The Happy Pear serve up this delicious tagine.
Ingredients
- 100 g red (or white onion, diced)
- 2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
- 50 g butternut squash (peel, de-seeded and chopped into very small cubes)
- 60 g carrot (grated)
- ¼ red pepper, approx. 40g, diced
- ¼ yellow pepper, approx. 40g, diced
- ½-1 can of chopped tomatoes (start with half, and add more if necessary during cooking, approx. 200-400g)
- ¼ tin of cooked chickpeas, approx. 70g
- ½ tsp. ground black pepper
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp ground cumin (depending on taste)
- pinch of cayenne pepper/chilli powder (optional)
- small bunch of fresh coriander (optional)
- 1 tsp olive oil or low calorie spray oil for cooking
Method
- Heat the oil in a deep saucepan on a medium heat. Sauté the (red) onion and garlic in the oil. When the onion begins to sizzle add the peppers and butternut squash.
- Add 1 tsp of salt to bring out the juices from the butternut squash. This will help to mix the flavours together. Leave the ingredients to "sweat" on the heat for 5 mins, stirring occasionally.
- Then add the chopped tomatoes — start with ½ a can, and if the mixture looks too dry add more, up to a full can. The tomatoes will bind the ingredients together and form the base of the sauce.
- Finally, add the grated carrot. The natural sweetness of this vegetable will balance the acidity of the tomatoes.
- Again, let the dish simmer on the heat for approx. 10 mins, stirring occasionally to stop the mixture from sticking to the saucepan.
- At the end of the 10 mins., add your spices and the chickpeas (canned chickpeas are already cooked so simply need heating). Stir thoroughly so that the flavours are mixed.
- Add the chopped coriander and stir through immediately before serving
- If you have time, leave the dish to simmer for about 10 mins longer to bring out the richness of the flavours.
