Lentil & Vegetable Tagine

Tagine on the table

A tagine is a kind of terracotta cooking pot with a conical lid, and also the food cooked in it - a stew. Normally a tagne has soft, falling off the bone meat and vegetables, but this version is meatless. It cooks at low heat for a long time. I don’t have a tagine pot, but I use my cast iron pot or Japanese ceramic nabe and they both work fine. The Moroccan spice mix can be made ahead and stored.

Moroccan Spice Mix
makes about 4 tsp

2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp clove
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp cumin

Lentil and Vegetable Tagine
serves 4-6

2 cups yellow lentils, soaked for an hour
1 tsp olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp Moroccan spice mix (or up to 2 tsp for more intense seasoning)
2 dried apricots, cut fine
4 cups water (adjust as needed during cooking)
1 carrot, large diced
3 cups eggplant, zucchini, etc., large diced
1 cup green beans, broad beans, asparagus, etc, cut into 2 cm pieces
1 cup mushrooms, large diced
6 plum tomatoes, halved or quartered

In a tagine or heavy casserole, saute the onions and garlic in olive oil until lightly browned. Add the drained lentils, spice mix, apricots, and 4 cups of water. Cover and simmer until lentils are about 1/2 cooked. Yellow lentils take about 25 minutes to this point; red or brown lentils will take a little less time. Check the package and schedule accordingly. You may need to adjust the amount of water, too, so keep an eye on it.

Add in the carrots, cover the pot and cook for ten minutes. Add the remaining vegetables except the tomatoes and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables and lentils are both done. Mix in the tomatoes and serve.

Posted by kuri at August 01, 2007 12:51 PM