Ottolenghi’s Spicy Moroccan Carrot Salad

PREP TIME

10 minutes

COOK TIME

15 minutes

SERVES

4 people

Ingredients

1 tbsp The Spice People – Moroccan Ras el Hanout
2 tsp The Spice People- dried chillies crushed ( or 2 fresh green chillies chopped )
1kg carrots
1 tsp caster sugar
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 medium onion, finely chopped
80ml olive oil, plus extra to finish
1 spring onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp chopped preserved lemon skin
40g chopped fresh coriander, plus extra for garnish
120ml Greek yoghurt
salt

The love this recipe

In my most-cherished Ottolenghi book ‘Plenty’, is this wonderfully aromatic and warming dish – it makes the perfect winter salad when plates of cold lettuce alongside dishes just don’t satisfy!

The sweetness of the carrots is perfectly complemented by the Moroccan Ras el Hanout and the coriander adds a fragrant touch whilst the vinegar and yoghurt round it all out with a nice zing. I love to serve with some roast lamb rubbed with lashings of olive oil and generous amounts of Ras el Hanout.

In this recipe, Ottolenghi uses some preserved lemon rind, but if you don’t have one, simply use the zest of one lemon.

Directions

Peel the carrots and cut them, depending on their size, into cylinders or semi-circles 1cm thick; all the pieces should end up roughly the same size. Place in a large saucepan and cover with salted water. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes or until tender but still crunchy. Drain in a colander and leave to dry out.
Heat the oil in a large frypan and sauté the onion for 12 minutes on medium heat until soft and slightly brown. Add the cooked carrots to the onions, followed by all the remaining ingredients, apart from the coriander and yoghurt. Remove from the heat and season liberally with salt, stir well and leave to cool.
Before serving, stir in the coriander, taste, and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve in individual bowls with a dollop of yoghurt, a drizzle of olive oil, and garnished with extra coriander.