Sweet Potato Tagine Pot Pie Recipe

A unique twist on a traditional comfort food, this sweet potato tagine pot pie is filled with the wonderful flavors of Moroccan cuisine and topped with light and crispy phyllo pastry. Created by recipe developer Annabelle Randles, this versatile dish would make a stunning vegetarian centerpiece at a dinner party but it would be equally at home served for a cozy weeknight dinner.

The perfect balance of sweet and savory, this dish is cooked in a fragrant tomato base and filled with tender sweet potatoes, hearty chickpeas, earthy spinach, sweet bell peppers, and prunes, as well as tangy green olives. Randles uses clear honey and lemon juice to further enhance the overall aromatic flavor of this dish. For a plant-based alternative, you can swap the honey for maple syrup.

This sweet potato tagine pot pie is first cooked on a stove until the sweet potatoes are just soft, then transferred to an ovenproof dish, topped with scrunched-up phyllo pastry, and baked until the topping is golden crisp. Randles likes to serve this show-stopping dish in the base of a traditional tagine pot but if you don't have one, you can also use a 10-inch round ovenproof dish or pie dish.

To make this sweet potato tagine pot pie you will need some sweet potato, red bell pepper, spinach, chickpeas, prunes, green olives, canned chopped tomatoes, vegetable stock, onion, garlic, tomato paste, honey, lemon juice, cornstarch, and salt. To season the dish you'll need paprika, ginger, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper. For the pie topping, you will need some phyllo sheets and Nigella seeds.

Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.

Add the onion and fry until soft, about 6 minutes.

Mix in the tomato paste, spices, and garlic, and fry for a minute or so.

Stir in the sweet potato, bell pepper, and cornstarch.

Add the tomatoes and vegetable stock.

Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered until the sweet potatoes are just cooked through, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Stir in the spinach and cook until wilted.

Add the chickpeas, prunes, and olives.

Season to taste with honey, lemon, and salt.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Transfer the vegetables to a tagine base or a 10-inch pie dish.

Lay one phyllo sheet onto your workspace and brush it with oil.

Ruffle the oiled phyllo sheet loosely into a ball.

Place the phyllo ball on top of the tagine.

Repeat the oiling and ruffling process with the remaining phyllo sheets.

Sprinkle the Nigella seeds over the top of the pie.

Bake uncovered in the oven until golden all over, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Serve the sweet potato tagine pot pie hot with a crunchy side salad, if desired.

Often associated with Moroccan cuisine, the origins of tagine can be traced back to North African indigenous Berber tribes who traveled nomadically throughout the Maghreb region. The word tagine is used to describe both a meal and a cooking vessel.

As a dish, tagine is a rich and flavorsome sweet and savory stew traditionally made with meat, vegetables, nuts, dry fruits, olives, lemon, honey, and a range of spices. The ingredients are slow-cooked in a tagine pot, a cooking vessel made either from ceramic, clay, aluminum, or cast iron. A tagine pot has a very unique design consisting of a large, shallow round base and a conical lid. The lid is designed to condense the steam generated while cooking, resulting in a soft and moist flavor-packed dish.

Traditionally, tagines were left to simmer over an open fire while Berbers would go about with their daily life. The tagine dish and cooking pot were both perfectly suited to the communal lifestyle of the nomadic tribes. Nowadays, though tagines are more likely to be cooked in an oven or on a stovetop, they are still synonymous with a delicious shared meal to enjoy between friends and family. While a tagine pot makes a striking serving dish, you can still prepare a scrumptious tagine meal in a Dutch oven, slow cooker, or lidded casserole dish.

A popular comfort food, a pot pie is a deep, filled savory pie traditionally made with meat and vegetables cooked in a creamy gravy-like sauce. It is baked in an oven dish and is either topped with a pastry crust or fully encased in it.

Shortcut pastry or puff pastry are two popular choices to top a pot pie, however depending on the type of filling and twist you would like to add to your pot pie, there are many alternative toppings you can use. For this recipe, instead of a rich pastry crust, Randles has chosen light phyllo pastry sheets which pair perfectly with the texture and flavors of tagine.

To give your pot pie a Southern twist, try a cornbread topping, whether plain, cheesy, or studded with jalapeños. A hearty biscuit and dumpling topping is also one of Randles' favorites for a comforting winter pot pie. Alternatively, if you want to swap pastry for something lighter and more nutritious try potato, sweet potato, or cauliflower mash.