This Vegan Tagine is full of the spices of Morocco and the tang of preserved lemons. It's the perfect stew to warm up this autumn and winter. Get the recipe below.
Simple stews
A tagine is a slow cooked, spiced stew that comes from Morocco. It gets its name from the earthenware pot which it is cooked in. Ordinarily you would find the stew made from meat like lamb, chicken or even fish. This is paired with lots of vegetables and even some fruit.
It may not be the most authentic but my vegan tagine recipe cuts out the meat and is packed full of veggies and tonnes of spice.
Whether you decide to enjoy it on its own or on a bed of couscous it makes for a hearty meal when the weather gets cold.
How to make a tagine
Making a tagine is not dissimilar to any other stew. The trick is to cook all of the ingredients in a large casserole dish so that the vegetables soak up all of the flavours of the spices.
Spices
The thing that transforms tagine from just another stew is the herbs and spices. My recipe uses:
- garlic;
- ginger;
- saffron;
- cumin;
- cinnamon;
- ras el hanout (more on that later);
- parsley; and
- mint.
These spices get toasted before adding the rest of the ingredients so that they release all of their flavour and aromas.
Vegetables
You can use almost any vegetable in a tagine and I like to chop and change the vegetables that I use based on the seasons.
For this particular recipe I use:
- onion;
- carrots;
- aubergine;
- red pepper;
- courgette; and
- tomatoes.
In the autumn and winter I use more root vegetables and even squash. Around Halloween why not use your leftover pumpkin.
Specialist ingredients
As with many international recipes you will need some specialist ingredients. The good news is that lots of these are now sold in the international aisles at the supermarket so they aren't too difficult to come by.
The two specialist ingredients you will need for this vegan tagine recipe are preserved lemons and ras el hanout.
Preserved lemons
Preserved lemons are lemons that have been stored in salt along with their juices. The result is a complex, salty, umami flavoured lemon that is often used in dishes such as tagines.
It's surprisingly easy to make your own: you can follow my recipe here.
Ras el hanout
Ras el hanout is a North African spice mix that is often used in Moroccan cooking.
The exact spices and quantities can very but you'll often find spices such as cardamom, clove, nutmeg, mace, allspice, chilli, coriander paprika, fenugreek, and turmeric. I've complemented a store bought ras el hanout with a few extra spices in my vegan tagine.
If you can't find a ras el hanout mix in the supermarket you can use these separate spices to make your own.
Vegan Tagine with Preserved Lemons
Ingredients
- 1 pinch saffron
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large red onion sliced
- 4 garlic cloves peeled and finely chopped
- 4 cm piece of ginger peeled and grated
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ras el hanout
- 1 tablespoon tomato puree
- 1 aubergine chopped
- 1 courgettes chopped
- 2 carrots sliced
- 14 cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 red pepper chopped
- 1 preserved lemon pips removed and finely chopped
- 50 g raisins
- salt and pepper to taste
- 400 g chickpeas tinned, drained
- 2 tablespoon mint chopped
- 2 tablespoon flat leaf parsley chopped
- almond flakes to serve (optional)
Instructions
- Put the saffron into a jug, cover with 500ml of boiling water and leave to infuse.
- Heat the oil in a large casserole pan and saute the diced onion for 8 - 10 minutes or until beginning to soften.
- Add the garlic, ginger, cumin, cinnamon and ras el hanout to the pan and cook for 2 minutes to bring the spices to life.
- Add the tomato paste and saffron water to the pan before adding the vegetables and chickpeas, preserved lemon and raisins.
- Season with sea salt and black pepper.
- Bring to the boil, cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Once the vegetables are tender, remove from the heat and sprinkle over the herbs, toasted almond flakes and pomegranate arils.
- Serve the tagine over couscous.
Nutrition
Serve with...
The perfect accompaniment to this tagine is a big bed of couscous. The grains of the couscous will mope up the delicious sauce surrounding the tender veggies.
More vegetable stews
More seasonal recipes
For more autumn and winter warmers, check out the autumn and winter recipe collections.
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