Moroccan Ratatouille with dates

In Morocco this dish is called "sebha del hdaree" I love it and so wanted to share it with my forum friends.

Similar to a French Ratatouille, this delicious dish is spkied with a touch of ras-el-hanout and sweetened with dates. It can be served with bread or couscous, or as an accompaniment to a tagine, grilled meats, or fish.

4-5 tbsp olive oil

1 onion , halved lenghtwise and sliced crosswise

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 red bell pepper, halved lenghtwise and sliced crosswise
with stalk and seeds removed

1 medium eggplant halved lenghtwise and sliced crosswise

2 zucchini sliced

8 oz. pitted dates, halved lengthwise

2 14oz. cans of chopped tomatoes

1-2 tsp. sugar

2 tsp. Ras-el-hanout

small bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley coarsely chopped

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a tagine or a heavy based casserole. Stir in the onion and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes until they begin to soften. Add the pepper, eggplant, and zucchini and cook for a further 3-4 minutes. Add the dates, tomatoes, sugar, Ras-el-hanout, and mix thoroughly. Cover with a lid and cook for about 40 min's, until the vegetables are tender.

Season with salt & pepper. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley over the top and serve the ratatouille hot.

I could make this but I dont have Ras-el-hanout.
Anything I could use in its place??

Janie, in the spice mix thread I posted a recipe for a simplified version, simply called Morrocan Spice.

See if you have the ingredients for that.

A full bore Ras-el-Hanout can have as many as 30 herbs and spices. Even the version Cathy posted has 15 or 16 ingredients, as I recall. Not the sort of thing you whip up just for one dish.

Here's that simplified ras-el-hanout:

1 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tbls cumin seeds
1/2 tbls caraway seeds
3 tbls dried mint leaves
3 inch stick cinnamon

Place all the ingredients together in a spice mill or a mortar and pulverize until coarsely ground. This mixture will keep for several weeks in a tightly closed container.

KYHeirloomer said:

Not the sort of thing you whip up just for one dish.

Click to expand...

He is quite right Janie, I could mail you mine if ya' want! Ibought some and made some,the homemade is so much better than the bought! I also posted the recipe for Ras-el-Hanout in the same Thread KYH is speaking of. But if you want to you know I highly recommend the cookbook "Flavors of Morocco" I got mine at the Good Cook book club. We are loving the recipes in it Janie! Tonight for instance we had a meatball dish that I made and oh my goodness was it terrific, I actually though to myself I bet Janie and Jon would love Moroccan food while we were eating. I guess I was thinking that because of [our] mostly your on-going efforts to get Jon to try new veggies and stuff. But anyhow I thought that might be a type cuisine he would love!

Thanks KYH. I have all of the things to mix your blend.
Thanks Cathy. Im going to the store today so I will pick up some eggplant, red bell pepper and I can get some dried dates. I can get zucchini from the garden. I have the canned tomatoes. Parsley was already on my store list.

Cool! I hope you will enjoy it. I wonder if Jon will like it?

Not mine, Janie. Jessica Harris', from her The African Cookbook.

Its a good down & dirty version, though. And it will keep for awhile if you store it in an air-tight container.

Let's hear it for baby food jars!!!

I could not find decent eggplant at the store.
Jon heard on the radio while I was in the store that the farmers market opens Thur so Im gonna see if I can find a nice on there. The produce manager at the grocery store here in town should be ashamed.

Well guys I went to the farmers market today about 1pm and there was no one there.
Last year no farmers showed up til the first weeks in July so I am hoping they will come out next week.

That's incredible, Janie. In Lexington the farmers have been showing up since April.

I know...
Our farmers market is never very big and Im afraid with people having such a hard time getting gardens out for all of the rain and then the onslaught of bugs and with the price of fertilizer going up that we wont have anyone show up for it.
They have a place about a mile out of town they designated for the farmers market but most of them set up here in town on Carol Malone Blvd in the Farmers Hardware lot facing the road so people can see them. They get much more business that way.
It is supposed to be open tomorrow so Im gonna go out and check. Im gonna head out there alot earlier than I did today in case my getting there after noon might have been when they sold out and left.
I checked the store here in town again today for an eggplant. Huge bruised up things.
I remember when I was a kid and the people who used to own that store ran it. Their Dad would have rolled over in his grave if he saw what they put out for sale now. I have actually picked up bunches of greens and found black mold on the bottoms. The used to look at me like I was nuts when I asked them to go in the back and get me something I would even consider feeding my rabbit. Our other store carries even less produce than that one does. What I would do for a WalMart in this town.
They wanted to put one here a year ago but one of the most wealthy families in town owned the land they wanted to buy and held it up for such a price Walmart passed on the deal. Like most small towns there are a few families who own most of the stores and businesses and they do not want a WalMart stealing their sales.