Harissa Coconut Stew with Maple Roasted Aubergine, Green Beans and Lentils
This recipe was created with no real plan in mind. It was a raid the fridge and see what happens kind of night and I have to say I actually surprised myself with how tasty and warming this dish was!
Because of that, I’m not entirely sure if its a stew, a curry or a loaded soup. Regardless of how you would categorise this dish, its delicious! Its creamy, spicy, nutty, sweet and oh so rich!
This dish is made up of a silky and rich sauce topped with roasted veggies and lentils, although I plate it up this way, you could quite easily mix everything together for more of a curry or stew vibe. Personally I like to see what I am eating, bite by bite so I like to present the veggies lay on top of the sauce. It’s all personal preference.
The sauce is made from all the best things, harissa paste, coconut, peanut butter, tomato and maple with a classic base of onions and garlic. This sauce is blended until smooth, which is optional but i find it really lets the roasted veg sing if it is blended and the flavours feel more complete.
Let us know if you try this one at home. And what do you think? Is it a stew or is it a loaded soup?
Maple Roasted Aubergine and Tomato stew with Green Beans and Lentils
serves 3
Ingredients:
Stew:
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tin tomatoes (we used cherry)
100g block of creamed coconut, dissolved in 350ml of boiling water
3 tbsp rose harissa paste
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp maple syrup
salt to taste
Roasted Aubergine, Green beans and lentils:
1 aubergine
1 tbsp maple syrup
high quality olive oil for roasting
salt and pepper to taste
1 tin lentils, drained
150g green beans
To garnish:
harrisa oil (1/2 tsp of harissa & 1 tbsp olive oil)
coconut yoghurt
fresh coriander
Method:
Preheat oven to 200ºC.
Chop the aubergine into 1inch cubes and place into a baking dish. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt over the aubergine, and mix until all sides are coated.
Add lentils to a second baking dish along with olive oil and salt and mix.
Put both baking trays in the oven to roast for 15mins.
In the meantime, slice up onion and place in a shallow pan in the hob with some good quality olive oil. Fry the onion until soft, about 5 minutes.
Add crushed garlic. Continue to fry until they slightly brown off. Turn down the heat whilst you check on the veg in the oven.
Once 15 mins is up, take both dishes out of the oven. Drizzle maple syrup over the aubergine and put back in the oven. Add green beans in with the lentils and salt to taste. Place both dishes back in the oven for a further 15 mins.
Prep the coconut milk. Dilute block of 100g coconut cream in a jug of 350ml boiling water until completely dissolved
Return to the stew in the hob. Add the tin of tomatoes and coconut milk from your jug to the pan, and stir and simmer on a medium heat for 5 minutes.
Add in harissa, peanut butter and maple syrup into pan and salt to taste. Leave to simmer for 5 mins.
Add the sauce into a blender and blend until smooth (optional). I recommend doing this once the sauce has fully cooled.
Return the sauce to your pan to warm through. Once hot, divide into 3 shallow bowls and top with roasted aubergine, green beans and lentils.
We choose to add an extra garnish of coconut yogurt but feel free to use any plant-based yogurt you prefer! Drizzle over harissa oil and garnish with coriander.
Serve and enjoy!