Tunisian Sweet Potato Casserole
Vegetable One Pot Slow Cooker Casserole From Tunisia
Tunisian Sweet Potato, Carrot and Pea Casserole Recipe - a wonderfully spicy yet easy to prepare slow cooking vegetarian recipe
On the Mediterranean shores, Tunisia has a long battle-scarred history leaving a complex mix of culture, heritage and a superb combination of exotic flavours making it a culinary delight. Along with its North African neighbours - Algeria and Libya - spices and slow cooked dishes feature heavily in its cuisine.
The cooking today is a mixture of Arab, early Greek, Turkish, Spanish, French and the original Berber culinary traditions. With over 1,000 kilometres of Mediterranean coast, fish is a main ingredient in the Tunisian diet. Couscous is a staple and Spanish introduced vegetables such as aubergines, chillies, tomatoes, peppers and pumpkins are used widely.
Harissa paste, which is found in the following recipe is an explosive blend of spices, mainly chili so it should be used with caution!
Harissa is popular in Tunisia and it can be used as an ingredient or sparingly as a condiment, experiment with the quantity you use.
If you can’t find harissa paste to buy there’s a recipe to make your own to follow.
Tunisian Sweet Potato , Carrot and Pea Casserole
Ingredients – serves 4
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 onions – chopped
- 2 garlic cloves – crushed
- 1tsp ground cinnamon
- 1tbsp clear honey
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 6 tbsp water
- 1 tsp harissa paste
- 2 large sweet potatoes
- 4 large carrots
- Salt and pepper
- 2 cups frozen peas
- 2tbsp chopped parsley
Method
- Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add the chopped onions and garlic, fry gently for two minutes stirring continually.
- Stir in the spices, honey, lemon juice, water and harissa paste and bring to the boil while stirring.
- Peel and cut the sweet potatoes and the carrots into 2cm cubes and put them in the crock pot. Season with salt and pepper, add the spice liquid. Put the crock pot on high and cook with the lid on for 2 hours or until the vegetables are tender and bathed in a rich sauce.
- Add the peas and cook for a further 30-60 minutes, taste and re-season.
- Sprinkle with chopped parsley.
Serving suggestion
Serve with some well-chilled thick creamy yoghurt spooned over and Mediterranean flat breads.
Recipe courtesy of Carolyn Humphries, taken from Slow Cooking from the around the Mediterranean, read my review of this great cookbook here.
Tunisian Harissa Paste Recipe
- 1 tbsp dried chili flakes, soaked in a little hot water
- 2/3 tbsp crushed garlic
- 2/3 tbsp sweet paprika
- 2 tsp each of caraway seed and coriander seed
- 1 tsp cumin seeds, dry roasted then ground
- 1 tsp salt
- 6 spearmint leaves finely chopped
Method
Using a mortar and pestle blend the following ingredients to form a thick paste.
