Moroccan Sausage and Chickpea Tagine with Couscous

This traditional tagine recipe is cooked on the hob and utilises store cupboard spices, including cinnamon and cumin, along with juicy apricots to thicken and sweeten the sauce.

Serves 4

Prep time 15 minutes

Cook time 25 minutes

Ingredients

Meatballs

8 reduced fat pork sausages

Salt and black pepper

20g dried breadcrumbs

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp hot smoked paprika

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Sauce

drizzle of oil

1 medium onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced

1 medium carrot, peeled and thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp ground coriander

½ tsp hot smoked paprika

400g can finely chopped tomatoes

3 tbsps tomato purée

1 cinnamon stick, broken in half, or ¼ tsp ground cinnamon

100g dried apricots, chopped

400ml hot chicken stock, made with one stock cube

400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

To serve

180g green beans, trimmed

200g couscous

400ml hot vegetable stock, made with one stock cube

1 small bunch of mint, leaves chopped

1 small bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped

Method

1. Make a slit in the sausages with a sharp knife, then remove and discard the skins. Pop the sausage meat into a bowl, season with salt and pepper and mix with the breadcrumbs and spices. Shape into 20 equal sized balls and if you find the mixture a little sticky, then wet your hands with cold water which will help you to shape the meatballs.

2. Heat a tbsp of oil in a large non-stick saucepan, add the meatballs and fry on a medium heat for 3-4 minutes until the meatballs are browned on all sides, remove from the pan with a slotted spoon onto a plate.

3. Next add a drizzle of more oil to the saucepan and heat over a medium heat, then add the sliced onion and fry for 3 minutes until the onion softens and is golden. Stir in the carrots and fry for a further 3 minutes.

4. Add the garlic and sprinkle over the dried spices, then cook for a minute. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, cinnamon stick, apricots and chicken stock. Return the meatballs to the pan along with the chickpeas, then stir to combine. Bring the sauce gently to the boil, cover with a lid and simmer for 15 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and the carrots are tender.

5. If you have a steamer, place it over the saucepan, add the green beans and cover with a lid to cook the green beans over the tagine for the last 10 minutes, until the beans are tender. (If you don’t have a steamer, boil the green beans for 5-6 minutes in a small saucepan).

6. Meanwhile, place the couscous in a bowl and pour over the hot stock, cover with cling film and set aside for 5 minutes, then break up the grains with a fork, stir in ¾ of the chopped herbs and season with salt and black pepper.

7. When the sauce has thickened, remove the cinnamon stick and check the seasoning. Serve the couscous in warm bowls topped with the meatball tagine and a sprinkling of the remaining chopped herbs.

Tip

The tagine could also be served with flatbreads and some homemade hummus.

Savings

35 minutes

33p