Hlalem (Tunisian Pasta and Beans)

Pasta is probably my all time favourite food, I just adore it! Lately, though, I've been trying to eat a little less of it because I'm not quite as young as I used to be and I don't burn it off as easily, so now pasta is a real treat. I'm always a bit excited when a pasta dish comes up as part of my research for a country, because then I have an excuse to make pasta :)

This Tunisian dish of pasta and beans is wonderful - hearty, nourishing and beautifully flavoured. Traditionally it is sometimes made with the addition of Mergues sausages, so if you like, you can throw in some chopped vegetarian sausages when you add the pasta. I've used frozen broad beans, but you can also use dried - just soak them with the chickpeas and add them at the same time.

Hlalem (Tunisian Pasta & Beans)

Ingredients
1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked for 24 hours and then drained and rinsed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp harissa paste or harissa spice mix
3/4 cup green lentils, rinsed
1 x 400g diced or crushed tomatoes
3 tbsp tomato paste
200g pasta (any large shape such as large spirals or shells)
1 cup frozen or fresh broad beans

To Make
1. Soak the chickpeas for 24 hours and then drain and rinse.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onion until soft. Add the harissa paste or spice mix and fry for about 30 seconds, until fragrant.
3. Add the chickpeas and lentils and enough water to cover them. Then add the tomato paste and tin of tomatoes. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for about 90 minutes, or until the beans are tender. Keep an eye on the water level and add more water as needed during the cooking.
4. Once the beans are cooked, add the pasta and the broad beans. Simmer, uncovered for 20-30 minutes or until the pasta is cooked al dente. You may need to add more water as it's cooking in order to properly cook the pasta.

Serve.

Serves 4-6

This month I'm featuring lots of recipes from Tunisia!

Check out my other Tunisian recipe posts:

Cooked Carrot & Olive Salad

{Baked} Tunisian Yoyo (Orange Flavoured Doughnuts)

Mzoura (Harissa Parsnips)
Sweet Potato, Olive & Caper Briks

Lentil and Sweet Potato Hummus

I rarely ever make the same dip twice. There are so many wonderful opportunities for delicious combinations! Making dip is easy, quick and a nice safe place to experiment if you're creative but not sure about your flavour combining abilities! It's also lovely to share communal food with friends. Bringing a home made dip when you visit a friend is cheaper than bringing bought food, more fun and shows that you thought they were worth a bit of effort (even if it was just a little bit!)

Dip can also be a great way to use up ingredients if you don't know what to do with them! Got a quarter of a cauliflower languishing in the fridge? Dip it. A ridiculously small amount of lentils left in the bottom of a packet after you made something else? Dip it. A tin of beans at the back of your cupboard? Dip it. A spice which you have no idea what to do with? Find a vegetable that fits it's flavour profile and DIP IT!

If that isn't enough - here are something else awesome about dips. You can use leftover dips to smear on your burgers, sandwiches or wraps. You can use this leftover dip to add thickness and flavour to a vegetable soup or a lentil soup. You could even mix it up with some fresh herbs and olive oil and make a salad dressing out of it. Endless possibilities!

How do you use up leftover dips when you entertain?

Lentil and Sweet Potato Hummus

Ingredients

1/2 cup red lentils

2 carrots

1 medium sweet potato

1 cup vegetable stock

1 tsp ground cumin

2 tbsp tahini

4 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp lemon juice

Sumac, to sprinkle on top

To Make

1. Dice the carrot. Peel and roughly chop the sweet potato.

2. Place the lentils, carrot and sweet potato in a small saucepan. Add the cumin and vegetable stock and bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Simmer, covered for 20-30 minutes, or until the vegetables and lentils are all well cooked. Set aside to cool slightly.

3. Combine the lentils and vegetables (including any cooking water remaining), tahini, soy sauce and lemon juice in a food processor and process until smooth consistency. 

4. Transfer to a bowl and sprinkle liberally with sumac.

Can be served warm or at room temperature.

Happy Australia Day! Are you celebrating anywhere this year?

Potato, Asparagus, Broad Bean and Red Lentil Soup

This soup is incredibly quick and easy to make, and the winning combination of potato and red lentils creates a beautiful creamy texture and flavour. And as for the asparagus...need I say more? Lets just say that these tall, slim stalks of supreme deliciousness know how to work it, work it good.

Potato, Asparagus, Broad Bean and Red Lentil Soup

Ingredients:
5 medium pink skinned potatos, cubed
1 bunch of asparagus, chopped, the tips reserved
1/4 cup of fresh broadbeans, peeled
3/4 cup of red lentils, rinsed
1 small brown onion, chopped
1 1/2 litres of vegetable stock
2 Tbsp of olive oil

How to Make:
1. Heat the olive oil in your stockpot and saute the onion on a medium heat until transparent.
2. Add all remaining ingredients other than the asparagus tips, which will be added later.
3. Bring to the boil and simmer, covered, for 30mins.
4. Take the soup of the heat, grab either an electric stick mixer or a potato masher (or something else that enjoys blending innocent yet delicious vegetables) and mix/mash until some whole pieces of vegetables remain, yet the ingredients are well blended. Or shall we say, half blended, half intact...
5. Put the soup back on the stove and add the asparagus tips, simmering for 5 mins.
6. Serve and enjoy!
Serves 4

Four Types of Lentils (with Broad Beans)

Lentils are awesome! :)

Ingredients:

1 bunch shallots/spring onions (either are fine)

½ tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp cumin

8 cups vegetable stock

½ cup blue lentils (or ‘French Lentils’)

½ cup green lentils

½ cup yellow split peas

¼ cup red lentils

2 carrots, diced

½ cup broad beans (frozen if fresh not available)

1 zucchini, diced

Salt and pepper to taste

To Make:

1. Heat some oil in a heavy based saucepan or soup pot. Slice the white parts of the shallots and put the green parts aside to use as garnish (or to put in a salad for some other meal). Sauté the white parts of the shallots in the oil with the fennel seeds until the shallots are soft and the fennel seeds are fragrant. Add the cumin and sauté a further minute.

2. Add the vegetable stock, and all 4 types of lentils. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

3. Add the diced carrots and broad beans and simmer for a further 20 minutes, or until the lentils are nice and soft. Check the water level to make sure there is enough water and add more (boiling hot) water if the water has reduced too much.

4. Add the zucchini and season to taste with salt and pepper. Once zucchini is cooked serve.

Serves 4.

Lentils with Artichoke and Mint

The addition of mint to red lentils gives this dish a Turkish element and makes a slightly different flavour - with delicious results. You can also add extra water and make it into a soup.

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped roughly

2 zucchinis

1 cup red lentils

6 cups vegetable stock

1 large carrot, diced

1 tbsp soy sauce

4 whole un-marinated artichoke hearts

1 cup very small macaroni (or other small soup pasta)

Half a bunch of mint, chopped finely

To Make:

1. Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan or soup pot, add the onion, garlic and ¼ cup of chopped mint. Sauté until the onion is soft. Coarsely grate the zucchini and add to the pot. Cook gently for 1-2 minutes.

2. Add the lentils, vegetable stock, carrot and soy sauce. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer gently, covered for 20 minutes, or until the lentils are soft.

3. Chop the artichoke hearts roughly into eighths and add to the pot with the soup pasta and the rest of the mint. Simmer with the lid off for 5-6 minutes until the pasta is cooked. Season to taste with pepper and serve with a sprig of mint as garnish.

Vegan Baked Lentils with Sweet Potato and Cauliflower

There is something so hearty about baked lentils in winter and I'm always a fan of meals that you just throw together and leave in the oven for a while!

Ingredients:

1 onion, diced finely

1/2 fennel bulb, diced finely

500g button mushrooms, stems trimmed

1.5 cups puy lentils (also called bule lentils or French lentils by differernt companies)

5 cups of vegetable stock

500g sweet potato, peeled and diced

250g cauliflower (or however much you have in the fridge that you want to use up), chopped small (makes about 3 cups)

1 bay leaf

8 or so cherry tomatos

a small handful of pine nuts

To Make:

1. Preheat your oven to about 180 (you know your oven better than I do... or do you?).

2. You can start this dish by putting your casserole/baking dish straight on the stove to make this a one pot dish. Heat some olive oil in your baking dish and saute the onion and fennel until soft.

3. Set aside 8-10 of the mushrooms and slice the rest in thick bits. Add the mushroom to the cooking pot and saute for 1-2 minutes. Add the lentils and the vegetable stock and bring to a simmer for about 15 minutes.

4. Add the sweet potato and cauliflower and remove from the heat. Cover and put in the oven for 30 minutes, removing the lid for the last 10 minutes.

5. While it is baking you can wash and trim the mushies you set aside. Put them on a baking tray and drizzle with some olive oil.

6. When your 30 minutes is up take the casserole dish out of the oven and put it aside to rest. Put the tray of mushrooms in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes throw in a the whole cherry tomatos and the pine nuts and cook for a further 2-3 minute - keep your eye on it so they don't burn.

To serve, place some lentils in a bowl and top with the baked vegies and pine nuts. Serves 4, or two with leftovers.