Vegetable Tagine

Here's a side dish we prepared for our Moroccan feast that was also featured in Williams-Sonoma's catalog.  Although I did not have a tagine to steam the vegetables in, I roasted them in the oven in a tall pot piling the veggies up high.  I used the same charmoula sauce I cooked the chicken and chickpeas in and that I bought at WS.

Tagine is an incredibly diverse Moroccan dish that is prepared in a special cooking pot also known by the same name.  The tagine comes in two pieces of thick stoneware. The bottom piece is a large, flat-bottomed bowl with the top piece being domed and is designed to attach to the inside of the bottom piece creating a seal.  The food inside makes a cone-shaped pile that should fill the tagine about halfway and doesn’t touch the inner walls or the lid, so there’s plenty of room for air to circulate.  The two pieces of the tagine make a type of clay oven that would've traditionally been placed into an open fire for cooking. 


Again, tangines (and the charmoula sauce) are available for purchase at Williams-Sonoma and are equally as lovely as they are a unique way of preparing all kinds of foods.


4 1/2 cups Mourad’s spiced tomato and herb braising sauce
3 1/2 lb. trimmed vegetables, such as:
Cipollini onions, 1 inch in diameter
Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
Baby carrots, 1 1/2 inches long, or large carrots, peeled and cut
  into 1 1/2-inch pieces
Cauliflower, cut into 1-inch florets
Turnips, cut into wedges (optional)
Fennel bulbs, cut into wedges (optional)
1/4 cup raisins (optional)
1/2 cup cooked chickpeas 
Paper-thin slices of raw vegetables used in tagine for garnish
Fennel fronds for garnish (optional)
1 preserved lemon, pulp removed, rind thinly sliced
Crunchy sea salt for sprinkling

In a saucepan over medium heat, simmer the braising sauce, stirring often to prevent scorching, until reduced by one-fourth, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Position a rack in the bottom of an oven; remove the other racks. Preheat the oven to 325°F.

Layer the vegetables in the tagine, starting with the cipollini onions and placing larger vegetables toward the bottom, where there is more heat. Add the chickpeas and raisins in the middle. As you layer, shape the vegetables into a mound, making sure the lid will fit securely without touching the vegetables. End with the smallest vegetable pieces.

Pour the braising sauce over the vegetables. Put the tagine on a heat diffuser over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer. Place the tagine on a baking sheet, cover with the lid and transfer to the oven. Cook until the vegetables are tender, about 1 hour. Remove the lid. Garnish the tagine with raw vegetable slices, fennel fronds and preserved lemon. Sprinkle with sea salt. Serves 6.

Adapted from Mourad: New Moroccan, by Mourad Lahlou (Artisan, 2011) and Williams-Sonoma.