Chickpea Tagine

Our food co-op brought in an assortment of root veggies this week, and fortuitously found a recipe that incorporated many of them while cruising the Food & Wine recipe search. (Note: It's awesome. You can search by ingredients for recipe or for multiple ingredients.)

Anyway, this chickpea tagine was great. It's a thick veggie stew with Moroccan flavors.

INGREDIENTS:

1 c. dried chickpeas (AKA garbanzo beans) (allow time to soak overnight and drain if using dried) or use 1 can prepared chickpeas (what I did! Much easier)

1/4 tsp. saffron threads (I used the much less expensive Spanish variety available at Caputo's)

1 quart plus 2 Tbsp. water

1 large onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

2 tsp. ground cumin

One 3-inch cinnamon stick

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

1/2 pound butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice

2 medium red potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice

Once 14.5 ounce can whole tomatoes, drained and chopped

Salt

2 small zucchini, diced

1 Tbsp. minced preserved lemon rind (I used lemon jelly with preserved lemon rind . . . it worked fine)

Freshly ground black pepper

3 Tbsp. chopped cilantro leaves

Yogurt and harissa for serving (I didn't have harissa, so I used piment d'espelette . . . could probably use cayenne in a small amount)

DIRECTIONS:

1) If using dried chickpeas, cover the chickpeas with 2 inches of water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until tender, 45 minutes. Drain. Skip this step if using canned chickpeas.

2) In a bowl, crumble the saffron in the 2 tablespoons of water; steep for 10 minutes.

3) In a large pot (at least 3 1/2 quarts), melt the butter and let brown. Add the olive oil and heat for 30 seconds. Cook the onion and garlic in the butter and oil over moderate heat until golden; 8 minutes. Add the cumin, cinnamon stick, and crushed red pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Add the saffron water, chickpeas, squash, potatoes, tomatoes, the quart of water (4 cups), and a large pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the squash and potatoes are tender, 30 minutes.

4) Add the zucchini and the preserved lemon; simmer until the zucchini is tender, 5 minutes. Discard the cinnamon stick. Season the tagine with salt and pepper and stir in the cilantro. Serve in bowls with a dollop of plain yogurt and harissa.

Yum.