Tunisian Tagine

A baked egg dish and not a stew — the pot gives it its name and nothing else is shared.

Chicken, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains cheese whose rennet the source does not name, chicken.

Ingredients

• 8 eggs
• 400 g chicken thigh, diced small
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 200 g hard cheese, grated
• 2 potatoes, boiled and diced
• 100 g cooked chickpeas
• a large bunch of parsley, chopped
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon harissa
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground caraway
• 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
• salt and black pepper

to serve

• lemon wedges
• harissa

Method

1. IT IS A BAKED EGG DISH AND NOT A STEW -- the pot gives it its name and nothing else is shared. This needs saying first and plainly, because the word is far better known for the Moroccan braise cooked under a conical lid, and the two have nothing in common beyond both being named for an earthenware vessel. What this is: eight eggs beaten and poured over cooked chicken, onion, potato, chickpeas, grated cheese and a great deal of parsley, then baked until firm and sliced into squares. It is closer to an Italian frittata or a Spanish tortilla than to anything stewed, and it is eaten hot or cold, often cut small as part of a spread.
2. IT IS BAKED, NOT COOKED ON THE HOB. Thirty-five to forty minutes at 190°C in a shallow dish. That is the other difference from a frittata, which is started in a pan: here everything goes into a baking dish and the egg sets from all sides at once, which is what makes it firm enough to cut into neat squares rather than wedges.
3. IT IS MEANT TO BE FIRM, NOT CREAMY. Baked until a skewer comes out clean and the top is set and lightly browned. The whole point is a dish that holds a cut edge and can be picked up; a soft wobbling centre is a fault here rather than a virtue, which is the reverse of almost every other egg dish.
4. THE FILLING IS COOKED AND COOLED BEFORE THE EGG GOES ON. Chicken browned and cooked through, onions softened, potatoes already boiled. Raw chicken would not cook in forty minutes inside a set egg custard, and warm filling starts to scramble the egg as it is poured.
5. THE CHEESE IS GRATED AND MOSTLY MIXED IN. Two hundred grams, most through the egg and a little on top. It is doing structural work as well as flavour -- the protein helps the dish set firm -- and a thick layer on top alone just browns while the inside stays loose.
6. THE PARSLEY IS A LARGE BUNCH. By volume it should look like a lot against the eggs. Chicken, potato and egg are all mild, and the parsley is most of what the dish tastes of besides the cheese.
7. THE BREADCRUMBS GO IN THE EGG, NOT ON TOP. Two tablespoons. They absorb what little moisture the vegetables release and help it set clean rather than weeping when cut.
8. The olive oil heated and the onions softened 8 MINUTES.
9. The diced chicken added with the harissa, turmeric and caraway and cooked through, 10 MINUTES. Seasoned.
10. Tipped into a bowl with the boiled diced potato and chickpeas and left to COOL.
11. The eggs beaten with most of the grated cheese, the parsley, the breadcrumbs and seasoning.
12. The cooled filling folded in.
13. Poured into an oiled shallow baking dish and the remaining cheese scattered on top.
14. Baked at 190°C for 35 to 40 MINUTES, until SET FIRM and lightly browned, and a skewer comes out clean.
15. TESTED: cooled a little and cut, it should hold a clean square edge. A wobbling centre means it needed longer -- firm is correct here.
16. Cut into squares and served hot or cold with lemon and more harissa.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Tunisia · All recipes