So my dad got given a 16lb turkey for Christmas by his work and bearing in mind there are only 4 of us in my family it’s safe to say we had a little left over. Some has gone into left-over pies (recipe coming soon) and some into this tasty tagine. Luckily we went to see family today so a good chunk of turkey got gobbled up but somehow the carcass is still not bare!
I have to say this is probably the best thing I’ve had with Christmas dinner remains. I like how it’s completely different to a rehashed roast. It’s also very straightforward, essentially a one-pot stew.
This recipe is completely adjustable to whatever you have leftover from Christmas. For example we had half a cabbage and half a butternut squash so I threw them in. To be honest I’m not entirely sure on the quantities I used myself, it was somewhat thrown together…
Serves 10 (with rice and naan breads)
Ingredients
1.2kg cooked turkey, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 litre turkey stock
4 red onions, cut into wedges (halve then halve then halve again)
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 tins of chopped or plum tomatoes
juice of 1 lemon
olive oil
golden syrup
few handfuls raisins
5-10 dates, chopped
10-15 dried apricots, chopped
Spice Mix
2 tsp Ras El Hanout*
2 tsp whole cumin, roughly ground
2 tsp ground cumin
3 tsp paprika
3 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
LOTS of black pepper
good sprinkling dried coriander leaf
4 thumb-sized pieces fresh ginger, grated
1 thumb-sized piece of fresh turmeric, grated
*in no way essential but I got given some for Christmas, hence why I used it. It’s essentially a combination of all the other spice mix ingredients; paprika, cinnamon, ginger etc. I realise that’s a LONG spice list and I would say so long as you had cumin, coriander, paprika & cinnamon you’re pretty well set.
Method
Put the turkey in a large bowl with the apricots, dates and raisins then drizzle with a good glug of olive oil, the lemon juice and a tablespoon of golden syrup. Add two of the garlic cloves. Mix up the spices in a separate bowl and pour half over the turkey. Get yer hands in there and squish it all around, ensuring a good coating/fairly even distribution. Cover the bowl with cling film and stick in the fridge (preferably overnight).
When you’re ready to cook the tagine heat some oil over a low heat in a large casserole dish (in fact, in the end I had to use two, but it’s probably easier to start with one). Once hot, add the onions, a tablespoon of golden syrup and sweat/stir for 5 minutes before adding the remaining spice mix and garlic cloves. Sweat for a further five minutes – if the spices start to stick to the pan just add a dash of water and keep stirring.
Add the chopped tomatoes and turkey stock and simmer with the lid on, stirring occasionally, for half an hour. Fetch your turkey and throw in (this might be the point at which you need to divide into two pans (unless of course your pan is sufficiently well-endowed…). Simmer and stir with the lid off for a further half hour or until the sauce is sufficiently thickened.
Serve and enjoy, preferably in the merry company of others!
An adventure with food. 