Moroccan roast veggies with chickpeas

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C. Place the vegetables in a large roasting pan, drizzle with 2 T olive oil and season. Cut the butternut in half to reduce the cooking time. Roast for 20 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally.

2. Meanwhile, place the couscous in a large bowl and pour over the boiling water. Season with salt and  u with a fork. Cover the bowl with clingwrap and allow to steam for 5-10 minutes. Remove the clingwrap and fluff the couscous again.

3. Heat 2 T olive oil in a large pan and pan-fry half the Moroccan paste until fragrant and warm.

4. Add the drained chickpeas and fry over a high heat, remove from the pan and set aside for serving.

5. Add the remaining paste to the pan, fry for a minute, then add the butternut with the chickpea brine and 1 cup stock. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add more stock if you like, then add the remaining roast vegetables.

6. Fry the paprika in the remaining oil and drizzle over the vegetables before serving. Garnish with the coriander and spring onion.

COOK’S TIP: This Moroccan paste from Woolworths is so jam-packed full of flavour, it really is the secret weapon to making this veggie tagine. I like to cook the chickpeas in the paste and remove from the pan to keep that burst of  flavour when serving. Pour the reserved chickpea brine into the paste jar and shake to get out all the remaining paste. The brine also acts as a natural thickener.

Discover more Moroccan recipes here.

Photograph: Jan Ras
Food assistant: Claire-Ellen Van Rooyen