This tasty, spicy Moroccan chickpea tagine is packed full of delicious veggies and this vegetarian dish makes for an excellent hearty meal.
Made in the old fashioned way, in a tagine, this Moroccan chickpea tagine takes me back to hearty dishes I enjoyed as a kid in Tangier with my parents.
We lived in Gibraltar from 1980 – 1982, my Dad was in the Navy and was stationed there for two years.
Our holidays were spent in Morocco, a short boat ride and that’s where I was introduced to Tagine’s like this.
It’s not a problem if you don’t have a tagine dish, it can be done in a casserole dish too!
There’s a great source of essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals in this tagine including protein and fibre from the chickpeas.
The butternut squash has a moderate GI rating of 51 therefore is a great choice for blood sugar regulation as well as providing vitamins C and A and is good for our immune system because of the vitamin B6.
The quantities below will make enough for serving 4 with this spicy Morrocan chickpea tagine. It’s one of those dishes that makes your kitchen smell great too. You can leave out or lower the chilli quantity if you don’t want it to be spicy.
- 400 g /14oz can chickpeas in water rinsed and drained
- 1 red pepper deseeded and thickly sliced
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 medium butternut squash peeled, deseeded and cut into bite-sized
- 2 pieces courgettes cut into bite-sized
- 12 dried apricots
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 500 g tomato passata
- 2 tsp honey plus a drizzle to serve
- 2 tsp easy chilli or chilli paste
- Chopped fresh coriander
- Pre-heat oven to 180C fan.
- Place a large casserole dish or hob and oven proof tagine over a low heat.
- Add the chickpeas, pepper, onion, squash, courgettes and apricots. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir every now and then to prevent sticking and burning.
- Heat the oil in a small sauce pan, then add the garlic and spices, fry them for about 1 minute then add the passata, honey and chilli and bring to a boil.
- Pour the sauce over the vegetables, stir well and bring back to the boil.
- Cover with the lid and then remove to the oven.
- Cook for 1 hour, stir a couple of times through this time, then after 1 hour turn down to 100C.
- When vegetables are soft and cooked to taste season to taste with plenty of salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Scatter the chopped fresh coriander over. Serve with couscous.
When I announced to Lady Lynne that I was making this spicy Moroccan chickpea recipe again, she made a sound that only I know means “I’m not that keen on that recipe”. But on sitting down to eat this she exclaimed “Oh I love this tagine recipe”! Complicated creature’s females……
She likes hers with dollops of no fat Greek yogurt on. About 75g of couscous in a bowl covered with boiled water and left to stand with a plate on top for 5 minutes should be fine for 4 people. I don’t like to add any oil to my couscous, I find it’s fine as it is. Just fluff it up with a fork before serving.
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