Recipe of the Week - Warming Winter Tagine

Suitable for vegetarian, vegan and paleo diets

Total time: Up to 1 ½ hours

Nobody likes January. It’s a fact. From failing overly ambitious New Year resolutions, to the bad weather and the unrelentingly pale and dry skin, January is just a bit rubbish.

So what could be better in the darkest pars of winter than a little taste of North Africa in the form of Morocco’s signature dish; the humble tagine. Therefore this week we have decided to share with you a wonderful recipe for our Warming Winter Tagine. Suitable for vegetarian, vegan and even paleo diets, it is a dish that truly surpasses the dieting conundrum and will be found delicious by even the fussiest of eaters, we guarantee it!

The basis of good Moroccan food is its perfect synergy between sweet and spicy flavours. In this dish we have given this a Filmore twist by combining the traditional spice of the harissa with the natural sweetness of butternut squash and sweet potato. Our tagine is absolutely full of fresh vegetables and all the beautiful flavors that they provide and makes getting your five a day absolutely effortless! We have also added in aubergine, which provides a great meaty texture and dense flavour, which truly brings this dish to life. Trust us, even the most ardent of meat eaters won’t miss it!

This Tagine is SUPER easy to make and shouldn’t faze even the most novice of cooks! What’s even better is that if you don’t finish if you have leftovers, it’s great reheated for lunch the next day.

Ingredients:

• 1 large white onion, finely diced

• 2 large carrots, sliced

• 1 sweet potato, chopped into cubes

• 1 small butternut squash, skin removed and chopped into cubes

• 2 courgettes, chopped into cubes

• 1 large aubergine, chopped into cubes

• 1/3rd of a cauliflowers florets

• 100g fresh spinach

• 500ml vegetable stock

• 4 minced garlic cloves

• 1 inch cube of fresh ginger, minced

• 3 tablespoons of harissa paste

• 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley

• 1 tablespoon of chopped mint

• salt and pepper for seasoning

• ½ teaspoon of turmeric

• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil (use olive oil if no coconut)

Instructions:

• Prepare and chop all the vegetables

• Add the coconut oil to a large casserole dish and sauté the white onion on a medium heat for 5-7 minutes, or until soft, but not browned

• Add in the garlic and ginger stir in. As soon as the aromas of the garlic are released stir in the harissa paste, turmeric, parsley, and mint

• Add in the carrots, sweet potato, butternut squash, courgette, aubgergine, cauliflower and stock and season well with salt and pepper

• Cover with the lid of the casserole dish and cook over low heat for 50 minutes, stirring occasionally

• Just before you are ready to serve stir in the fresh spinach and allow it to wilt. Once all the spinach is wilted and you have checked the seasoning is to your taste it’s ready to serve

• Serve with a rice or quinoa based side

If you have enjoyed this recipe and love Moroccan food as much as we do then please join Filmore & Union for our Moroccan themed evenings at the end of this month. Our expert chefs have designed a delicious 3-course menu, which truly showcases the beauty of Moroccan food. These evenings are taking place in our York, Harrogate, Wetherby, Skipton and Ilkley restaurants – so find out more on our events page.