Vegetable Tagine

Ingredients

serves 4+

Vegetable tagine

• 3 tbsp Olive oil
• 2 red onions, finely sliced
• 5 Garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 large cinnamon stick
• ¼ tsp saffron threads
• 600g butternut squash, peeled & cut into bite-sized pieces
• 400g turnip, peeled & cut into bite-sized pieces
• 400g sweet potatoes, peeled & cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3 carrots, washed & thickly sliced
• 700ml* good vegetable stock
• 1 preserved lemon
• 400g Cooked chickpeas
• 300g prune and dried apricot mix (stoned)
• 100g stoned olives

Couscous

• 200g couscous
• 400g filtered water*
• Glug olive oil

To serve

• Pomegranate arils
• Fresh coriander leaves
• 20g blanched almonds

Method

Vegetable tagine

Heat a large, heavy-based pan (or, indeed, a tagine). Add the oil a little before adding the onion. Cook over a medium-low heat for as couple of minutes before adding the finely sliced garlic. Stir in the powdered spices. Add the squash, turnip, and carrots followed by enough stock to cover the mix. Break in the cinnamon stick and bring to a simmer. Take the preserved lemon, pare it - remove the skin, cut the preserved zest into a fine dice, and add it to the pot along with the prunes and dried apricots. Continue to simmer gently for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked. Stir in the chickpeas and olives and then remove from the heat. Taste and season - if necessary.

Heat a dry pan before adding the blanched almonds. Carefully toast until they take on a golden hue.

For the couscous, heat the water in a kettle (most energy-efficient way). Place the couscous granules in a heatproof bowl, pour over the boiling water and leave for 10 minutes for the water to be absorbed. Stir in a good glug of olive oil.

To serve, spoon the couscous into a serving dish - to one side and scatter over some pomegranate arils. Generously spoon the tagine into the other side of the serving dish. Finsh with toasted almonds and fresh coriander leaves.

JAMx