This traditional warm 'salad' is a favourite Moroccan dish known as Taktouka.
It is often made with green peppers, but I like to use red and yellow peppers, although any will do. The peppers are roasted and then cooked in a fresh tomato sauce, enhanced with spices and herbs.
Many authentic Taktouka recipes suggest that you grate the raw tomatoes to make the sauce, but I tend to dice mine as it's a lot less messy!
Taktouka is often served just with bread, but I like to serve it with
lamb koftas, and a side of sumac spiced yoghurt or
Tzatziki.
2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
3 peppers
3 -4 large vine tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of paprika
½ teaspoon of cumin
1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh coriander
1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 tablespoon of tomato puree
Pinch of brown caster sugar
Seasoning
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°C.
- Line a baking tray with baking/parchment paper.
- Cut the peppers in half and remove the seeds.
- Lay the pepper halves on the tray, skin side up.
- Roast in the oven for 30-35 minutes until the skins have blackened.
- Whilst the peppers are roasting, cut a cross in the skin of the bottom of each tomato.
- Place the tomatoes in a layer at the bottom of a heatproof container and cover with boiling water. Leave for 5 minutes.
- Remove the peppers from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes, then remove the skin (it should pull off easily).
- Cut the peppers into approx 2cm pieces.
- Dice the tomatoes.
- Heat the oil in a saucepan and sauté the crushed garlic and spices for a couple of minutes before adding the tomatoes, herbs, sugar, tomato puree and seasoning.
- Stir well to combine and then cover with a lid and leave to simmer for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the peppers, and simmer, uncovered for a further 5-10 minutes.
