moroccan pumpkin, chickpea and feta pasta

Autumn is pumpkin season in every hemisphere! This week I was thinking of ways to use my homemade dukkah, but in a warming and hearty way that the cool weather precipitates. Spying a wedge of pumpkin in the fridge, I decided to make a Moroccan flavoured pasta. It might sound like a weird combination of ingredients but the whole really is greater than the sum of its parts! The sweetness of the pumpkin combined with heat from the spices, nuttiness from the chickpeas and dukkah, and a salty richness from the feta, really makes for a bit of a showstopper. We were certainly very satisfied with it!

Moroccan pumpkin, chickpea and feta pasta

Serves 4 heartily

1kg Kent pumpkin, skin on (or off, if you prefer)
Olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 can chickpeas, drained (save the liquid to make pasta)
2 teaspoons Moroccan Souk spice mix (or you could use another Moroccan seasoning, or ras el hanout)
1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper (or a mild chilli powder)
500g orecchiette or other small pasta (macaroni would work well)
1 litre vegetable stock (I added a little miso, cinnamon and turmeric for extra flavour)
Spinach or kale leaves, shredded
Almond feta, or regular feta, to serve
Dukkah, to serve

Preheat the oven to 200 C. Cut your pumpkin carefully into similarly sized medium cubes - I keep the skin on but you can remove it if you like - and place on an oiled baking tray. Season with salt and pepper.

Bake the pumpkin for about 30 minutes or until golden. You may need to toss them halfway through. Keep warm.

Put the kettle on to boil.

In a large saute pan with a lid (I use my Le Creuset shallow casserole), heat some olive oil and add the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, for a few minutes until soft and starting to colour. Add the chickpeas and spices and continue stirring and cooking for a few minutes until everything is combined and smelling nice but not browning.

Using boiling water from the kettle, make the stock in a jug and set aside.

Working quickly so the stock doesn’t cool, increase the heat on the stove and add the pasta to the spiced chickpea mixture in the pan. Stir to coat well, then add the stock - just a little at first, as it will probably hiss and bubble, then add the rest. Stir gently, making sure it’s all combined and nothing is stuck to the bottom of the pan, and ensuring all the pasta is submerged by the stock. Add a little bit more boiling water if needed.

Bring the pan to the boil, stir once more to ensure nothing is stuck to the bottom, then reduce the heat right down to a simmer, put a lid on and set your timer for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, return to the pan, check the pasta for done-ness. It might need slightly longer. When it’s done, nearly all of the liquid should have evaporated, but there should be a little bit left as the pasta’s sauce.

Once the pasta is cooked to your liking, add most of the roast pumpkin cubes to the pan, reserving two or three per serve for decoration, plus the shredded spinach, and stir through until the spinach has wilted. The pumpkin should disintegrate a bit and meld with the remaining stock to form a lovely sauce.

Serve in pasta bowls and top each serve with a few roast pumpkin cubes, some feta and a scattering of dukkah. Perfect Netflix and chill food.

If you have any leftovers, you can make a pasta bake - which I think we enjoyed even more than the original dish! Add half a cup (or so, depending how much you’ve got left) of hot stock to the leftover pasta, stir to amalgamate, add any extra vegetables you want (I added broccoli), stir again, top with feta (or any other kind of cheese), breadcrumbs and a little dukkah, and bake in a hot oven for about 25 minutes. So good!

spicy ethiopian lentil stew

Tasmania is clearly not ready to welcome summer just yet, based on the cold, wet and windy days we’ve been having in Hobart recently. I am beginning to think I took the winter sheets off the bed too soon!

But on the plus side, it means all the lovely comforting and warming dishes we’ve been enjoying over the autumn and winter can stay on the menu a little longer.

Ethiopian Berbere spice is one of my absolute favourites to cook with - when the spice hits the hot pan and combines with browning onions and oil, the smell is just incredible. And, bizarrely, it triggered a memory for me - it took a while for me to realise that the dominant spices (cumin, fenugreek, pepper and cardamom) remind me of my grandparents home when I was a child. They had lived in southeastern Africa for a time and so often cooked meals like this one. It’s lovely to have my kitchen smelling like theirs did!

You can buy Berbere at any specialist spice store - my favourite is by Gewürzhaus.

This delicious stew would traditionally be served with that wonderful spongy Ethiopian bread injera, but if you can’t get that, any other flatbread is a fine accompaniment (I like chappati). Just make sure there’s plenty of it, because you’ll want to soak up that sauce!

Spicy Ethiopian lentil stew (berber)

Serves 4

Olive or coconut oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or 2 teaspoons ready-minced garlic
2 teaspoons ready-minced ginger
4 medium potatoes (roughly 145 g each), chopped into chunks or 600 g baby potatoes, halved or left whole
2 tablespoons Berbere spice blend (reduce to 1 tablespoon if you prefer it milder)
Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional, but I like the extra spiciness)
250 g red lentils
1 x 420 g can plum tomatoes
Vegetable stock powder
Water to cover (roughly four cans worth)
A few handfuls of fresh spinach, to finish
Salt and pepper, to taste

Put the kettle on to boil.

In a large stockpot, heat the oil over medium then saute the onion, garlic and ginger until starting to soften. Add the potatoes and spices, and a little water if you need it, then stir everything so the potatoes are well coated in the spices, and allow to cook and release the aromas for a minute or two. Don’t let the spices burn, add water if it’s getting a bit dry.

Add the lentils and tomatoes, then rinse out the can with water from the kettle and add that too. I then usually use the can to make up the vegetable stock that I need to cover the dry ingredients. Be careful, because adding boiling water to a tin can makes the sides very hot. I have asbestos hands from years of cooking but even I find the heat a bit intense at times! If you’re a bit more sensible than I, make up your vegetable stock in a jug with water from the kettle (around 3 cups). Add this to the pot.

Stir, breaking up the tomatoes a bit, and ensure there is sufficient liquid to cook the potatoes and lentils in. Then bring to a boil, reduce the heat, place a lid on top and simmer for around 20 minutes or until the potatoes and lentils are cooked. I like to cook them until you can break the lentils are creamy and the potatoes break easily with the spoon.

When everything is cooked, add the spinach, turn off the heat and replace the lid on the pot. Leave for a few minutes until the spinach has wilted. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sometimes I add a squeeze of lemon juice too (not traditional, just to aid with iron absorption from the spinach!)

Serve in bowls with some warm flatbread or chappatis on the side. I find I don’t need rice with this but it would be a delicious alternative to flatbreads if you don’t have them.

No matter the temperature outside, this scrumptious stew will warm your insides a treat! And once you’ve tried it, I’m sure you'll find any excuse to make it again….and, like me, ensure you have Berbere in your pantry at all times.