Spicy Roasted Chickpeas and Feta

This is a quite simple, throw some stuff together and roast it recipe, so it's minimal effort. I modified this recipe from a chicken based dish I found over on the BBC's good food site. I quite liked the idea of trying out roasted chickpeas and I would definitely recommend it as it turned out great. They become quite crunchy on the outside but are soft in the middle which adds an unusual (in a good way!) consistency to the meal. The recipe called for harissa pasta which I didn't have, so I found a substitute recipe online. It was very spicy however so if you like things less spice, tone down the chilli content. Finally, props go to Pete as on the day I planned to cook this, I was very ill, and he cooked it for me and even let me annoy him half way through to take a picture for the blog.

 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Cous cous for four people (approx 2 cups), cooked following pack instructions, to serve
2 x 400g tins chickpeas, drained
2 red onions, cut into quarters
2 peppers sliced thickly, any colour (red/orange/yellow or green)
100g feta cheese, cubed

50g pine nuts

1 tbsp red/white wine vinegar
2 tbsp harissa paste

If you don't have harissa paste, mix together the following and substitute:

1 tsp chilli flakes (this makes a very hot paste, so adjust if you want less spice)

3 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp caraway seeds

1/2 tsp ground cumin

Instructions

Preheat oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6

1. Add chickpeas, onions and peppers to a baking tray, along with harissa paste and vinegar. Mix thoroughly. If you want, you could marinade the ingredients beforehand but I didn't bother.

2. Roast in the oven for approx 20-30 minutes until almost cooked. Add the feta cheese and pine nuts and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes until the cheese has browned.

3. Serve with cooked cous cous and enjoy!