Tagine of sweet potato, pumpkin, prunes and chickpeas

The noble tagine

Tagine can be used to refer to the pot / dish that the food is cooked and served in and to the recipes themselves. Tagines are a great style of one pot cooking. Vegetarian tagines are quick and suitable for after-work cooking.

From Wikipedia: "A tajine or tagine (Berber: tajin) is a Moroccan dish, which is named after the special pot in which it is cooked. A similar dish, known as Tavvas, is found in the cuisine of Cyprus. The traditional tajine pot is formed entirely of a heavy clay, which is sometimes painted or glazed. It consists of two parts: a base unit that is flat and circular with low sides, and a large cone or dome-shaped cover that rests inside the base during cooking. The cover is so designed to promote the return of all condensation to the bottom. With the cover removed, the base can be taken to the table for serving. Tajines in Moroccan cuisine are slow-cooked stews braised at low temperatures, resulting in tender meat with aromatic vegetables and sauce."

There is no shortage of tagine recipes. Tagine pots are readily available in Australia, including from online supplier everten. I've got an Emile Henry brand and it seems to do the job.

This recipe we used the other night as part of our health kick, its quick and easy and tasty. Though with more time to spare, I would still opt for a lamb of chicken version. Tagine recipes often (perhaps usually or always) contain some sort of dried fruit (such as apricots or prunes) and the sweetness of the fruit blends beautifully with meat and veggies when it slow cooks for a while. A quick tagine like this comes close but doesn't quite get there. Still for a quick after-work mid-week dinner, it ain't half bad.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion finely chopped

A garlic clove

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

½ teaspoon turmeric

330grams sweet potato and 330 grams of butternut pumpkin peeled and cut into 2cm chunks

1x 400 can tinned tomatoes

1 cup Vegetable stock

1 can 400 gms chickpeas

100gms pitted prunes

2 medium size zucchinis sliced into rounds

Method

Heat the oil in a tagine (or large frypan if you don't have a tagine) over medium heat, add the onion and garlic and sauté lightly for about 3 minutes or until soft and golden.

Add the cumin, coriander and turmeric and stir until aromatic.

Add the sweet potato and pumpkin and stir to coat the spices. 

Stir in the tomatoes, stock and chickpeas. 

Cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes then add the prunes and zucchini.  Cover and simmer for a further 10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. 

Serve with couscous or basmati rice.

Comments

[Caitlin]

This lokks good but can you pls post the Lamb recipe with apricot Jam?? Staying to do some comfort cooking this weekend!!