How to Cook Tagine on a Trivet
A tagine is a ceramic, cone-shaped cooking instrument used in Moroccan cooking. With its iconic dome-shaped lid, the tagine is used to cook couscous with vegetables, and various cuts of meat like lamb or chicken. A trivet can be used as a stand to place the tagine over hot coals. Most trivets are forged out of iron and have at least three legs. Cooks with intermediate cooking skills will enjoy cooking with a tagine over a trivet and coals. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Hardwood charcoal
- Newspapers
- Iron trivet (12 inches tall)
- Ceramic tagine
- Metal poker
- Hot pads
- 1 cup couscous
- 1 1/4 cup water
- 1 onion
- 1 carrot
- 1 cup chopped eggplant
- 1/2 cup chopped apricots
- 1 tbsp. Middle Eastern spice blend
- 3 threads of saffron
- 1 lb. lamb shoulder, chopped
- 1 tsp. salt
- Fresh ground pepper
Instructions
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1
Pile about 4 cups of hardwood charcoal over a twisted page of newspaper on a hard surface, or in a charcoal grill.
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2
Light the paper and let the coals heat up. In about 20 to 30 minutes, the coals will be completely lit and appear almost gray. Place the trivet over top the hot coals.
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3
Place the water, couscous and saffron in the bottom of the tagine. Season with 1 tsp. of salt and a dash of fresh ground pepper. Add the cut onion, carrots, apricots and eggplant on top of the couscous.
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4
Toss the chopped lamb with the Middle Eastern spice blend, and place on top of the vegetables. Place the lid on the tagine, gently place the tagine on the hot trivet and let it cook for one hour.
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5
Stoke the coals every ten minutes to make sure the charcoal stays hot throughout the cooking. Add fresh charcoal if the fire seems to be dying.
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6
Remove the tagine with hot pads or oven mitts and place it on a heat-proofed surface. Serve your guests the meal directly out of the tagine.
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Tips & Warnings
Experiment with different meats, like stew-beef cubes, chicken thighs or even shrimp cooked. Add or substitute other vegetables, like diced potatoes, tomatoes and squash.
