Chermoula roast veg with socca
Vegetarian mains
Chermoula roast veg with socca
Chermoula is a Moroccan sauce used to season all manner of meat, fish and vegetable dishes. It is great as a BBQ marinade as well. By adding it into the warm veg some of the raw pungency of the garlic is softened and the aromatics of the spices and herbs are released.
Cook's notes
Socca is a dense chickpea pancake, traditionally baked in shallow trays in wood fired ovens. It is perfect to drag through and mop up rich sauces. You could finish it in a very hot oven rather than under the grill. It should take about 10 minutes.
Ingredients
- 100g chickpea (gram) flour
- olive oil
- 2 courgettes
- 1 large or 2 small red onions
- 1 red pepper
- 250g cherry tomatoes
- 200g mushrooms
- 1 fennel bulb
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 lemon
- 30g parsley
- 1 tbsp dried coriander leaf
- 1 tbsp harissa paste
- 1 chermoula spice pot:
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Start by tipping 330ml of warm water into a bowl. Add the chickpea flour and just shy of 1 teaspoon of salt. Whisk well to beat out any lumps. Leave to sit while you roast your veg. Preheat your oven to 220°C/Gas Mark 8.
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Step 2
Wash the courgettes, split them in half lengthways and slice into 2cm pieces. Slice the mushrooms into chunky pieces. Deseed the pepper and cut into 2cm chunks. Trim the tough stalk ends away from the fennel, cut into 12 even sized wedges.
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Step 3
Peel the red onion(s) and cut into 10- 12 even sized wedges. Mix the courgettes, mushrooms, pepper, fennel, onion and tomatoes together in a roasting tray. Coat well in oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes until tender and starting to colour, turning occasionally.
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Step 4
Meanwhile peel and finely chop 1 garlic clove. Juice the lemon. Wash the parsley and shake dry. Pick the leaves off, discard the stalks. Finely chop the leaves. Make the chermoula by mixing the garlic and half the lemon juice with the dried coriander leaf, harissa and spice pot.
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Step 5
Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil and stir in the chopped parsley. Season with plenty of salt and pepper. When the veg is nearly ready, turn your grill onto medium high. Whisk 1 tablespoon (15ml) of olive oil into the socca batter along with some ground black pepper.
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Step 6
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large, nonstick frying pan. Add the socca batter to the pan and fry, for about 4 minutes or so, on a medium-high heat, until the bottom is golden brown. Transfer the pan to your grill and cook until the top is golden brown, and the edges are nice and crispy, about 3-4 minutes.
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Step 7
Check that the centre is set. Stir the chermoula sauce into the warm veg. Tease the socca from the pan. Tear or cut it into manageable pieces and serve with the roasted veg.
