tagine Recipe
Makes 4 - 6 portions
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon cooking oil - we use canola oil
2 red onions, peeled and halved
6 big cloves garlic, peeled
Thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled
2 cinnamon sticks, or 1-2 teaspoons cinnamon
1-2 teaspoons ground cumin
1-2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ roasted squash, or roast a whole small squash and chop into chunks
1 large carrot, cut into batons
1 red pepper
1 eggplant, and/or zucchini
Chopped leek
400g (14 oz.) can of tomatoes, or tomato paste
400g (14 oz.) can of chickpeas, drained
8-10 prunes, apricots or dates, roughly chopped
1 small preserved lemon, chopped finely (or juice of a lemon if you can’t find a jar of preserved lemons)
Handful of almonds, or other nuts
1 pint vegetable stock
Optional: tablespoon of honey or agave syrup, harissa paste
Serve with:
2-3 cups couscous (or bulgar, freekeh, quinoa etc)
1 tsp ras el hanout
Herbs - cilantro, parsley
Directions:
1. Roast your squash for 20-25 minutes until it softens enough to cut in half easily
2. Blend your onions, ginger and garlic in a food processor.
3. Heat oil in a pot and add the blended mixture and all your spices, including cinnamon sticks. Sauté for 5-10 minutes until the onion paste gets sweet and sticky.
4. Add your prepared vegetables to the pot. Sauté the leek into the mixture and add your peppers, zucchini, carrots, eggplant, and squash.
5. Add the tomatoes, vegetable stock, chickpeas, dried fruit, preserved lemon, half of the almonds, honey/agave, and harissa paste and stir everything together. Bring to a boil, then stir. Lower the heat to a simmer and allow to cook 40 minutes to an hour with the lid on, stirring occasionally to ensure it’s not sticking. This slow cooking can also be done in the oven, if you have the right pot for it. Top up with a little water if it gets too thick and starts to stick.
6. Prepare couscous, or other grains, according to the instructions. Serve the vegetable tagine on a bed of couscous, or grains, with a sprinkle of fresh parsley or coriander leaves and the remaining sliced almonds.
