Vegan Moroccan Pumpkin Couscous Recipe

This is a beautiful exotic tasting couscous recipe that has a lovely mixture of herbs and spices. Normally I would make a couscous dish as a side or for lunch but Jerome and I love to make this as a main meal for dinner. The combination of the spices, cashews and roasted pumpkin adds a delicious flavour to the couscous that you will love... It is definitely the best couscous I have ever eaten. I used this recipe previously as a stuffed pumpkin dish... it looked amazing! So, if you are looking for a delicious and easy meal to make, try this! I hope you love it as much as we do :)

 serves 4

   400g butternut pumpkin

   1 tablespoon olive oil plus more for baking

   1 red onion, thinly sliced

   2 garlic cloves, minced

   1 teaspoon cumin

   1/2 teaspoon dried coriander

   1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

   salt and pepper

   1 cup dried couscous

   1 cup raw cashews

   1/2 cup raisins

   2 tablespoons lemon juice

   1 handful fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped

   lemon wedges to serve

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius and line a tray with baking paper.
2. Chop and dice the butternut pumpkin into 2cm cubes.
3. Place the diced pumpkin onto the baking tray and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until lightly browned.
4. Cook couscous according to package instructions. Set it aside.
5. In a fry pan on high heat, add the 1 tablespoon of olive oil or spray the pan with oil.
6. Add the onion to the fry pan and sauté until transparent.
7. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant.
8. Add the cumin, dried coriander, cinnamon, roasted pumpkin and cashews. Sauté for a couple of minutes until heated through while softly breaking the pumpkin up with your spatula.
9. Add in the cooked couscous, raisins, lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
10. Sauté for another minute or so until heated through and the spices have been evenly distributed.
11. Take the fry pan off the heat and throw in the coriander leaves. Toss to combine.
12. Serve immediately with lemon wedges. 

• When preparing your couscous according to package instructions, try adding vegetable stock instead of water to add a little bit more flavour. Just make sure to adjust how much salt you are adding to the recipe later on. 

The nutrition information above is an approximate guideline. One serving of our delicious Moroccan couscous recipe contains 218% of your recommended daily intake of vitamin A, 49% of your RDI of vitamin C and 22% of your RDI of iron. This recipe is also very high in vitamin B6.