Moroccan-Style Pumpkin Tagine

Any Moroccan dish prepared in the traditional conical-shaped cooking vessel is called a tagine…everything else is just a stew. But then again, no one should get upset if you call your stew a tagine even if it was cooked in a pot. Let’s face it – tagine sounds more Moroccan and much cooler.

The principle of cooking in a tagine is to use small amounts of liquid in the preparation and cook over low heat for more than an hour – often up to 3-4 hours. Whatever you are cooking releases water during the cooking process. But instead of just vaporizing into the air, the steam rises to the top of the narrowed cover of a tagine, cools and distills back into the food below. This process continues during the course of cooking and creates an intensely flavored broth.

You can kind of replicate this method if you don’t have a tagine by just using a large pot and allowing plenty of room for the steam to rise to the cover. Just be sure to cook everything over a low temperature and allow enough time for the liquid to gather into a flavorsome broth.

This cooking method can be used to cook just about anything. It works particularly well in authentic Moroccan dishes because the heavy use of spices mixes right into the liquid and penetrates the food. You will taste the difference.

This tagine recipe takes advantage of the pumpkin releasing liquid and melting into the broth to increase flavor and body. Make sure to keep the pumpkin slices large so you are left with some tasty chunks of squash. I like to use butternut squash because it is easy to slice and works well in holding its shape – mostly. You can also use Hokkaido pumpkins (or any other Asian-style pumpkin).

One final note… Always try to incorporate an odd number of vegetables – and never more than 7 different types. Yes, the Moroccans are a bit superstitious.

Difficulty: simple
Yield: makes about 6-8 servings