Beef Tagine with Beetroot and Orange

One pot winter warmer!

Prep: 15 min || Cook: 1.5 hour

Go straight to the recipe!

While winter produce may lack variety, there are still delicious and nutritious options such as beetroots and citrus fruits like oranges, which are flavorful and beneficial for the immune system. Pair these with festive elements like red meat and warming spices to create a perfect, rich one-pot beef tagine for your Christmas or New Year's Eve celebration.

The recipe comes from my all-time favourite Moroccan tagine cookbook, The Modern Tagine Cookbook, which I recommend buying!

This can be cooked in any ovenproof pot with a lid, but I especially prefer the tagine because it creates an impressive centrepiece on our festive table.

The festive tagine centrepiece

Recipe

Ingredients

• 500-600g good quality lean beef, cut into cubes or stripes

• 1 onion, sliced julienne style

• 3 cm fresh ginger root, grated

• 3 garlic cloves, crushed

• 2 thin-skinned oranges, washed and cut into cubes

• 3-4 beetroots (fresh or pre-boiled), peeled and quartered

• 2 tsp coriander seeds (or 2 tsp ground coriander)

• 2 cinnamon sticks

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 beef stock cube

• 1 tbsp honey

• 1 tbsp orange blossom water

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tbsp butter

For serving:

chopped pistachios and fresh parsley or coriander

Method

• Boil a kettle (no more than a litre of water) and dissolve the beef cube. This is your beef stock.

• Melt the butter and the olive oil in an ovenproof casserole (or tagine) with a lid and fry the onions for 2 minutes at medium heat. Stir the crushed garlic and ginger and cook until they start to colour.

• Add the coriander seeds, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks and season with salt and pepper, then add the beetroots and cook for around 3 more minutes.

• Toss the beef cubes and saute for another 1-2 minutes until they are nicely coloured all around. At this point, optionally, I like to cook the beef for an additional 1-2 minutes with a little wine (30-40ml) or balsamic cream for an extra layer of flavour.

Optional Pro tip: For extra flavour and tenderness I like to marinate the beef for a few hours (or overnight) before cooking with a little red wine, salt, pepper, bay leaves and the ginger paste. Keep the marinade and use it in this step.

• Pour enough beef stock to cover the meat and bring it to a boil. Simmer in low heat or put in the oven at 160c fan for 1 to 1.5 hours.

• Open the lid, add the orange pieces, honey and orange blossom water, season with salt and pepper, cover and cook for another 15 minutes.

• Serve with the chopped pistachios and parsley and some couscous or rice.

Beef Tagine with Beetroots and Oranges