Vegetable Tagine with Fruity Couscous

This dish originates from North Africa. It is a versatile recipe so it can be adapted easily to suit your taste and is a great way to get a portion of fruit into your main meal.

Ingredients

1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 small butternut squash
3 medium carrots
1 medium sweet potato
4cm piece root ginger OR 1 x 5ml spoon ginger paste
2 x 15ml spoons olive oil
1 x 5ml spoon cumin
1 x 5ml spoon coriander
1 x 5ml spoon cinnamon
½ x 5ml spoon chilli powder
75g ready-to-eat dried apricots
900ml boiling water
200g couscous
50g raisins
1 x 400g can chickpeas
1 small bunch (15g) fresh coriander to serve

Equipment

2x Chopping board
Sharp knife
Colander
Peeler
Teaspoon
Grater
Wooden spoon
Large saucepan and lid
Measuring spoons
Weighing scales
Measuring jug
Kettle
Large bowl
Clingfilm
Can opener
Fork
Pan stand

Instructions

1. Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Wash all the remaining vegetables.
2. Peel the butternut squash, carrots and sweet potato. Chop the squash and carrots into 1cm pieces and the sweet potato into 2cm pieces.
3. Peel the ginger using a teaspoon and grate using the coarse side of the grater.
4. Heat the oil in the saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 8–10 minutes until soft.
5. Add the garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and chilli powder. Stir and cook for 2 minutes.
6. Chop the dried apricots in half.
7. Add the butternut squash, carrots, sweet potato and apricots and mix. Add 500ml boiling water and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 30 minutes with the lid on.
8. Place the couscous and raisins in the bowl and add 400ml boiling water. Cover with clingfilm and leave for 10 minutes.
9. Drain the chickpeas and add to the saucepan, stir and simmer for 5 minutes.
10. Remove the clingfilm from the couscous and use a fork to gently fluff up the grains.
11. To serve, roughly chop the coriander leaves and sprinkle on the tagine and couscous.

Skills used include:
Weighing, measuring, peeling, chopping, grating, boiling/simmering and frying.

Top Tips

• Replace the dried spices with 2 x 5ml spoons of harissa paste.
• Peeling the ginger with a teaspoon helps to minimise waste.
• Freeze peeled ginger and grate when frozen as this makes it easier to grate.

Something to try next time

• You could replace the raisins in the couscous with dried prunes, dates or cherries.
• The tagine can also be served with rice rather than couscous.
• Replace the chickpeas with 200g of Quorn™ pieces, diced tofu or diced cooked chicken. If you use Quorn™ pieces, add them at step 6 with the spices so the Quorn™ can absorb all the flavour. Brown the diced tofu in a little oil before adding at step 9.

Prepare now, eat later

• After cooking, cool the tagine within one hour, cover and keep in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
• To freeze, cool the tagine as quickly as possible after cooking then transfer it to an airtight plastic container and freeze for up to 1 month. Defrost thoroughly and reheat until piping hot.