Moroccan Chickpea and Pumpkin Casserole

We all know the feeling when you just want to try something different for dinner; something a little special yet still easy to prepare and maybe even from a different continent to spice things up. 

Today I am taking you to Morocco where irresistible spices such as cumin and cinnamon perfect the flavours of this dish. Plus you still get all the health benefits of chickpeas which are a good source of protein! Sounds good, right?

You have two options with this dish of course you can prepare your chickpeas all from scratch which includes soaking one cup of dried chickpeas over night and then cook them the following day in your Thermomix on 90 degrees, speed 2 for 50 minutes. Or of course you can also use a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas if you prefer doing that. It is really up to you.

Ingredients:

• one cup of dried chickpeas soaked over night and cooked as described above OR one can of drained and rinsed chickpeas
• 20g olive oil
• one onion quartered
• 2 gloves of garlic
• 400g of tomatoes halved
• 2 teaspoons of ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• one bay leaf
• 2 big handfuls of cubed pumpkin
• 1 tablespoon Himalayan sea salt
• water 
• zest of half lemon
• 4 stalks of silver beet sliced
• one small chili

1. First  add the onion, chili and the garlic into the bowl and chop on speed 10 for about 3 seconds.
2. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add 20g olive oil, cumin, cinnamon and salt and saute for 3 minutes on 100 degrees on speed 1.
3.  Next add the tomatoes and chop on speed 5 for 10 seconds.
4. Add the bay leaf,  pumpkin and chickpeas. Add water to the bowl to the 1.5 liter mark in the bowl and cook on reverse speed 1 for 20 minutes on 100 degrees.
5. While the casserole is cooking add the sliced silver beet and the lemon zest to the Thermoserver.
6. Once the casserole has finished cooking add to the server, close with the lid and leave for about 3-5 minutes.
7.  Serve and enjoy!

 If you want to cook for more people you can increase the volume of this dish by cooking some rice to serve with the casserole.

What I love about this simple dish is the flavour that the lemon zest adds; amazing!

I hope you have enjoyed this little trip to Morocco!