A tagine's tall, conical cover steams the food inside.
Cooking with ceramic clay pots is common in Morocco, where tagines or tajines were first introduced by the indigenous Berber community. A tagine consists of a shallow ceramic bowl with a conical, tall ceramic cover, in which steam can escape from the top. The conical design steams the food, enhancing the flavor. Traditional dishes, such as meat and fruit stews, are slow-cooked with this ceramic clay pot. Tagines can be used on the stove top at medium to low heat, but it is more commonly used in the oven, cooked no higher than 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Tagines are slow-cooked, and an oven that is too hot may burn your stew. You may also put your tagine on a burner on the stove at low to medium heat.
2. Pour 4 tbsps. of olive oil into the bottom of a clean tagine. Layer carrots at the bottom of the tagine, and then add the chicken pieces on top. Be sure the chicken does not touch the bottom of the tagine or it may burn.
3. Layer the potatoes, bell pepper, red onion and tomatoes over carrots and chicken. Sprinkle garlic and all the spices over the ingredients evenly. Add olives evenly on top, and drizzle the 2 tbsps. of olive oil over everything.
4. Add 1/4 cup water to the tagine. Cover the tagine with its top, and cook it in the oven for about one hour.
5. Check the vegetables to see if they are tender. Take the tagine out of the oven and drizzle the rest of the olive oil over the food. Let the tagine rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Tags: bottom tagine, ceramic clay, degrees Fahrenheit, medium heat, olive over, steams food