It's been a while since I've last posted a tagine recipe! Well, this mainly proves one thing: Moroccan cuisine is not only about tagines, don’t you think? Not that I don't love love love our fragrant stews but Moroccan food has so many other treasures to offer, like bastila, almond briouates or maakouda!

Artichoke season started a few weeks ago in the UK and I couldn't resist but purchase these beautiful purple artichokes when I saw them. And the first thing that sprung to my mind when I got home was that I was going to *tagine* them!

Traditionally, artichoke tagine is prepared in Morocco with meat and green peas but I substituted the meat with baby potatoes because summer and occasional veganism habits plus potatoes and artichoke make a very very good match!

It has green peas, plenty of spices, olives, and preserved lemon! It's satisfying, fragrant, citrusy and only takes one hour to prepare!

Artichoke Tagine with peas, baby potatoes and preserved lemon (vegan)

INGREDIENTS

Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions chopped or sliced (400g)
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic (about 2 to 3 cloves)
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
½ teaspoon ground dried ginger
¾ teaspoon salt or more to taste
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 ½ to 2 cups vegetable stock (300ml to 450ml)
400g baby potatoes
1 medium size preserved lemon
10 medium size artichoke bottoms (600g)
200g green peas
150g red-brown olives, like kalamatas
Chopped coriander for garnish

METHOD

• In a large casserole, heat the olive oil and add the onions over medium heat. Cover with a lid and leave the onions until they are soft and translucent, about 10 min. This will allow to sweat the onions.

• Add the garlic, the spices, salt and pepper and 1 ½ cup (300ml) vegetable stock. Cover with a lid and leave to simmer gently for 30 minutes to obtain a nice broth.

• Meanwhile, remove the flesh from the preserved lemon and finely chop the skin (discard the flesh).

• Add the potatoes, the artichoke bottoms and the preserved lemon in the casserole and cover with a lid for 20 to 25 minutes until both the artichoke and the baby potatoes are nicely cooked and soft. At this stage, there should be enough liquid in the casserole to partially cover the potatoes and the artichokes, if it looks like the tagine is too dry, add more vegetable stock.

• Add the green peas and cover for 3 to 4 minutes or until the green peas are cooked.

• Serve warm with a side of couscous or crusty bread. Top with olives and fresh chopped coriander.

Notes

• Depending on the seasons, it might be hard to find artichoke bottoms. If you do find them, here’s how to obtain artichoke bottoms from whole ones. If you can’t find artichoke, don’t hesitate to use frozen ones.