Vegetable Tagine with Harissa, Goats Cheese and Fresh Herbs

To make this beautiful vegetable tagine is simple. All you have to do is make the sauce which you stir over vegetables then roast in the oven. This is great because it means you can also use any leftover vegetables you have in the fridge. The vegetables I use in this recipe are chosen because of their complimentary flavours and when finished with fresh herbs and goats cheese, the dish is absolutely delicious.

Prepare the sauce in which the vegetables will be cooked in advance. This is done by cooking the diced onions, garlic and ginger for about 5 minutes in a pan over a medium heat with a little olive oil. When the onions are translucent add the harissa, canned tomatoes and vegetable stock. Continue to cook for about another 5 minutes. Harissa is a spicy North African spicy sauce, sort of like Moroccan tomato sauce. It is available from fine food shops or check out my recipe to make your own.

Prepare the vegetables by peeling then dicing all of the vegetable so as they are a similar size. In a large baking dish pour the sauce over the vegetables, stir well then bake covered with foil at 200°c for about 45 minutes. Remove the foil then continue to cook uncovered for 1 hour. This can also be done in a terra cotta tagine however it will need to be cooked for 3 hours @ 150°c, make sure you follow the manufacturer’s directions on how to prepare your tagine for cooking otherwise they can crack.

While the tagine is cooking, blanch the peas in salted water then refresh under cold running water. When the tagine is cooked, ready the vegetables are ready sprinkle some freshly ground cumin seeds, the cooked peas and salt & pepper over the tagine. Serve on cous cous with goat’s cheese and picked herbs as garnish.

Ingredients
Pumpkin, 1kg peeled & diced
Sweet Potato, 1kg peeled & diced
Brown Onions, 3 large cut in eighths
Carrots, 1kg peeled & diced
Fresh Peas, 1 Cup shelled
Vegetable Stock, 2 Cups
Harissa, 2 Tbs
Canned Tomato, 400g
Garlic, 2 Cloves finely diced
Onions, 1Large finely diced
Ginger, 1tbs finely diced

Goats Cheese
Mint, picked Leaves
Parsley, picked Leaves
Coriander, picked Leaves