When our lovely friends, Tamsin and Graham, came to dinner, I decided to try and create a vegan tagine.
I love butternut squash and apricots in tagines, as they give a lovely sweetness that contrasts well with the harissa spices. In this dish, I've used golden butternut squash, which is sweeter than regular squash, although either will work.
Carrots, peppers and chickpeas are the other key ingredients, but you could experiment with different vegetables if you want to mix it up. I like to serve this topped with some flat leaf parsley and a handful of toasted flaked almonds for a nice change of texture.
3 tablespoons of olive oil
½ (approx 400g) golden butternut squash
3 (approx 200g) carrots
2 red peppers
400g can of chickpeas
1 tablespoon of apricot harissa paste
1 teaspoon of smoked chilli harissa paste
1 large onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of ground cinammon
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of ground turmeric
½ fine sea salt
250ml vegetable stock
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
100g soft dried apricots, diced
To garnish:
Flat leaf parsley
Toasted flaked almonds
- Peel the butternut squash and carrots and cut them into approx 2cm dice.
- Cut the peppers into similar sized pieces.
- Cut the onion into quarters and and thinly slice.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a tagine, casserole or lidded sauté pan, over a low to medium heat.
- Once the oil is up to temperature, add the sliced onion and vegetables and sauté until the onion is translucent.
- Whilst the vegetables are softening, cut each piece of apricot into 4 or 6 pieces.
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
- Crush the garlic and add it to the pan along with the spices and salt. Cook for a further 1-2 minutes, being careful not to let the ingredients burn.
- Pour in the stock, tomatoes and stir in the apricots, drained chickpeas and harissa pastes.
- Stir well and season.
Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat. Cover the casserole and simmer for 20-25 minutes.
Serve with cous cous and garnish with finely chopped parsley and toasted, flaked almonds.
