Fish Tagine with Chermoula

Name: Fish Tagine with Chermoula
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Moroccan
Ingredients: 700 g White fish fillets or steaks; Chermoula marinade; 30 g Fresh coriander; 15 g Flat-leaf parsley; 4 Garlic cloves; 2 tsp Ground cumin; 1 tsp Sweet paprika; 45 ml Lemon juice; 60 ml Olive oil; 400 g Waxy potatoes; 300 g Ripe tomatoes; 1 Bell pepper; 1 Preserved lemon; 120 ml Water; 1 tsp Salt

White fish marinated in green chermoula, then steamed over a bed of sliced potatoes, peppers and tomatoes so it stays moist and takes on the smoke of the herbs.

Source

Recipe by Moroccan home kitchens · 🏺 Traditional · Moroccan household cooking

Moroccan coastal cooking — Along Morocco's Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts the tagine is often made with fish rather than meat. The fish is marinated in chermoula — the standard Maghrebi herb, garlic and cumin marinade for seafood — then cooked over a bed of vegetables so it steams instead of frying. There is no single author; the vegetables and the fish vary with the day's catch.

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Watch it being made

Moroccan Eats

⏱ 70 min🍽 4 servings🔥 360 kcal🇲🇦 Morocco🌶️

HalalPescatarianDairy-freeGluten-freeNut-free

Steps

Make the chermoula: finely chop the coriander, parsley and garlic, then stir in the cumin, paprika, lemon juice, olive oil and 1/2 tsp salt to a loose green paste.
Coat the fish in half the chermoula and leave it to marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes.
💡 Do not marinate fish much longer than 30–40 minutes. The lemon juice starts to 'cook' the surface and the flesh turns mushy.
Layer the sliced potatoes over the base of a wide pot, season with the remaining salt, and spread half the leftover chermoula over them.
Lay the marinated fish on the potatoes, then cover with the tomato slices, pepper rings and preserved-lemon strips.
Spoon over the last of the chermoula, pour the water down the side of the pot, cover and cook over low heat 35–40 minutes.
💡 Pour the water down the side, not over the fish, so you do not wash off the chermoula sitting on top.
It is ready when a knife slides through a potato slice with no resistance and the fish flakes. Serve straight from the pot.

💡 Tips

The potatoes cook slower than the fish, so they must go on the bottom, closest to the heat, and the fish must sit on top out of the direct heat. Get that order wrong and you have raw potato under overcooked fish.
Keep the lid on and the heat low. This is really a steam-braise: the vegetables release their own juice and the fish poaches gently in the herby steam. High heat cracks the pot and dries the fish.