Recipe: Summer vegetable tagine
30m prep | 20-30m cook
Conveniently used for both the dish and the serving vessel, the word ‘tagine’ conjures visceral memories of aromatic braises and stews, filled with Middle Eastern flavours like saffron, paprika and preserved lemon.
Though they’re often rich and wintery, with a few small adjustments tagines are just as perfect for the warmer months. Try leaving out the meat and choosing your favourite in-season vegetables, adding each in order of how long they need to cook. Choose vibrant spices like paprika and sumac (or go for our ready-to-go tagine spice mix), and garnish the finished dish with a mountain of herbs. Finish it off with a dollop of yoghurt and a spoonful of red harissa.
It’s like a cool breeze on a warm Moroccan day.
Ingredients (Serves 4)
- 500mL vegetable stock
- 2 tsp tagine spice mix
- 1 tsp salt
- 100g cherry tomatoes
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 carrots, diced
- Kernels from 1 cob of corn
- 1/4 cauliflower head, broken into florets
- 1 small red capsicum, seeds removed, cut into squares
- 50g okra, cut into 1cm lengths
- 1 zucchini
- 125g tin of chick peas
- 100g whole green olives
- Mint, parsley and coriander
- Flaked almonds
- Plain yoghurt
- Harissa
- Couscous
- Lemon cheeks
- Green chilli, thinly sliced
- Extra virgin olive oil
Heat oven to 180C. Place cherry tomatoes in a small baking dish or oven-proof frying pan, drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil, and roast until tomatoes have shrunk and become tender (around 20 minutes).
If using a saucepan/stove:
Combine stock, tagine spice mix, salt, onion, garlic, corn and carrot in a saucepan over a medium-high heat. Once simmering, cover and cook for five minutes. Stir in cauliflower, capsicum, chick peas and return to a simmer. Cover and cook for a further five minutes.
Stir in okra, green olives, roast tomatoes (and any juices they’ve released) and zucchini, return to a simmer, then cover and cook for a final three minutes. Remove from the heat, stir (the okra will begin to thicken the liquid), then cover and leave to stand for 5-10 minutes.
Transfer tagine to a serving dish or individual plates and top with coriander, mint and parsley leaves, flaked almonds, yoghurt and harissa. Serve with couscous or rice.
If using a tagine:
When tomatoes have finished roasting, combine stock, tagine spice mix, salt, onion, garlic, corn and carrot in a tagine and transfer to the hot oven for fifteen minutes. Remove from oven, stir in cauliflower, capsicum, chick peas, cover and return to oven for a further ten minutes.
Stir in okra, green olives, roast tomatoes (and any juices they’ve released) and zucchini, cover and return to the oven for a final 10 minutes.
Remove from oven, stir, and top with coriander, mint and parsley leaves, flaked almonds, yoghurt and harissa. Serve with couscous or rice.