Previously covered in the Indigo Lifestyle blog here, Beatrice Peltre’s La Tartine Gourmande is an early cookbook highlight of 2012.

Beatrice was kind enough to share a sample recipe. Readers can rest assured that this is indeed a representative sample, and the recipes are all this lovely throughout this very special cookbook.

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Vegetable Tajine (page 184)

From Beatrice Peltre’s La Tartine Gourmand:  Recipes for an Inspired Life

Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small red onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 thyme twigs

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tomato, blanched, peeled and seeded, and diced

1 tablespoon double-concentrated tomato paste

4 carrots, peeled and sliced

12 oz (350 g) butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced

1 fennel bulb, sliced

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

1 bay leaf

Sea salt and pepper

1 cup (235 ml) homemade vegetable stock or chicken broth

1 cup (150 g; 5 ¼ oz) cooked chickpeas

1 ½ cups (170g; 6 oz) cauliflower florets

1/2 cup raisins, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes

Chopped cilantro, to serve.

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Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C).

In a large sauté pan or tajine dish, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes, without browning, stirring, until soft. Add the garlic, thyme, and spices and cook and spices and cook for 1 more minute, or until fragrant. Add the tomato and tomato paste and cook for 2 more minutes, or until the tomatoes soften. Add the carrots, butternut squash, fennel and sweet potatoes and cook for 7 minutes, stirring, until the vegetables start to soften. Add the bay leaf, season with salt and pepper, and add the stock and chickpeas. Bring to a simmer.

Cover, transfer to the oven, and cook for 40 minutes. Add the cauliflower and raisins and continue to cook for 20 more minutes. Discard the bay leaf and thyme and add the cilantro.
Serve with a grain such as couscous, millet, polenta, or quinoa.

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For a closer look at Beatrice’s work, please visit http://www.latartinegourmande.com/

Thanks to Random House of Canada and Roost Books for their assistance with this blog, as well as Beatrice herself – we thank her for the sample recipe, and wish her well with her first book.