First of all, don't look at the ingredient list and think, "Jerk, that ain't no simple vegetable tagine."
I've broken this recipe down so you can get the prep work done in 15 minutes or less, and you can spend the cook time cleaning up everything else so when it's time to eat, the mess is in the dishwasher! This vegetable tagine is fantastic for clearing your refrigerator from the last bits of vegetables from other dinners or your CSA box.
Especially if your CSA box has a lot of squash and zucchini already, you'll appreciate this kind of meal! The amounts are fairly flexible, so if you only have 1 potato but 4 squash, and no carrots, it still works. Think of it as building blocks for a new tagine every week, if you want! In fact, I bet you'll be making this dish so often over the summer and into the fall and winter, that you'll want to invest in a tagine dish.
The Tagine Dish
The unique shape of the tagine dish goes hand in hand with why we call the pottery and the food the same name. The conical shape helps the steam gather in the top and steams the food below. If you don't have a tagine, you can use a 5 quart pot and use aluminum foil to cover any air vent holes in the lid.
It's important to keep the tagine or pot covered once you put it on and don't let the steam escape, that's what's cooking the food in the way its meant to be cooked! Maybe the next big trend in tagines is making clear topped ones so we can watch the food cooking?
If you are investing in a tagine dish, make sure it's useable on your stove type. Some are not good for glass top stoves, so if you have one, check into that. Mine is a 2.6 quart Emily Henry tagine, but Le Creuset makes a great one, and World Market has a few tagine options as well.
Preserved Lemons
It's easy to make preserved lemons at home, with the hardest part being waiting a month for them to be ready. If you don't want to wait, World Market has preserved lemons, as does Amazon.
I use this recipe from Cooking the Globe to make my preserved lemons, and have had success with it several times. One tip I'd add is to put the date you made the lemons on the top of the jar, and the date they will be ready (30 days later). Put the jar in a prominent cabinet so you remember to flip it every so often to keep the salt from settling in the bottom.
Since one can only eat so much tagine, I've found plenty of other uses for them, including preserved lemon pasta, and preserved lemon tabbouleh.
Vegetable Tagine with Couscous
Equipment
- Tagine pottery or a large pot with a tight fitting lid
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ medium onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tsp ginger minced
- 2-3 medium potatoes diced 1"
- 2-3 yellow squash and/or zucchini diced 1"
- ½ cup carrots diced
- 1 jalapeno pepper diced very small, optional
- ½ preserved lemon rind only, cut into fingernail sized pieces
- ¼ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp fennel seeds
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- ¼ tsp cardamom powder
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp cinnamon powder
- ¼ tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes or crushed tomatoes OR 1-2 diced red tomatoes, deseeded
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ cup golden raisins or dried cherries
- fresh parsley to garnish optional
- cooked couscous for serving
Instructions
- If you are using a pot with a lid, stuff any air holes in the lid with aluminum foil. If using a tagine pottery dish, check manufacturer's instructions to make sure it's stovetop safe (My Emily Henry tagine is safe for glass stovetops but not all may be).
- Mix all of your dried spices, from the oregano to the bay leaf, in a small dish and set aside.
- Chop all of the vegetables and set aside. Put the onions aside on their own, and you can combine the squash, potatoes, pepper, and carrots.
- Place the tagine or large pot on the stove and heat the oil in it over medium high heat.
- Add the onions and let soften for 3 minutes.
- Add the garlic and ginger and saute for 1 minute.
- Next, add your spices and use a spatula to move them around the bottom of the hot pan for 10-15 seconds until fragrant.
- Quickly add the preserved lemon, tomato, and water. Heat for 1 minute.
- Put your vegetables (potato, carrots, squash, and pepper if using) into the pot and give it a quick stir to get everything mixed well. Cover the tagine or the pot with the lid. Let cook over medium high heat for 3 minutes, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Do not remove the lid during this time at all.
- After 20 minutes, remove the lid, add in the raisins or cherries, and stir again. Use this time to pierce a large piece of potato with a fork to see how done it is. Place the lid back on and cook over low for 5-10 more minutes.
- If you're making couscous, start it now, according to package directions. It should be done by the time the tagine is too.
- Remove from heat once the potatoes are cooked through, and fish out the bay leaf. Add any additional salt and pepper to taste, and serve over couscous. Garnish with parsley if desired.
- Put the lid on the tagine to keep vegetables warm.
Since I am not planning to travel internationally for at least another year, until a COVID-19 vaccine is created and extensively tested, cooking dishes of places I want to travel is all I have. Morocco is high on my to-travel list with its unique blend of cultures. It's on the western edge of Africa, extremely close to the Strait of Gilbratar, which lead to the southern tip of Spain, and it has French influences as well, plus the predominant religion is Islam.
Additionally, it has Atlantic and Mediterranean coastline, which means beaches, plus mountains to the south and desert to the west, and several vibrant cities with their own unique facets. This country really has some of everything.
Even though this is only a small bite of the culture that encompasses the country of Morocco, it's got me excited to go there ... one day. My first exposure to the country is through a travel blog, and I hope that it, and additional research, inspires you to visit one day too.
