I can't bring myself to move on from the flavours of North Africa so I'm going to have to revise my plans for MoFo. At current rate of progress I can't see myself making it all the way around the Mediterranean by the end of the month so I'm just going to take it easy and maybe I'll need to extend my virtual trip into November.
I have fond recollections of eating brown rice with a black-eyed pea and tomato stew when I was a student in the 70s - today's dish is a spicier version. I would definitely double the amount of spinach next time. Here is the recipe as I made it.
Black-eyed Peas and Tomatoes with Spinach
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
100 g fresh spinach
225 g tomatoes, skinned and chopped
350 g cooked black-eyed peas
1/2 tsp ground cumin
freshly ground black pepper
cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
Saute the onion and garlic in water or vegetable stock until softened. Add spinach, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes, black-eyed peas, cumin and black pepper and cook for a further 8-10 minutes. Serve with a garnish of halved or quartered cherry tomatoes. I served mine with steamed green beans, broccoli and romanesco, topped with toasted almond flakes and paprika.
I ended up working for 10 hours yesterday and ran out of time to cook. Today my virtual journey has moved across to North Africa and I'm starting off in Morocco. Some of my favourite recipes come from this part of the world and I'm going to do my best this week to try out one new recipe a day to add to my repertoire, moving across from Morocco in the west to Egypt in the east.
My first Moroccan recipe is Ful Gnaoua, a spicy stew with black eyed peas. I love the spices of North Africa and this stew is delicious. Using canned or pre-cooked black-eyed peas it's really quick and easy to make.
Ful Gnaoua
3 cups of cooked black-eyed beans
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp paprika
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
Large pinch of cayenne pepper
1 cup of vegetable stock
3 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Saute the onion, garlic and grated fresh ginger in a little vegetable stock for 4-5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and cook for a further 10 minutes. Serve with steamed green vegetables
