Tagine with veal, prunes and grilled almonds

Tagine for 6-8 people

Preparation: approx. 30 minutes.

Roasting time: approx. 2 hours.

Tagine with lots of sweetness and flavor

When we come to Morocco, there are a number of dishes that stand as MUST HAVES on our menu. One of them is this Tagine/Tajine with veal, prunes and grilled almonds. One of the things I love about Moroccan cuisine is the mix between the salty, sweet and the power of all the spices - a sweet harmony is created in between. And this Tajine with veal, prunes and grilled almonds has just that!

You can also easily make it with lamb, which only makes it better. Beef is also super nice! The meat should be nicely tender. This time I chose to make it with veal, simply because it is somewhat easier to obtain than lamb.

Tagine or Tajine, both ways of writing it are used. Tagine comes from Berber and means clay dish. The clay dish has a cone-shaped lid and is a widely used way of preparing food in Morocco. It works like a frying pan, where the food simmers inside the dish and the steam is only led out through a small hole at the top of the cone-shaped lid.

If you choose the beautiful green mottled Tagine that fits dishes, bowls and plates in the same series, you can cook in it directly to the oven, as well as as a serving dish.

There are many different recipes; fish, chicken, beef and lamb and many different kinds of vegetables and spices can be used. It's really only the imagination that sets the limits.

For 4 people

800-1000 grams of diced beef/veal/lamb

2 onions

2-3 cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon paprika

1 tsp cumin

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

10 strands of saffron - dissolved in a little water

1 beef bouillon

2 tbsp. tomato puree.

Oil for frying

1-2 glasses of water

Season with salt and pepper

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250-300 grams of prunes without stones

1/2 dl water

1 tbsp. syrup

A large handful of slivered almonds/grilled on the pan

Freshly chopped coriander and/or parsley (can be omitted)

1. Mix the meat with all the spices (can also be done the day before).
2. Put a small pot over with prunes, water and syrup and let it boil for approx. 15 min and then set it aside.
3. Cut onions into small cubes and brown them in a little oil.
4. Then brown the pieces of meat. Add tomato puree, water and broth.
5. Place the dish in the oven at 150-170 degrees for one hour (can also be placed on the grill at a low flame). If you have a gas burner, you can also let it simmer over the gas burner.
6. Fry the slipped almonds in the pan in a little oil so that they get a golden colour. Cool afterwards.
7. Take out the tagine and add prunes, and return the tagine to the oven for approx. 30 minutes
8. Before serving, sprinkle the grilled almonds on top and possibly chopped coriander and/or parsley.

Can be served with homemade fries, potatoes, rice or fresh bread.

Accessories for your Tagine/Tajine: I love homemade fries for this dish. But it can also easily be eaten with rice, potatoes, cauliflower rice or fresh bread.

Condiments: In Morocco, you usually add spices to taste, and I have to admit that I also cook that way myself. For me, cooking is a way of expressing myself and depending on my mood, I add more or less spices and experiment with cooking in different ways. You can leave out the coriander and cinnamon if you don't feel like it. You can also easily add a little chilli to the dish, it also tastes really good.

Roasting time: In Morocco, you don't worry too much about the cooking time and with a Tagine you can easily let it simmer for hours without it going wrong, as long as you make sure that there is still some sauce left in the dish, then your Tagine really can't take too long.

Bon appetite!

Once you have tried this tagine, you can try one of my other tagine recipes. Find them here.

If you want to know more about the origin of the tagine, read my blog post about it. Here you will find e.g. an original tagine recipe from the 13th century. Read it here.