A tagine is both a type of North African cookware and the name of the stew cooked with it. Don't worry if you don't have a tagine at home. This recipe can also be made with a Dutch oven. Sweet potatoes and dried apricots add sweetness, while a little ras el hanout adds spice.
Ingredients
- 1 lb beef stew meat
- ½ tbsp plus 1 tsp ras el hanout, divided
- ¾ tsp salt, plus more as needed
- 2 medium yellow onions, peeled and halved
- 1lb sweet potato, peeled and chopped
- ¾ tbsp honey
- ¼ cup dried apricots
- 3 tbsp pitted castelvetrano olives, sliced or roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
Preparation
- Toss the beef with half of the ras el hanout and half of the salt in a medium bowl until evenly coated. Let stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour, or cover and chill for up to 2 days.
- Coarsely grate one of the onion halves with a box grater. Place the grated onion in a clean dish towel or piece of cheesecloth and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
- Combine the beef and the grated onion in the base of a 2-quart tagine. Cover and cook on the stovetop over very low heat until the beef is cooked through, about 1 hour.
- Thinly slice remaining onion. Transfer to the tagine and stir to combine. Cover and continue cooking on stovetop until beef is tender, another hour.
- Preheat the oven to 300°F. Toss together the sweet potatoes, honey, remaining ras el hanout, and remaining salt in a medium bowl. Add this, along with the apricots, to the tagine. Stir to combine.
- Transfer the tagine, uncovered, to the preheated oven. Increase oven temperature to 425°F. Bake until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes.
- Remove the tagine from oven and transfer to a heat-safe surface. Sprinkle with the olives, pine nuts, and cilantro. Cover and let stand 5 minutes before serving.
