Recipe: Tasty Pumpkin and Cranberry Tagine

This recipe is the tastiest dish I’ve had in ages and is my new favorite way to cook pumpkin. Even though this is a vegetarian dish, I dare meat-eaters to say they don’t enjoy this pumpkin and cranberry tagine.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 red onions, thickly sliced
• 3cm piece fresh root ginger, grated
• 500g/1lb 2oz pumpkin or squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into large chunks
• 1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon,
• 1 teaspoon each of coriander, cumin and harissa paste
• 1 tablespoon clear honey
• 700g/24 ounces bottle tomato passata
• 50g/2 ounces dried cranberries
• 400g/14 ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a tagine or just use an ordinary pot.

2. Add the onions and lightly fry.

3. Add the cinnamon, coriander, cumin, harissa paste and ginger plus the pumpkin.

4. Add the honey, passata and cranberries.

5. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender.

6. Add the chickpeas about 15 minutes into the cooking.

7. If the dish is too thick add a little water.

8. Garnish with parsley or fresh coriander and serve with couscous or rice.

Shelley’s Notes:

1. Passata is like a liquid tomato puree. When I don’t have any to hand I use two cans of chopped tomatoes and this works just as well.

2. The recipe doesn’t use salt or pepper and you don’t need it. This dish is full of tasty flavor.

3. The recipe calls for dried cranberries but next time I make this I might try some frozen cranberries instead.

4. The photo doesn’t do the dish justice. I took it quite late at night and my photos weren’t as good as I’d hoped.

5. Recipe comes from Good Food magazine, January 2010.

What are your favorite dishes featuring pumpkin or cranberries?