North African Stew with Preserved Lemon Adventure

In the post-holiday season, we started seeking out more vegetable main dishes. They didn’t have to be low-calorie or anything, we’d just eaten a lot of meat and it was time for a break.

While searching for vegetable stew recipes, I suddenly remembered that my mom used to make a veggie stew with couscous when I was a kid. Dad emailed a scan of the cookbook recipe with a note that said, “North African Stew — a vegetarian dish that looks as if it has meat in it but doesn’t!” Mom warned that it made a lot.

Although the dish had been tasty back in the day, looking at the recipe now I wasn’t all that excited about the shredded carrots and two cups of frozen peas. But I was definitely inspired. More online searching led me to Aida Mollenkamp’s oft-cited recipe for squash and chickpea Moroccan stew.

She calls for intricate flavors — brined green olives, saffron, and preserved lemon. I’d never cooked with preserved lemon before and wasn’t even sure how the North African condiment would taste. Deb from Smitten Kitchen called preserved lemons “an acquired taste” in her 2009 post. But I love lemons. So this had to happen.

Guillaume and I found a sizable jar of them at one of Boulder’s Mediterranean specialty stores. Just the one brand, just the one size. For $7, this constituted a gamble. At home, I tried a sliver and it tasted like salty lemon. Mollenkamp says to use half of one for the recipe. I used a whole small one. The lemony flavor was more pronounced — just what I’d hoped.

Other tweaks included using a single can of chickpeas for convenience, and getting a container of green olives from the grocery store deli rather than searching for the recommended Cerignola olives. I use saffron infrequently but never regret that purchase. A pinch of saffron wasn’t optional for me, but it could be for you. Also, I cut the huge olives into chunks and incorporated them with the preserved lemon for a few extra minutes of cooking time.

At our local grocery store, we bought a jar of mild harissa, the chili pepper paste condiment prevalent in Tunisian cuisine. The mild is truly mild, and rounded out the flavor of the stew nicely. Even if you’re not making stew, I think harissa is a condiment worth having on hand.

Preserved lemons (left) and green olives (right).

You could easily make this dish vegan by omitting the butter, doubling the olive oil, using vegetable broth, and skipping the yogurt at the end. Guillaume said he wasn’t sure the plain Greek yogurt added much, but I liked it. Plus you’ll probably want something cooling if you use a spicy harissa.

Usually I try to make a dish at least twice before posting it here, but this was too good to not share right away. So take everything below with a grain of salt. Or salty lemon.

Squash and Chickpea North African Stew

1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, small dice
4 medium cloves garlic, minced with a knife
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 cinnamon stick, around 3 inches long
1 lb. butternut squash, cut into large dice
¾ lb. red potatoes, cut into large dice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 C. low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 can cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes, with juices (14 oz.)
1 pinch of saffron threads
1 preserved lemon, finely chopped
1 C. brined green olives

To serve:
Cooked plain couscous
Fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
Sliced almonds, toasted
Plain regular or Greek yogurt
Harissa (I used mild)

Start by cooking the plain couscous and setting it aside. This stew recipe makes around six hearty servings.

Prep the ingredients. Use a large, sharp knife to cut a 1-lb. chunk off the butternut squash, ideally the skinny top part so you have less scooping to do. Cut the chunk into several fat coin-shaped pieces. Use the knife to cut off the skin. Cut the pieces in half, remove the seeds and soft centers, then cut the rest into a large dice.

Rinse the red potatoes well, pat dry, and cut into the same large dice as the squash. Put potatoes and squash in a bowl, set aside.

Cut onion into a small dice, then peel and mince the garlic cloves. On a separate cutting board, cut the green olives into halves or quarters, depending on their size. Cut the preserved lemon into thin strips and then slice into small pieces using a sharp paring knife.

Heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed saucepan that has a tight fitting lid. When the butter is melted and the oil shimmers, add the onion, garlic, cumin, and cinnamon stick.

Cook, stirring occasionally, until spices are aromatic and the onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the squash and potatoes, season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper, stir to coat, and cook until just tender, about 3 minutes. Test with a fork to check.

Add the broth, chickpeas, tomatoes and their juices, and saffron. Bring this mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Cover with the lid and simmer until the squash and potatoes are getting fork tender, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, toast the almonds and chop the fresh cilantro.

Remove the cinnamon stick, stir in the preserved lemons and olives, and simmer until the potatoes and squash are nice and tender, about five minutes. If the stew looks soupy, leave the lid off for this part. Taste and adjust the seasoning. You will probably need to add a bit more salt.

Serve the stew in large bowls over the couscous. Spoon a little yogurt and harissa on top. Garnish with a sprinkle of toasted almonds and chopped cilantro.