Moroccan lamb or beef tagine recipe with Cardoon
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Cardoons ( khorchouf in Arabic) look like giant celery, but when cooked, the stalks taste a bit like artichokes. If you’ve never eaten a cardoon, this tagine recipe is great to try. The cardoons and flesh are cooked with ginger, coriander root, salt, pepper and preserved lemon for a light tang, pepper and a very flavoursome Moroccan dish. Saffron is optional.
Preparation time does not include cleaning the cardoons. To clean the potatoes for cooking with the stems, see.
Since it takes a long time to cook the cardoons, it is recommended to use a pressure cooker. Using a regular pot, double the cooking times below. If you want to use a clay or ceramic tagine , see the method in the instructions below.
Remember that despite the visual similarity of the celery, the two Vegetable Recipes are not interchangeable as their flavours are quite different.
Also try the similarly prepared Chicken Tagine Cardoons and Moroccan Garnina (Thistle) Tagine'i .
What you need
1 lb. (about 1/2 kg) meat, cut into 3- or 4-inch pieces 1 or 2 large cardoon cucumbers, cleaned and trimmed 1 onion, chopped for release 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or pressed 1 tomato, grated 1/3 cup olive oil 2 tsp ginger 1 1/2 tsp salt 3/4 tsp. 3/4 teaspoon golden yellow (or 1/8 teaspoon Moroccan colouring) 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed (optional) 2 tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped 2 tablespoons crushed fresh parsley 1 preserved lemon, cut into quarters handful red olives, rinsed
How to make it
Drain the cleaned cardoon, olives and preserved lemon.
Mix the meat with the remaining ingredients in a pressure cooker. Cook over medium heat, uncovered, for about 10 minutes, stirring several times to brown the meat on all sides.
Add the cardoons and 3 1/2 to 4 cups (1 quart) of water and cover the pressure cooker. Turn up the heat to high pressure.
Reduce heat to medium and pressure cook for 1 hour.
Release the pressure and check to see if the chops are tender – you should be able to cut the cardoon pieces in half.
If the cardoons need further cooking, remove the meat to a plate and cover. If necessary, add a little water to the pressure cooker (the liquids should be level) and continue cooking under pressure until the cardoons are soft. This may take a further 30 minutes if the cardoon stems were quite large.
When the cardoons are fully cooked, return the meat to the pot. Add the olives and lemon preservative and simmer the sauce until thick and well below the level of the cardoons.
Transfer the cardoons, meat and sauce to a large spice platter or tagine and serve with crusty bread.
Slow-cooking to edible : clean cardoons for 15 or 20 minutes in salted water with a little lemon juice; drain and arrange cardoons tagine with other ingredients. Add 3 cups water, cover and place tagine in a diffuser over medium-low heat. Allow the tagine to cook slowly and then simmer for three to four hours, until the meat and Vegetable Recipes are very tender and the sauce is reduced. Watch the liquids until the end of cooking and add a little more water if you feel it is necessary. Serve the final cup straight from the tagine.
