Seasonal local food recipe No.342 – Braised squash with chickpeas and harissa
Don’t be put off by the rather long list of ingredients, the result is very tasty. I was a bit dubious about the dried apricots and was pleased to be proved wrong. I have given you Frank, my husband’s, version of Yotam Ottolenghi’s original recipe. We didn’t have preserved lemon skin so Frank substituted grated lemon zest and the juice of half a lemon.
Serves 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
2 Tbsp olive oil
2-3 banana shallots, peeled and chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tsp ground cumin
4 whole cardamom pods, crushed to release the seeds, pods discarded
salt and black pepper
2 1/2 Tbsp harissa paste
1/2 tsp rose water
500 ml vegetable stock
1 large butternut squash, peeled and cut into 4 cm dice
400 g tinned, cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
7 dried apricots, thinly sliced
20 g preserved lemon skin, roughly chopped
10 g coriander leaves, roughly chopped
150 g Greek yoghurt
Method
In a large saute pan for which you have a lid, heat the oil on a medium-high flame. Add the shallots and fry for 7-8 minutes, stirring every so often, until soft and caramelised, then stir in the garlic, spices, half a teaspoon of salt and plenty of pepper, and fry for 2 minutes longer.
Add the harissa, rose water and stock, bring to a boil, then add the chickpeas, apricots and lemon and leave to simmer for 20 minutes. Add the squash and simmer until the squash is tender, adding a little more water if necessary. Sprinkle with the coriander and serve with some yoghurt alongside.
