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Moroccan Influenced Chili with Chickpeas over Minted Couscous

Moroccan Influenced Chili with Chickpeas and Minted Couscous

Adapted from America's Test Kitchen
Course Entree
Cuisine Fusion, Moroccan
Author TheSpicedLife

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs ground beef
  • 1 slice of bread mashed with 1 T 1% milk and 1 T cream (I used a 100% whole grain heel with no problem)
  • pinch salt
  • 1 T whole spice ras el hanout (if you cannot get whole, just use ground and toast that)
  • 1-2 T avocado oil
  • 2 onions, chopped
  • 6 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 T double strength tomato paste
  • 1 t sweet paprika
  • 1 t fine ground aleppo
  • 1/2 t coarse marash chile pepper
  • 1/2 t Moroccan cinnamon (if you cannot find just use Chinese cassia)
  • 1/2 t ground ginger
  • 1 15-oz can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
  • 10-12 oz V8 vegetable juice
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 15-oz cans drained and rinsed chickpeas
  • 1 large sweet potato, diced
  • 1 cup chopped prunes
  • 1 red onion, cut into wedges
  • 2 medium zucchini, diced
  • zest of 2 small/1 large lemons plus juice of 1 small or 1/2 large lemon

Instructions

  1. Mix the ground beef with the mashed bread with milk and cream. Using your hands, mix in a pinch of salt. Set aside.
  2. Using a small skillet, toast the whole spice ras el hanout until fragrant, 1-2 minutes on medium (if you do not have whole spices, then just toast the ground powder). Then transfer to a coffee grinder and grind into a powder. Set aside.
  3. Heat the avocado oil in a cooktop-safe slow cooker insert or a skillet. Add the onions and cook over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, to lightly caramelize.
  4. Add the minced garlic and tomato paste. Stir and continue to cook for another 2 minutes.
  5. Add your reserved toasted ground ras el hanout as well as the paprika, aleppo pepper, marash pepper, cinnamon and ground ginger. Stir to roast the spices, about 1 minute.
  6. Transfer this mixture to the slow cooker insert or place the slow cooker insert onto the slow cooker base.
  7. Stir in the ground beef mixture and cook, stirring, until the beef is no longer pink, about 3 minutes.
  8. Add the crushed tomatoes, chopped tomatoes, V-8 vegetable juice, water and chickpeas. Stir together.
  9. Cook on low heat for 6 hours or high heat for 3 hours.
  10. Add the sweet potato, prunes, red onion and zucchini. Mix in. Cover and cook another 2 hours on low and 1-2 hours on high.
  11. Mix in lemon juice and lemon zest. Taste for more lemon juice and salt and black pepper. Serve over the minted couscous (see below).