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

Ful Medames (Egyptian Mashed Broad Beans)

This delicious dish of mashed up broad beans is considered by some to be the national dish of Egypt. Interestingly, it is eaten for breakfast. Breaking with it's traditional time of consumption, I served mine as an appetiser at a dinner party like a dip. It also makes a great side veggie dish though. It's easy to make and very tasty - you can even make most of it the day before and then just reheat it and mash it up when you want to serve it.

Ful Medames

Ingredients
600g frozen, fresh or canned broad beans (fava beans)
3 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground corriander
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or more or less, to taste)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup vegetable stock or water
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

To Make
1. If using frozen broad beans, thaw. If using canned, drain. You can peel them if you don't like the chewy skins in there, but I like them so I didn't.
2. Put the broad beans, garlic, spices, lemon juice and vegetables stock in a saucepan, cover and simmer until broad beans are soft and cooked and the water is mostly gone, about 20 minutes.
3. Season with salt and pepper and then mash roughly with a fork or potato masher (if you'd prefer it smooth you could use a food processor), so that there are still big chunks of bean in it.
4. Drizzle with olive oil. Serve with pita bread, tahini sauce, fresh lemon wedges and, if you like, preserved or pickled chillis.

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food from Egypt.

Check out my other Egyptian recipe posts:

Preserved Lemons

Limoonada (Egyptian Lemonade)

Mesa'a'ah (Spicy Eggplant)

Orange and Olive Salad with Cumin

'Ancient Egyptian Peasant' Beer Onions

Creamy Tahini Sauce

Khoshaf

Broad Bean Pesto Pasta with Spring Vegetables

Springtime to me speaks fresh crunchy spring vegetables and fresh vibrant green home made pesto. I've tried to make this pesto a little healthier by using less oil and substituting a bit of vodka and a bit of vegetable stock. It's delicious, but a little dryer than if you'd chucked in a cup of olive oil. If you're not too fussed about  superoily pestos, then by all means increase the oil. This would be a great opportunity to use some of your basil pineapple infused vodka, which I did, to give it an even more basil-y kick. 

Ingredients

Pesto
1 cup broad beans, boiled or steamed
1 cup basil leaves, torn
1 clove garlic, peeled
1/2 cup blanched almonds
2 tbsp olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1 measure of vodka (30ml)
1/3 cup vegetable stock
1 tbsp soy sauce

Pasta
400g spiral pasta
2 handfuls green beans, ends trimmed and cut in half
10 asparagus spears, woody ends removed and cut in half
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp capers

To Make
1. If you haven't already cooked the broad beans, do it now. Peel the skins off them and discard (to do this, make a small slit in the skin with a sharp knife and then squeeze gently until the bean inside pops out).
2. Combine all the pesto ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.
3. Cook the pasta for a couple of minutes less than in says on the packet (the instructions almost always tell you to cook it for too long). Check to make sure it is just perfectly cooked but with a little bit of bite to it. In the last minute of cooking the pasta add the green beans.
4. Turn off the heat and add the asparagus spears. Cover and leave for about 30 seconds.
5. Strain the pasta and return to the pan. Stir through the olive oil.
6. Add the pesto and capers and stir through. Return to the stove over a low heat and heat gently until it is hot enough to serve. You can season to taste with salt and pepper (although the soy sauce already provides some salt, so go easy).

Serves 4

Love home made pesto? Check out my Homemade Rocket Pesto.

Cabbage, Broad Bean and Caraway Soup

You'll be seeing a lot of cabbage recipes from us this month - mostly because many of the savoury vegan-friendly Croatian recipes we found were of the cabbage variety (although this recipe itself is not Croatian - I just invented it to use up a big bit of cabbage left on my fridge from my Croatian cooking). However, that isn't a bad thing at all because I think that this is the first cabbage recipe we have posted on this blog, so in essence we are filling a void. 

Unfortunately cabbage gets a very bad reputation amongst most people because of bad experiences with bad boiled cabbage and because of it's ability to cause gas. However - you shouldn't fear either of these because a) cabbage cooked properly is delicious and b) there are several carminative herbs and spices you can add in the cooking process to reduce this. This recipe uses caraway seeds as the carminative agent, however, I have read that cumin, sage, tarragon, fennel, thyme, aniseed, marjoram, basil, bergamot, chamomile, nutmeg, dill, cloves, garlic, coriander, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, juniper, rosemary, savory, oregano, mint or peppermint can also be used - although I haven't tried all of these so give me feedback if you do :) So, take this knowledge in hand and fear no more about cabbage - now you possess the knowledge to go bravely (without splitting your infinitives!) where no cabbageophobe has even gone before... cabbage soup!

However, even if that doens't convince you to stop worrying about cabbage giving you gas then you can take even further precautions by ending or starting any meal that contains cabbage with our delicious Cabbage-Is-My-Friend Tea which will take care of any worries you have in that area so that you can happily enjoy cabbage as frequently as you like!

Ingredients

1 onion, slices

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 green cabbage (or more of you have it), finely sliced

1 generous tsp caraway seeds

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp smoky paprika

2 potatoes, washed, peeled and thinly sliced

1L vegetable stock

1 cup fresh or frozen broad beans

1 tbsp soy sauce (or substitute salt to taste)

To Make:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot and sauté the onion until soft. Add the cabbage and continue to sauté another 3-5 mins.

2. Add the spices and mix thorough well. Add the vegetable stock, potatoes and broad beans and bring to the boil.

3. Lower the heat and simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Add soy sauce and any other seasonings to taste.

4. When all vegetables are cooked well turn off the heat and allow to cool for a little while before blending it until very smooth in a blender or food processor (or with a hand held stick blender if you prefer a chunkier texture). 

5. Serve with some whole caraway sprinkled on top.

Serves 4, and perfect as a snack in a mug

This is also part of the Great Vegan Soup-Off Blog Hop- check out the other entries below!

Baked Tomatoes Stuffed with Rice, Zucchini and Broad Beans

These tasty stuffed tomatoes look fiddly but take surprisingly very little time to make. They're a delicious combination of crunchy baked on the top and deliciously juicy inside. They make a perfect (and very healthy) dinner with a salad or vegies on the side. When we had this (pictured above) I just made a basic salad of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, avocado, olives and continental parsley drizzled with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and then sprinkled with some sumac. They went together perfectly.

Ingredients:

6 large round tomatoes

1/2 cup long grain rice

1 cup shelled fresh broad beans (substitute frozen if fresh is unavailable)

1 onion, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, finely diced

1 zucchini, grated coarsely

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp dried Italian herb mix

Salt and Pepper

Olive Oil

To Make:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

2. Bring a pot of water to the boil and add the rice and broad beans. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the rice is cooked through. Then drain and rinse thoroughly.

3. While your rice is cooking away prepare your tomatoes. Cut a wide hole in the top of each one (like carving a pumpkin to make a lantern) and discard the top bit (and by discard I mean give it to your guinea pig). Scoop out the contents of each tomato and put aside.

4. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a pan and sauté the onions until soft. Add the grated zucchini and garlic and sauté until softened. Chop the tomato middle bits up and add to the pan. Turn down low and simmer gently.

5. Pick the broad beans out of the rice and put aside (if you don't want to have to do this you can cook them in a separate saucepan but I just use the same one to save washing up). Peel the broad beans (just make a little cut or tear in the wrinkly outer skin and then just squeeze gently and the bean will pop out). Cut each bean in half.

6. Add the rice, broad beans, herbs, soy sauce and salt and pepper to the pan. Stir well and heat through.

7. Fill each tomato as full as you can with the rice mixture and place upright in a slightly oiled baking dish. You will have a bit of mix left over (unless you managed to find awesomely huge tomatoes in which case kudos) but just eat that while you're waiting for them to bake :)

8. Bake for 20 minutes, turning the dish around about half way through. Serve with a salad or some vegies on the side.

Makes 6 tomatoes so serves 3 adults (or 2 adults and 2 kids).

Marinated Tofu, Broad Bean and Broccoli Salad with Tahini Dressing

There is nothing quite like a good salad and a glass of wine out on the deck in warm weather. This salad is the perfect mix of 'light and refreshing" and "surprisingly filling", and isn't that just what you need in summer? The real beauty of this salad though is that the marinade doubles as the base for the dressing because you're not using meat - so nothing goes to waste!

In this salad I added something a bit special which I call 'mature snow peas' - which means that I left the snow peas on the plants in my garden until they became big fat pea pods and ate the peas. I realise you'll only be able to do this if you have a vegie garden (and if you do then you should try it because they are lovely sweet peas!), if you don't then you can either add plain fresh garden peas or just leave that bit out.

Ingredients

300g hard tofu

1/3 cup soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 red chilli

1 tbsp sesame seeds

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 cup shelled fresh broad beans (has to be fresh for this one!!)

1 thing of broccoli, cut into florets 

2 tbsp sunflower seeds

1/4 spanish onion, sliced thinly

1 cucumber, diced

2 vine ripened tomatoes, cut into wedges

1 tbsp capers (drained)

1/3 cup fresh peas (see note above)

Baby spinach (plenty)

2 tbsp olive oil, for frying

1 tbsp tahini

Juice of 1/2 lemon

To Make

1. Drain the hard tofu and squeeze to remove as much liquid as possible. Cut into chunks about 2cm by 1cm and put in a flattish bowl. Add the soy sauce, crushed garlic, sesame oil and sesame seeds. Roughly chop the chilli and add that too (including seeds). Mix well. Marinate for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally to evenly spread the marinade. 

2. Preheat the oven or grill to 150 degrees C. Toast the sunflower seeds until lightly browned, this will only take a few minutes so keep your eve on them the whole time! Put aside and turn off the oven.

3. Steam the broad beans and broccoli until just cooked (but not overcooked!) then remove from the heat and allow to cool in a strainer (I recommend doing this step while your oven is preheating). When they are cool enough to touch peel the outer skins off the broad beans (they should have gone all wrinkly during steaming so all you have to do is cut the outer skin open and squeeze them out). 

4. In a large bowl combine the baby spinach, spanish onion, chopped cucumber, sunflower seeds, capers, cold steamed vegies and tomatoes. Mix to combine.

5. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a fry pan. Scoop the tofu out of the marinade (and keep it!) and fry until crispy and golden - you will have to turn them over with tongs a few times to make sure they are crispy on all sides.

6. Now, take that marinade (that you didn't throw away!) and add 1 tbsp tahini and the juice of 1/2 lemon. Mix very well to combine. (Hint: if you are down the bottom of your tahini jar and the tahini is a bit dry then you should add some oil to the jar and mix well to make it nice and liquidy again before adding to the dressing - otherwise you will get big lumps of tahini in your dressing which is not ideal). 

7. Divide the salad you have mixed evenly between 3 bowls and drizzle 1/3 of the dressing over each bowl. Add the still warm fried tofu and eat it immediately! (Preferably out on the deck with a glass of wine).

Serves 3 (or two people with slightly bigger serves)

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.