Fish and prawn tagine with preserved lemon and olives
A bright Moroccan-style tagine of firm white fish, prawns, preserved lemon and olives — fragrant, saucy and pescatarian-friendly.
This pescatarian tagine swaps the usual lamb for firm white fish and prawns, so you get all the fragrant, slow-cooked comfort without the heft. It’s saucy, slightly tangy from preserved lemon and perfect for a midweek dinner or a casual weekend supper.
Use a tagine if you have one for the authentic steam-and-simmer effect, but a heavy-based casserole works just as well. Serve with couscous or flatbreads to mop up every last drop — not an optional step, in my opinion.
Ingredients
- 40 ml olive oil
- 1 brown onion — large, finely sliced
- 4 garlic cloves — crushed
- 10 ml ground cumin
- 5 ml ground coriander
- 5 ml sweet paprika
- 0 ml ground cinnamon
- 1 preserved lemon — rind rinsed and finely sliced
- 400 g tinned chopped tomatoes
- 300 ml fish stock — warm
- 5 ml sugar
- sea salt — to taste
- black pepper — freshly ground, to taste
- 500 g baby potatoes — halved
- 1 aubergine — cut into 2cm chunks
- 1 courgette — cut into 2cm chunks
- 1 red pepper — seeded and sliced
- 100 g green olives — pitted
- 200 g raw prawns — peeled and deveined
- 400 g white fish fillets — firm-fleshed (eg cod or haddock), skinned and cut into 4–6 large chunks
- 1 lemon — juice (about 1 tbsp) and zest of half
- 1 fresh coriander — small bunch, roughly chopped
- 30 g toasted flaked almonds
Equipment
- tagine or heavy-based casserole
- blender or mini-chopper (optional, for smoother sauce)
Instructions
Heat the olive oil in a tagine or heavy-based casserole over a medium hob. Add the brown onion and sweat gently, stirring, until very soft and beginning to caramelise, about 10 minutes.
Add the garlic cloves and the dry spices (ground cumin, ground coriander, sweet paprika, ground cinnamon). Cook, stirring, for 1 minute to release the aromatics.
Pour in the tinned chopped tomatoes and warm fish stock. Stir in the preserved lemon, sugar, a good pinch of sea salt and some black pepper. Add the baby potatoes and aubergine, bring to a gentle simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes until the potatoes are nearly tender.
Uncover, add the courgette, red pepper and green olives. Stir, recover and simmer for a further 10 minutes until all the vegetables are tender but not falling apart.
Meanwhile combine the white fish fillets and raw prawns in a bowl with the juice of the lemon and a pinch of sea salt. Leave to sit while the tagine finishes — about 20 minutes; this gently seasons the seafood.
Gently nestle the marinated fish and prawns into the simmering sauce, spooning some sauce over the pieces. Cover and simmer on a low hob for 6–8 minutes until the fish is opaque and flakes easily and the prawns are pink.
Turn off the heat and leave the tagine covered to rest for 10 minutes so the flavours settle and the seafood finishes gently.
Scatter over the fresh coriander and toasted flaked almonds, adjust seasoning with sea salt and black pepper, then serve straight from the tagine.
Tips
- If using aubergine that’s especially bitter, sprinkle the chunks with a little salt and leave for 15 minutes, then pat dry on kitchen paper before adding — prevents a bitter, soggy result.
- To speed up the meal, par-boil the baby potatoes for 8 minutes before adding in step 3 so they’ll be tender in less time.
- If you don’t have preserved lemons, use the zest of a lemon plus a teaspoon of lemon juice and a pinch of salt — the flavour will be noticeably different but still bright.
- Make the tomato-vegetable base up to 24 hours ahead and refrigerate; add the seafood at the end and poach for a final 6–8 minutes when ready to eat.
- Toast the flaked almonds in a dry frying pan over a medium hob for 2–3 minutes, shaking the pan, until golden — watch them closely as they burn quickly.
Substitutions
white fish fillets → salmon fillets, cut into chunks (same weight)
Stays closeraw prawns → mussels in shells, scrubbed and debearded (use 400g); add with the fish and cook until shells open
Noticeably differentpreserved lemon → zest and an extra 1 tsp lemon juice with 1/4 tsp sea salt
Noticeably differentfish stock → vegetable stock, same volume
Stays close
Nutrition
Per serving · estimated
- 410
- Calories
- 30 g
- Protein
- 32 g
- Carbs
- 18 g
- Fat
- 5 g
- Fibre
- 6 g
- Sugar
- 700 mg
- Sodium
FAQ
Can I use a casserole instead of a tagine?
Yes — a heavy-based casserole or flameproof pan works perfectly. The important thing is a tight-fitting lid to trap steam.
How can I tell when the fish is done?
Fish is cooked when it is opaque and flakes easily with a fork. Start checking at 6 minutes; different thicknesses finish at different times.
Can I make this ahead and reheat?
Make the vegetable-tomato base ahead and chill. Add the seafood and finish cooking just before serving — reheating cooked fish will make it dry.
Are preserved lemons essential?
They add an authentically bright, salty-citrus note. If you don’t have them, use extra lemon zest plus a little salt, though the flavour will be different.
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