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This Chickpea & Fennel Tagine Packs Nearly 25 Grams Of Plant-Based Protein

Jason Hammel
Author:
September 29, 2024
Jason Hammel
Chef, Author & owner of Lula Cafe
By Jason Hammel
Chef, Author & owner of Lula Cafe
Jason Hammel is the executive chef and owner of Lula Cafe in Chicago, the Logan Square community institution for its creative, seasonal, all-day cuisine. He is the author of The Lula Cafe Cookbook: Collected Recipes and Stories.
Chickpea Tagine from Lula Cafe Cookbook
Image by Carolina Rodríguez
September 29, 2024
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A tagine is both a North African long-simmered stew and the type of conical clay vessel used to cook it. The shape of the traditional vessel allows a braise to simmer gently, concentrating flavors without drying things out. Thick clay walls insulate the stew inside, and as steam rises up the chimney, water condenses on the sloped interior and drips back down, regulating heat and moisture. This process can also be done in a heavy braiser or ceramic pot, which is what we do at Lula.

We learned about the tagine from longtime Lula manager Natalie Sternberg, whose mother studied belly dancing in Morocco and then traveled with a Berber family to continue her practice. She performed a dance with her own troupe for years. When Natalie was growing up, her parents used to host wild, drug-infused drum parties full of dance, music, and Moroccan food. Friday nights mortified her as a teen.

She remembers a sleepover that ended up with her having to explain to a friend why her parents were outside howling at the moon. As a love song to her mother, who passed away tragically in 1991, Natalie resurrected these dishes at Logan Beach. And so it happened that this searching, artistic woman, whom I never met, passed a tagine to her daughter, then to me, and now to this book.

One of the best things about this stew is that you can pretty much do what you want with it—change up the ingredients, substituting vegetables, dried fruit, and herbs at will. The key to the flavor is the combination of sweet and tangy elements—our turmeric spice mix, golden raisins, and fennel—all cooking languorously with dried chickpeas and lots of onion. When you finally open the lid and breathe in, you might find that the fragrance of aromatics and spices simmered so long propels you deep into your own memories of home.

Ingredients

Serves 8

Tagine

  • 2 tablespoons blend oil
  • 1 small onion (5½ oz/160 g), minced
  • 3 tablespoons Tagine Spice Mix (page 248)
  • ½ medium fennel bulb (2½ oz/60 g), minced
  • 1 small jalapeño (2½ oz/60 g), seeded, stemmed, and minced
  • 3–4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
  • ½ cup (4 fl oz/120 ml) dry white wine
  • 8 cups (2½ lb/1.2 kg) dried chickpeas, soaked 24 hours
  • 2¾ cups (23 fl oz/680 g) Vegetable Stock (page 255)
  • 3 cups (3½ oz/100 g) chopped lacinato kale
  • 1½ teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Roasted Carrots and Fennel

  • 3 skinny-ish carrots (7 oz/200 g), peeled
  • 1 bulb fennel (4 oz/120 g), cut into small wedges
  • ¼ cup (2 fl oz/60 ml) olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt

To serve

  • 4 tablespoons Sweet Potato Butter (below)
  • 2 tablespoons Pickled Golden Raisins (below)
  • 1 tablespoon sliced preserved lemon
  • 2 tablespoons Green Harissa (below)
  • 1 quantity Fried Chickpeas (below)
  • A few sprigs of parsley, cilantro (coriander), and mint, leaves picked
  • Salt

Directions

Make the tagine

Place a large, heavy pot with a tightfitting lid over low heat. Add the oil and onions and cook for 5–7 minutes, until the onions begin to soften (do not let them brown). Add the tagine spice mix, and stir to combine. Cover and cook over low heat for 30 minutes. Add the fennel, jalapeños, garlic, and ginger. Cook for 15 minutes. (Take care not to let the soffritto burn. You don't want the mixture to become darker than the color of the spice mix itself.)

Add the white wine and simmer 3–5 minutes, until the alcohol has cooked off. (Test this with your nose; if the burning sensation is gone, you're good to go.)

Add the soaked chickpeas and vegetable stock and cover. Bring to a gentle simmer and let cook for 45–60 minutes, until the chickpeas have achieved an unctuous, creamy nut-butter consistency. If the liquid in the pot reduces too far below the surface of the beans, add more stock or water. Add the kale, stir to combine, and let wilt. Season with salt and lemon juice.

Make the roasted carrots and fennel

Heat the oven to 350°F/180°C. In a large bowl, toss the carrots and fennel with olive oil, salt, and 1 tablespoon water. Spread in an even layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 12–15 minutes, until lightly caramelized.

To serve

Add the roasted carrots and fennel to the tagine and cook for a few minutes, until the vegetables are heated through. Fold in the sweet potato butter, followed by the golden raisins and preserved lemon. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then transfer the tagine to a serving vessel. Spoon drizzles of green harissa over the top, followed by lots of fried chickpeas and cilantro (coriander), parsley, and mint leaves.

Tagine Spice Mix

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
  • ½ tablespoon brown mustard seeds
  • 1 tablespoon fenugreek seeds
  • 12 whole cloves
  • 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
  • 1 tablespoon plus ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
  • 6 tablespoons ground turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

Toast all the whole spices separately, then grind in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Mix in the other powdered spices.

Fried Chickpeas

Ingredients

  • 4 cups canola oil
  • 1 x 14-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 tablespoon tagine spice mix
  • 1 tablespoon tagine spice mix

Directions

Heat the oil to 350°F/180°C in a large pot—enough to contain more than two times the volume of the oil and the chickpeas. The oil will bubble up, so be careful. Add the chickpeas to the oil and fry until crispy. Remove with a strainer onto a paper-towel-lined tray, then toss with the tagine spice mix and salt.

Editor's note

We would recommend avocado oil over canola oil, thanks to its high smoke point and heart-healthy fats. You can also bake the chickpeas instead of frying them.

Picked Golden Raisins

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (8 fl oz/250 g) distilled white vinegar)
  • 1/2 cup (4 fl oz/120 grams) water
  • 1/2 cup (3 1/2 oz/100 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (5 ox/150 g) golden raisins

Directions

Bring the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt to a boil. Place the raisins in a glass jar. pour the brine over and let sit for at least 1 day before using.

Editors note

We would recommend honey, agave, or another natural sweetener over granulated sugar.

Sweet Potato Butter

Ingredients

  • 1½ oz (320 g) sweet potatoes, peeled
  • 1 tablespoon blend oil
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
  • ¼ cup (2 fl oz/60 g) blend oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°/180°C. Wrap the potatoes and oil in foil and roast for 45–60 minutes until blown out. Purée the cooked sweet potato with the salt and apple cider vinegar in a blender. Add the xanthan gum and blend again. With the blender still running, stream in the blend oil to emulsify until silky smooth.

Green Harissa

Ingredients

  • ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • ½ teaspoon caraway seeds
  • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
  • 2 medium (3¼ oz/90 g) jalapeño peppers
  • 2 medium (5 oz/150 g) Anaheim peppers
  • 2 scallions, ends trimmed
  • 3 tomatillos (4¼ oz/125 g)
  • 1 cup (¾ oz/20g) parsley leaves, chopped
  • 1 cup (¾ oz/20 g) cilantro (coriander) leaves, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup (4 fl oz/120 g) olive oil

Directions

Toast all the spices separately. Keep separate and allow to cool before grinding, then mixing. Set aside.

Prepare to roast the vegetables directly over an open gas flame. At Lula, we use a perforated hotel pan, but you can also hold things with a pair of tongs over the flame. Place the peppers directly in the gas flame until charred but not completely. You want a little color to show through.

Allow to cool uncovered (this allows them to keep their bright color and prevents overcooking). Char the scallions; as with the peppers, you're looking for a nice mix of char and bright color. Char the tomatillos similarly and quickly, to keep them semi-firm. Once cool, peel the skins of the peppers and remove the seeds with a knife. Chop the peppers along with the tomatillos until very smooth, the texture of pesto.

Empty the mixture into a medium mixing bowl. Chop the scallions separately and add to the mixing bowl.

Add all the chopped parsley and cilantro (coriander), 2 teaspoons of the ground spice mix, and salt to the mixing bowl and stir. Once combined, stir in the olive oil. The oil will not emulsify.

Protein Check

One serving of this recipe contains about 25 grams of protein.

Excerpted from The Lula Cafe Cookbook © 2023 by Jason Hammel. Photography © 2023 by Carolina Rodríguez. Reproduced by permission of Phaidon. All rights reserved.

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