Baked vegetable tagine with preserved lemon
This vegetable tagine can be served as a side dish or on its own with Plain, Buttery Couscous or flatbread to dip into it. Vegetable tagines vary with the seasons and can be prepared on the hob or in the oven. For the baked version, you need a traditional Berber tagine with a domed lid, rather than the steep conical one, or you can use an earthenware baking dish, covered with foil.INGREDIENTS
- 2–3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 onions, halved and sliced with the grain
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
- 1–2 red chillies, deseeded and chopped
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 3–4 good-sized potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced
- 2 good-sized carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
- 8–10 broccoli florets
- 600 ml vegetable or chicken stock
- 225 g fresh or frozen peas
- 1 preserved lemon, thickly sliced
- leaves from a bunch of fresh coriander, coarsely chopped
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4–6 large tomatoes, sliced
- 15 g butter
- crusty bread or Plain, Buttery Couscous, to serve
Serves 4
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF) Gas 4.
Heat the oil in a tagine or heavy-based casserole. Add the onions and sauté until they begin to color. Add the garlic, ginger, and chilies and cook for 1–2 minutes. Stir in the cumin seeds and paprika then toss in the potatoes, carrots, and broccoli. Pour in the stock, cover and place the tagine in the oven for about 20 minutes, until the potatoes, carrots, and broccoli are tender but still firm and most of the liquid has reduced.
Season with salt and pepper. Toss in the peas preserved lemon and half the coriander. Arrange the tomato slices, overlapping each other, on top and dab them with little bits of butter. Pop the tagine back into the oven, uncovered, to brown the top of the tomatoes.
Garnish with the remaining coriander and serve hot from the tagine with Plain, Buttery Couscous or crusty bread.