Martha Stewart's Unexpectedly Delightful Addition To Her Favorite Moroccan Lamb Tagine

Tagines are a staple in North African cuisine, and in Morocco especially, a flavorful lamb tagine is one of the most popular dishes to grace the dinner table. Full of sweet and savory spices, this slow-cooked dish is a testament to that highly seasoned touch that Moroccan cuisine is known for. Whether you're new to the world of tagines or ready to make your own tagine dish (with or without the tagine pot), your first bite of lamb tagine will probably leave you curious about more ways to experiment and enjoy the dish again. 

It's no secret that Moroccan food is one of Martha Stewart's favorite cuisines, as she spotlighted some of her favorite dishes from the cuisine in a Reddit "ask me anything" post. Her love for lamb tagine in particular even led her to create her own version of this traditional recipe, adding in a sweet and creamy twist: butternut squash. Even while juicy by itself, lamb tagine gets a flavor upgrade with the unlikely addition of this versatile winter vegetable.

Surprisingly, Stewart tends to prefer simple and comforting dishes over complex ones (she's a fan of the occasional late-night New York-style hot dog just like the rest of us). However, the inclusion of butternut squash is about making an already luscious dish even more indulgent. 

While not super typical of lamb tagine, Martha Stewart's use of diced butternut squash brings out its natural sweetness and buttery texture. Butternut squash is a vegetable that is cherished in Moroccan cooking and so complements the culture and culinary tradition. Her recipe calls for the butternut squash to be added towards the end of the cooking process to join the lamb in the last 30 minutes to soak up flavor and reach its optimal yumminess.

Butternut squash is a favorite addition to soups and stews, and so in this saucy tagine dish, butternut squash is able to work its natural magic. The vegetable truly shines by bringing balance into the mix. In Martha Stewart's take on lamb tagine, she includes tomato paste, which adds a rich color and a touch of acidity; chopped garlic to add intensity in flavor and aromatics; pitted prunes, which is traditionally added to Moroccan tagine recipes for sweetness; and other ingredients to enhance the flavors in the pot like cinnamon sticks, black pepper and salt. 

The lamb offers a succulent and umami taste to the meal, and the butternut squash comes in with that subtle earthy sweetness to complete the flavor palette. It also makes the meal extra filling since butternut squash is a vegetable that is great at satiating and is denser than some of the other vegetables that might be used for tagines like carrots, eggplants, zucchini, or broccoli.

Butternut squash is admittedly a standout in the recipe, but it is by no means the main star of this well-stewed show. It works alongside some of the tried and tested ways to offer some extra sweetness to each spoonful of this Moroccan dish, like the addition of dates, dried prunes, or honey-caramelized prunes. This helps add flavor to the lamb, which absorbs the sweet and spicy flavors it is cooked in. 

Another way to traditionally enhance the sweetness includes adding dried apricots. Not only is the texture of the apricots juicy, but they also add a burst of color to the tagine. Butternut squash works in a similar way, bringing brightness and vibrancy to the dish with a milder sweetness and softer texture.