Dish of Tagine of Eggs
(click to enlarge)

Tagine of Eggs


Tunisia   -   Tagine Maadnous
Makes:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 2-3/4 #
****
3 hrs
Half		 Spectacular for brunch, lunch, or even dinner. This dish can be served warm or at room temperature (I prefer warm). The Harissa is not optional. See also Comments.

8
3/4
14
1
5
2
7
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3
2
4
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2
1
1/2
1
1/2
1/3
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1
1/3
1/3
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2
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ar

ar
lrg
t
oz
#
oz
oz
oz
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cl


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t
t
t
t
t
t
----
c
c
c
---
T
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Eggs
Salt
Potatoes (1)
Sausage (2)
Cheese (3)
Parmigiano
Onions
-- Aromatics
Garlic
Chili red (4)
Scallions
-- Spicing
Ras el Hanout (5)
Cumin
Turmeric
Thyme, dried
Cayenne (6)
Pepper, black
-- Herbs
Parsley, flat (7)
Cilantro
Chives
-------------
Oil
-- Serve with
Steamed Rice
  or Bread
Harissa (8)
Do Ahead   -   (1 hr)
  1. If not on hand, prepare Harissa Sauce.
Prep #1   -   (1-1/4 hrs)
  1. Peel POTATOES and cut into into about 1/2 inch dice. Place in a saucepan with Water to cover, bring to a boil and simmer until just cooked through. Drain and set aside.
  2. Skin Sausages and crumble, or chop very small if they won't crumble.
  3. Cut CHEESE into about 1/2 inch dice.
  4. Grate PARMIGIANO.
  5. Chop ONION small.
  6. Crush GARLIC and chop small. Chop Chilis fine. Slice SCALLIONS about 1/4 inch, white and green. Mix all.
  7. Grind CUMAN and mix together all Spicing items.
  8. AT THIS POINT all the above can be separately bagged in plastic and refrigerated overnight.
Prep #2   -   (35 min)
  1. Preheat Oven to 400°F/200°C.
  2. Butter well a 13 x 9 inch (14 cup / 3.3 litre) baking dish or similar.
  3. Chop PARSLEY and CILANTRO medium. Chop CHIVES small. Mix all. Measures are after chopping lightly packed.
  4. Beat EGGS medium with 3/4 t Salt.
Run   -   (1-1/4 hrs)
  1. In a spacious Sauté pan or similar (3 quart), heat Oil over high flame and fry Sausage stirring and breaking up clumps until lightly browned. Remove from the pan and set aside.
  2. Pour off excess oil, how much depends on the Sausage.
  3. Stir Onions into the pan and fry stirring until translucent.
  4. Over moderate heat, stir in Garlic mix and Spicing mix. Fry stirring for about 3 minutes.
  5. Stir in Sausage and Potatoes until well coated with the the Onions and Spices.
  6. Take off the heat and mix in the chunks of Cheese.
  7. Pour it all into your Baking Dish. Pour the Eggs over and mix. Flatten the top and Slide into the middle of the oven. Let bake for about 20 minutes.
  8. Slide out, Scatter Parmigiano over the top and slide back into the Oven. Continue to bake for another 5 to 10 minutes until the Parmigiano has melted and is a little crusty on top.
  9. Let cool a bit, then slice to the size desired. Serve warm with Harissa Sauce beside it. As a dinner dish you can serve it with Rice or Bead on the side. For Buffet, I serve in an electric skillet set to Warm with Harissa poured around the slices but not over them. You can pour the Harissa in first, then embed slices in it. You can also serve at room temperature.
NOTES:

  1. Potatoes:

      I prefer Red Potatoes for this recipe, but White Rose or similar will work fine.

  2. Sausage:

      Merguez Sausage is usual, a spicy Lamb sausage that is imperfectly available in North America. Another spicy sausage can be used, and perhaps add some Harissa or up the spices a bit if they aren't very spicy. The photo example was made with Salvadoran Chorizo, very different from Mexican Chorizo (which I would not use) and even more different from Spanish Chorizo. This would be totally unacceptable in Tunisia, a Muslim country, but we Infidels can do as we please.

  3. Cheese, Semi-soft:

      The pattern recipe suggests Fontina, Gouda, Emmental, Mozzarella, or Gruyère. The photo example was made with Gouda.

  4. Chilis Red:

      As usual, the recipe doesn't say what size or how hot. I use 2 Red Fresnos, which are medium size and medium hot like Jalapeños. I pull out the seed mass but leave in the veins for some heat. Lacking suitable Reds you can use Jalapeños or some other Green Chili.

  5. Ras el Hanout:

      (Top Shelf) This is the indicates the most prestigious spice mix in the shop, but it's different in every shop. We have a typical recipe at Ras el Hanout.

  6. Cayenne:

      You can use any Chili Powder, hotness, and amount you prefer. Commercial "Cayenne" may be made from any hot chilis, often not Cayenne chilis.

  7. Herbs:

      Yes, that's a huge pile of Parsley, but the name of the recipe is Maadnous which translates to "Parsley", so it is not a mistake. Regular hollow Chives are not often available in the markets I shop at, but flat Garlic Chives are always there. They work fine but need a bit more chopping than regular Chives. If you want weights, the prepared herbs are 60 gm 20 gm and 20 gm.

  8. Harissa:

      This is a Tunisian ingredient and condiment now used across the Maghreb (North Africa excluding Egypt). Store bought examples I have tried are pretty awful, but a good fairly mild one can be made by our recipe Harissa Chili Sauce

  9. Comments:

      This dish tastes fine, but looses it's attractive color it reheated.
  10. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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