Lentil Stew with a Moroccan Twist

Hey there!

 

Today I want to let you in on the secret to another recipe I prepared the previous Sunday for the thank you dinner, which I mentioned in my post about the Berry Semifreddo.

 

Today the absolutely delicious Moroccan inspired lentil stew, I created has the honour to be released on my blog. Even though I haven’t actually been to Morocco, I have to count the Moroccan cuisine to one of my favourites. One of my favourite restaurants indeed is a Moroccan one, it is called Maison Blunt, so if you are ever in Zurich, I highly recommend checking it out.

 

This dish is most likely not the least bit authentic, I just took inspiration from other recipes and threw together my own version of a Moroccan stew. Despite the fact that the authenticity of my recipe is questionable, I must again highlight it being a culinary delight and just absolutely divine.

 

I used some typical spices such as cumin, cardamom and cinnamon. Additionally I added raisins and dried apricots, which are often being used to add flavour to a dish in the mentioned cuisine.

To sum it all up the stew turned out delicious, the added dried fruit infused the whole creation with a lovely sweetness and the various spices made your taste buds experience a total explosion.

 

So there you go the ingredient list.

 

You will need:

• 240 g green lentils
• 1 big onion
• 50ml red wine
• 280g canned and diced tomatoes (1 can)
• 300ml Water
• 1tsp cardamom
• 1tsp cinnamon
• 2tsp cumin
• ½ tsp Harissa
• salt

1. Dice the Onion and the apricots, put the apricots aside for later

2. Add the diced onion and red wine to a saucepan, let it simmer over medium high heat for about 4 minutes

3. Add cardamom, cinnamon and cumin to the mixture

4. Poor in the diced tomatoes as well as 300ml of water, you might need to add more if your stew ends up becoming to dry

5. Finally, add the lentils, dried apricots and raisins, do not add salt, otherwise the lentils will take ages to soften

6.  Let the stew cook over low heat for about 30-40 minutes or until the lentils are soft and tender, then add salt to your likings

 

Voila, the best Stew I have eaten in quite a while, sweet yet savory a pleasure to my taste buds. Not only can it be enjoyed as a hearty and comforting dish on a rainy day,  it can also be eaten cold as a side dish to a barbecue on a scorching summer day and it will be just as delicious, if not better.

 

 

 

 

I served the stew with baked eggplant, oven roasted sweet potatoes and beetroot and some homemade hummus.

 

I can only point it out again, you absolutely have to try this dish out, it is truly amazing and especially if you love the Moroccan cuisine you will be delighted.

 

Bisous

Fanny, the foodie