Moroccan Vegetable Tagine

Pippa Kendrick

Gluten free, soy free, nut free, yeast free. What could be more sumptuous on a wintry day than to slowly cook this fragrant and rich tagine, packed full of vegetables and sweetened with spice and agave syrup.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 6
Cooking Time: 185 minutes

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Ingredients

For the spices:
½ tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp ginger
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp allspice berries
1 cardamom
½ tsp ground mace
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp chili flakes
½ tsp sea salt flakes
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp agave syrup
2 large red onions
2 cloves of garlic
1 large butternut squash
1 fennel bulb
1 large eggplant
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 6
Cooking Time: 185 minutes

Preparation

The combination of spices are really a guideline so do feel free to add or subtract as you wish – if you don’t like a certain spice, just leave it out. You can also ring the changes with the vegetables used: Parsnips, sweet potato and zucchini would all work. This is really about the beautiful fragrance and taste of the dish: Serve it with a big bowl of brown rice and some steamed broccoli, it’s sure to warm you up! Serves 4 - 6

Method

Place the cardamom, coriander seeds, and allspice berries in a dry frying pan and heat over a medium flame until you can smell their fragrant scent – about 1 minute but keep an eye on them. Transfer to a pestle and mortar and grind to a fine powder.

Next, combine all of the spices together in a small bowl. Pour over 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and all of the agave syrup. Stir together until combined.

Preheat the oven to 250F. Peel the onion and cut into half moon slices, slice the garlic into thin rounds. Next, peel and deseed the squash. Chop the squash, fennel and eggplant into large chunks approximately 1.5in in size.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a large heavy based casserole. Gently fry the onion and garlic until softened. Add the squash and fry with the onion until the squash begins to give at the edges. Add the fennel and eggplant to the pan and stir together. Pour over the spice mixture and stir in until evenly mixed, frying for a further minute. Pour over the tomatoes and puree, bring to a rolling simmer and then cover and transfer to the oven to cook slowly for 2 – 3 hours.