Moroccan pasta

Moroccan pasta is a very flavorful vegan pasta recipe with the warmth of Moroccan spices and harissa paste. It has some other delicious ingredients like chickpeas, bell peppers, and olives. This vegan pasta can be prepared in just 25 minutes.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Moroccan

Diet Vegan, Vegetarian

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 20

Total Time 25

Servings

Calories 405kcal

Author Vandana Chauhan

Equipment

1 large pan or skillet
1 Large cooking pot
Knife and chopping board
Spatula

Ingredients

250 grams uncooked pasta
2 cups chopped bell peppers around 250 grams
1 cup boiled chickpeas around 220 grams
2 medium tomatoes finely chopped
1 large red onion finely chopped
2-3 large garlic cloves finely chopped
⅓ cup sliced black olives
A handful of chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons harissa paste
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon cumin powder
½ teaspoon ginger powder
¼ teaspoon red chili powder
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large pan and add chopped bell peppers. Saute on medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes or until the bell peppers are cooked but still crunchy. Transfer the sauteed bell peppers to a bowl and keep aside.
Cook pasta al dente following its package instructions. Once the pasta is cooked preserve around a cup of pasta water and then strain the pasta. Keep them aside.
Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in the same pan in which bell peppers were sauteed. Add chopped onion and saute until it becomes translucent.
Add chopped garlic and saute for a few seconds.
Add red chili powder, cumin powder, ginger powder, and ground black pepper. Saute for around 30 seconds.
Add harissa paste and tomato paste. Saute for about a minute.
Next, add chopped tomatoes and salt. Cook on medium heat until the tomatoes are nicely cooked and turn mushy.
Add some pasta water to get a sauce like consistency and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Add cooked chickpeas, sauteed bell peppers, and sliced olives. Cook for a minute.
Finally, add cooked pasta and gently mix everything. Turn off the heat.
Add fresh lemon juice and chopped cilantro. Mix.

Video

Notes

Feel free to use any pasta of your choice. Short or medium-cut pasta is better for this recipe.
Instead of chickpeas, you can also add white beans or any bean of choice.
You can add more vegetables like zucchini, carrots, green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, green peas, etc.
Use good quality extra virgin olive oil to get more flavor.
Instead of fresh tomatoes, canned crushed tomatoes can also be used.
While preserving the pasta water, collect it just before straining the pasta. The water will have more starch that time which will give a nice consistency to the sauce.
Pasta can be replaced with cooked quinoa, couscous, or rice to create similar Moroccan recipes.
More recipe tips and tricks are shared in the post above, please follow them to make this recipe.

Nutrition