23. Winter Vegetable Tagine

Name: 23. Winter Vegetable Tagine
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Cuisine: Moroccan, African
Ingredients: 4 tbsp olive oil; 2 red onions, sliced; 5 cloves garlic, finely sliced; 1 sweet potato, peeled and large diced; 1 turnip, peeled and large diced; 1 tsp ground ginger; 1 tsp ground turmeric powder; 1/4 tsp saffron threads; 1 tsp ground cardamom; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp ground coriander; 1 tsp ground fennel seeds; 1/4 tsp ground cloves; 1 cinnamon stick; 600ml vegetable stock; 300g soft prunes; 1 preserved lemon, skin only, finely chopped; 2 tsp honey; 50g firm green olives, pitted; 400g tin of chickpeas, drained; 300g green beans, ends trimmed; 400ml vegetable stock; 300g cous cous; 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped; 1 bunch mint, finely chopped; Juice of half a lemon; 1 tbsp olive oil; 50g slivered almonds, pan toasted; Harissa to serve

5 steps

Prep:30minCook:1h

Turnip was a controversial choice in my household - I stand by it, and love the earthiness and subtle bitterness it brings that adds further complexity to this seriously decadent tagine. But that bitterness isn’t for everyone, and a good alternative would be to substitute with half a cauliflower.

Updated at: Thu, 17 Aug 2023 05:05:50 GMT

Ingredients

5 servings

Tagine

Cous Cous

400mlvegetable stock

300gcous cous

1 bunchparsley

finely chopped

1 bunchmint

finely chopped

0.5juice of lemon

1 Tbspolive oil

Garnish

50galmonds

slivered, pan toasted

harissa

to serve

Instructions

Step 1

In a tagine or Dutch oven, sauté the onion and garlic in 2 tbsp of the olive oil. When translucent, remove from the pan and brown the sweet potato and turnip individually in a further tbsp of olive oil each.

Step 2

Use a little of the stock to deglaze the pan, then add the spices and cinnamon stick, and return first the onion/garlic mixture, then the diced vegetables back to the pan. Add the rest of the stock. The water level should be just below the vegetables, if it’s too low, add some more water. Add the prunes and preserved lemon. Season with salt if your stock isn’t salty. Put the lid on and cook in the oven for 30 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.

Step 3

Remove from the oven and return the tagine to the stove on low heat, and add the chickpeas, beans, honey and olives. Cook for a further 10-15 minutes, or until the beans are soft. Taste the tagine and balance the flavours - I found it needed a fair bit more salt still at this point.

Step 4

Now that the tagine is back on the stove, heat the stock to boiling and add to the couscous, covering with a plate. When the cous cous has swelled, usually just a couple minutes, fluff with a fork, and add the herbs, lemon juice, and olive oil.

Step 5

Serve the tagine on a bed of the herby cous cous mixture, and top with almonds and harissa. Add as much harissa as the eater would like, based on their preference of spiciness.