Butternut Squash & Chickpea Tagine

 

The winter vegetable season is almost over but before all pumpkins disappear from the shelves, I need to share a recipe with you!

 

 

You might have noticed from other blogposts, that I’m basically in love a huge fan of Jamie Oliver. The way he makes cooking seem so easy and fun, always has me glued to the TV whenever his show is on. But I’ll save more words of praise for a blogpost in the future… one about his first “all veggie” cookbook, which I know nothing about yet, it’s just my gut telling me that he is working on it. You hear me Jamie? We are waiting!

 

 

Anyhow, I did buy one of his cookbooks last year, called Save With Jamie, even though it also has meaty recipes. But thank goodness I did, because otherwise I wouldn’t know about this delicious tagine recipe that I want to share with you today. I have made it many times already and changed some things here and there, basically increased on the flavor by adding more of some ingredients and also leaving out some cooking steps to make it simpler. It’s a dish that needs (besides love and care) some time to simmer, which is the secret to the flavor – a mix of sweet, salty and spicy. It’s so so good! Even my boyfriend, who grew up with moroccan food, loves this tagine, so it is definitely approved. 😉

 

 

I hope you’ll like my version of Jamie Oliver’s tagine. Here it is:

 

Butternut Squash & Chickpea Tagine

(serves 4 people)

• 1 butternut squash
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions
• 1 bunch of coriander
• 60g raisins
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp chili flakes
• 80g green olives, stone in (I love the ones from Alnatura)
• 1 can of chopped tomatoes (400g)
• 1 can of chickpeas (400g)
• 600ml vegetable stock
• serve with couscous or quinoa

 

Wash butternut squash, cut the ends of and leave the skin on. Take the seeds out and cut into 3cm sized chunks. Mix with a little olive oil and season with salt (I usually use rosemary or thyme infused salt). Now roast at the top of the oven at 190°C/375°F for about 30-40 minutes until soften and slightly caramelized.

 

Meanwhile, heat up 3 tbsp of olive oil in a big pot. Roughly chop the onions and add to the pot. Chop up the stalk of the coriander finely and add to the onions, together with the raisins, cinnamon and chilli. Now let cook with lit on for about 20 minutes, adding some water now and then, so it doesn’t burn.

Once the squash is ready add it to the pot, together with the tomatoes, vegetable stock and the can of chickpeas – you don’t have to drain the water, just add it to the tagine for more flavor.

Take out the stones of the olives and add them to the tagine. Bring to boil and then turn down the heat and let simmer with lid off for about 40min, this way it will thicken up nicely.

If you want to serve the tagine with quinoa you’ll need to prepare it about 20 minutes before the tagine is ready. Couscous will only take a few minutes to make. When you’re ready to serve, chop up the coriander leafs and sprinkle over the plate. Voila!

MerkenMerken