Moroccan Beef, Potato & Olive Tagine

This flavoursome Moroccan beef, potato & olive tagine is particularly loved by all the kids, and a common favourite in all households as potatoes and olives are usually always in the house as well as inexpensive in Morocco. The perfect combination of the beef with the tang of the olives creates a rich succulent flavour. The spice mix and garlic will cook down in this Moroccan beef, potato & olive tagine to a golden sweet stewy gravy that brings the whole dish together.

This is a quick and easy method of cooking a traditional homemade Tagine if you live in the West. Traditionally the tagine should be slow-cooked in a Clay Tagine pot, but living in our modern times where we are all so busy with work, kids, studies & so on, it’s sometimes very hard to do things the traditional way. Many of us might not have a Tagine, it’s not something you can just pick up from your local Asda or Tesco, is it?

Using a pressure cooker is the second best thing, it’s a quick and convenient alternative, and doesn’t crack if you don’t use it in the correct way 😉

Beef & Olive Tagine

A Tagine is very similar to the English style Casserole, it's a slightly soupy dish usually cooked with a type of meat and a selection of seasonal vegetables, there are soooo many variations of Tagine, on this occasion we will be using lean Beef, Potato and Green Olives, also known as Lahem Bil Badada wa Zaytoon and you're sure to be licking your fingers by the end of it.

Servings 5

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Equipment

• Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

• 1 Large onion either thinly sliced or chopped
• 1 Handful chopped parsley or coriander
• 2 tsp Salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp Ground black pepper
• 1 green cayenne chilli pepper optional
• 1 tsp Ground ginger powder
• 1 tsp Tumeric
• 1 pinch Saffron threads optional
• 3 cloves Garlic grated or crushed
• 1/3 cup Olive Oil extra virgin is prefered
• 1/2 kilo Lean Halal Beef washed & diced into chunky cubes
• 700 grams Potatoes peeled, washed & sliced into wedges
• 1 Large handful of green or red olives
• 1/2 Preserved lemon quartered long ways
• 3 cups Water

Instructions

• Mix the meat with chopped onion, garlic, chopped parsley, spices, and olive oil.
  
• Brown the meat & spice mix over a medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, the pot doesn't need to be covered at this point
• Add 3 cups of water and cover the pressure cooker. Cook the meat under pressure for about 40 minutes starting the timer from when it whistles and heat is reduced.
• When the time is up you can put the pressure cooker under a cold tap to hasten the cooling process, this allows you to release the whistle and open the lid sooner. ALWAYS WAIT UNTILL ALL AIR IS RELEASED before attempting to open.
• Check that the meat is tender and if so you can then add the potatoes, olives, and preserved lemon.
• If necessary, add more water so that the gravy ALMOST reaches the top of the potatoes then partially cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked and the sauce is reduced & thickened.
• Taste for salt and adjust the seasoning if necessary before completely done. you can then serve the stew into a pretty tagine or traditional Moroccan plate if you have one. When serving, serve the meat pieces first around the plate, followed by the potatoes on top, then add the olives & gravy evenly around the plate before garnishing with the preserved lemon on the top centre.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Moroccan

Keyword: Quick & Easy