This vegan orange tagine with peaches is a homey dish, full of sweet and earthy flavours like yams, pumpkin, chickpeas, harissa, raisins and peaches. Make your home smell like a trip to Marrakesh with this authentic Moroccan dish!
This post is a partnership with California Cling Peaches, but all opinions expressed here are my own. Please consider supporting the brands that make this blog possible.
When I first added cinnamon to a stew, my Russian mother told me to move out. The second time I incorporated raisins into cabbage rolls, she poked at them suspiciously and asked me if those olives have gone bad. It’s taken her years to warm up to the pinch of sugar I put in all of my tomato sauces. Yet I just know that if I let her try my vegan orange tagine with peaches now, she’d be all over it – because even the most resistant conservative palette couldn’t help hut swoon over the pairing of sweet, caramelized pumpkin, harissa-spiked chickpeas and soft, melting California cling peaches.
The pairing of sweet and savoury foods is common in many Eastern cultures. Sugar helps soften and even accentuate the acidic qualities of many of our favourite ingredients: tomatoes, lemons and coffee.
It ramps up the umami taste of mushrooms. It sets off the harshness of vinegar and mustard, onions and ginger.
Cinnamon is a necessary ingredient in Moroccan couscous, raisins in many meat dishes, and sweet dried apricots in Uzbek pilaf. In short, a touch of sweetness makes most savoury foods taste better.
That’s why adding California cling peaches to this vegan orange tagine was a no brainer for me. A touch of cinnamon helps offset the spiciness of whole chillies, while a handful of raisins provide the perfect visual and textural contrast to chickpeas pan-fried with a touch of harissa.
But California cling peaches provide the final touch, the cherry-on-top of this Moroccan mélange of flavours and textures: their sugar contrasts with the earthiness of potatoes, compliments the yams, pumpkin and carrots, and offsets the onions.
As well, when cooked, canned peaches maintain their shape and firmness better than fresh or frozen, preventing the dish from becoming an unrecognizable mash.
This vegan orange tagine just wouldn’t be the same without California cling peaches. If you’ve never tried spiking up your savoury dishes with a touch of sweetness, this dish is the perfect place to try: it’s robust, well-rounded and incredibly flavourful, a perfect warm casserole for a cold day.
And if you don’t have a tagine pot, don’t worry – it will cook just as well in a large dutch oven pot.
Looking for more Vegan recipes?
- Vegan empanadas
- Vegan pasta primavera {V, GF}
- Get The Israeli Souk Experience With Breathtaking Pomegranate & Rose Vegan Malabi, A Custard Dessert That Will Make Your Head Spine
- How to Make Authentic Middle Eastern Mujadara, a Vegan Medley of Rice, Lentils and Crispy Caramelized Onions {GF, V}
- Vegetarian Ukrainian borscht {V, GF, Paleo}
Full disclosure: I received monetary compensation in exchange for this post. However, I am proud to only work with those companies and brands whose products I truly love. And as always, all opinions expressed here are my own; you can always expect me to be honest with you guys!
Vegan orange tagine with peaches
Ingredients
- 3 TBs olive oil or a pat of coconut oil
- 1 large onion or 2 small ones
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1- inch piece of ginger finely grated
- 1 15- oz can chickpeas
- ½ cup golden raisins
- 1 teaspoon harissa
- 500 g pumpkin
- 2 yams cut into ¾-inch pieces
- 2 potatoes cut into ¾-inch pieces
- ½ lb 250g carrots, cut into rounds
- 1 15- oz can California cling peaches quartered
- 2 cups water or vegetable broth
- 1 heaping tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 whole chillies
- zest of one lemon
- chopped parsley for serving
- lemon wedges for serving
- couscous for serving (optional)
- Yogurt for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- In a heavy-bottomed pan or a dutch oven, sauté onion in oil until it turns translucent, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and sauté for an additional 3 minutes, until they are beginning to colour. Add the chickpeas, raisins and harissa, and cook together for an additional 5 minutes.
- If using a tagine, transfer cooked mixture to the vessel, add the rest of the ingredients and just enough water to cover the base of the tagine, and cover with a lid.
- If not using a tagine, add the rest of the ingredients to your dutch oven and just enough water to submerge them. Cover with a lid.
- Bake at 350F for 45 minutes (vegetables should be fully cooked and tender, but still firm and holding their shape). Remove lid and cook for an additional 15 minutes.
- Topped with chopped parsley. Serve with couscous, or as is, with a squeeze of lemon on each plate and a side of creamy, cool yogurt.
Mom says
Знаешь, доченька, из всего того великолепного разнообразие, которое ты нам демонстрируешь на страницах твоего блога .. Это блюдо .. Я- таки не рискну попробовать..Консерватизм не дает!!)))) и не вздумай его мне приготовить!!!ни-ни!!))))))))
kseniaprints says
Хаха, я от тебя другого и не ожидала 😉
Kathryn @ The Scratch Artist says
So much yum! I smiled reading your mother's reactions to your sweet/savory pairings. I love raisins in stuffed cabbage and tomato sauce (scandalous!). I would love this kind of dish. Beautiful!
kseniaprints says
Raisins in stuffed cabbage - right???? It's the best! And yes, my mom is precious 😉
Berta says
Your description of your mum's reactions to the sweet and savory pairings is so, so funny!! And quite true as well - my dad is very patient and kind, but a bit reluctant to try new concoctions from either myself or my mum, and as for my grandmother, if she were to visit us in Australia, I shudder and laugh at the same time at the thought of her reaction to my cooking! 🙂
Thank you for this recipe - I can't wait until pinning are in season down under and I can try cooking a tagine for the first time!!
kseniaprints says
Lol, did you see my mom's comment? Yeah, that's what we have to deal with 😛
Berta says
Hahaha I did! And it made me laugh so much!! 😀
Nancy says
In the '90s I had a Lebanese room mate who introduced me to the deliciousness of beef stew with cinnamon. I'm looking forward to trying your recipe on the weekend. Just this morning I was looking at a nice squash in my cold room & thinking I must use it soon & wondering what to make. Now I know!
kseniaprints says
We have the Middle East to thank for a world of savoury-sweet flavours!
Nancy says
This is delicious! What a great balance of flavours! I forgot to buy harissa, so just used some chopped jalapeno . It gave a nice gentle warmth to the stew. Would harissa have more of a smokey, earthy flavour?
kseniaprints says
Yes, Nancy! Harissa is a bit smokier, though not much spicier (in my opinion, anyway). Also, because harissa is a paste, the heat is spread out a bit more than a chopped jalapeno would be.
So glad you liked it!!!
Nicholas Ng says
Absolutely love this idea! In Malaysia we don't see the use of a tangine much. Would love to learn more about dishes that you can make using a tangine.
kseniaprints says
Nicholas, clearly there is need for more tagine-based dishes. Now that I am the proud owner of one, you can expect many more to come!