Moroccan Pork Tajine | Recipeish | Gustus Vitae
- Yield: Should serves 4.
- Time: About 5 hours, including 3 unattended.
- Storage Notes: Will keep for up to 3 days, covered and refrigerated.
- Difficulty: Easy.
We've had a beautiful tajine for a number of years now, and up until yesterday its function was as a display piece more than anything. With some extra time on our hands, we did some reading up on tajine-style cooking, and whipped up this recipe. It really delivers - all that time spent in the oven with the aromas and flavors circulating give each and every bite a through, deep, and decadent flavor, and we found ourselves coming back for seconds, then thirds, then retiring to the couch. If you're lucky enough to have a tajine, now is the time to break it out and see just how delicious of a family-style meal it makes.
Ingredients
- 2 boneless pork chops
- 3 ears of corn
- 2 yellow bell peppers
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 cup green lentils
- 1/2 head cauliflower
- 2 full tins Taste of Morocco Seasoning
- 1 Tbs Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- 1 Tbs Smoked Spanish Paprika
- 1 tin garbanzo beans
- 1 large white onion
- 8 cloves garlic
- 3 Tbs vegetable oil
- 1/2 container vegetable stock (around 16oz)
- 1 cup couscous
- 1 handful of parsley for garnish
- Finely mince garlic, rough chop onions, and reserve.
- Stand ears of corn up in a lipped plate, and, running the knife as close to the cob as possible, shear off all of the kernels. Reserve and discard the cobs.
- Core, deseed, and finely chop the bell peppers. Reserve.
- Bring 1.5 cups of water to a boil, and after rinsing the lentils under running water till it runs clean, add, cover, and cook for 30 minutes. Reserve.
- Strain garbanzo beans, running under running water. Reserve.
- Slice cauliflower in half, remove stem, and cube florets. Reserve.
- Slice pork chops in half width-wise, then into strips, and from there into roughly 1/4-1/2" cubes. Reserve.
- Bring a deep cast iron pan to medium high, and add vegetable oil. Add onions and garlic, sautéing for about 8 minutes, until some begin to brown. Using a spider or slotted spoon, remove and reserve, leaving oil in pan.
- Add pork, cooking and turning until browned on each side, around 5 minutes. Reserve.
- If needed, add a bit more oil, and add in corn, cooking until some of the kernels begin to pop, around 8 minutes. Remove and reserve.
- Finally, toss on cauliflower and bell peppers and crank up heat to high - you're not looking to cook these through, just brown them. Remove and reserve.
- In a large bowl, combine all ingredients, adding garbanzo beans, lentils, and vegetable stock. Shake over all the Paprika, Crushed Red Pepper Flakes, and one tin of the Taste of Morocco, and mix everything thoroughly to combine.
- Preheat oven to 300F.
- Pour all ingredients into the tajine base - it should come up almost all the way to the lip, but no higher. Sprinkle the entirety of the remaining tin of Taste of Morocco on top, and cover the tajine with it's lid.
- Pop in the oven, and set a timer for three hours.
- At about the 2 hour mark, bring a 1.5 cups of water to a boil, and add in couscous. Cover, reducing to a simmer, and cook for 30 minutes, or until the couscous is slightly softer than al dente. Keep covered and remove from heat.
- Remove tajine from the oven, gather your audience around you, and dramatically remove the lid. It's pretty cool and certainly very pretty looking, all that steam and flavor and color bursting out at once.
- Spoon a bit of couscous into everyones bowls, ladle some big scoops from the tajine alongside, and devour.