Summer Vegetable Tagine with Fregola Pasta

This was a fun way to use up the produce popping up from our garden. This dish would be great with any number of summer vegetables; try adding eggplants or okra for a twist. 

Fregola sarda, sometimes simply referred to as fregola/fregula, is a Sardinian pasta strikingly similar to couscous. These are pellets of semolina hydrated with salted water just enough to grow to the size of chickpeas, and are a wonderful accompaniment to any stew. Like couscous, it adds an extra boost of texture, often pushing a dish from good to great, without much additional effort. 

Making fregola from scratch is a cinch. The fregola making processes is very much reliant on feel--one alternates back and forth, adding more flour or water as needed, in order to gradually increase the mass of the little pasta pellets. Once they grow to the size of chickpeas, the pasta is put on parchment or cloth to air dry. For a handy visual cue, check out this video from Pasta Grannies to see how it's done. 

Lastly, the chickpea aioli found here is borrowed from Joe Yonan's Cool Beans cookbook. His aioli adds a lot of depth to my tagine, providing a creaminess that tempers the heat. Don't skip it, otherwise you'll regret it!

For the tagine:

Serves 3-4

• A dozen shishito peppers
• A splash of lemon juice
• 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
  
• 1 large heirloom tomato, approx. 7oz., halved and grated against the flesh side
  
• 2 summer squash, sliced into half moons
• 1 tablespoon neutral-tasting oil, such as vegetable or peanut oil
• 3/4 can canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained (reserve the aquafaba and remaining chickpeas for the aioli)
  
• 1 preserved lemon wedge, sliced lengthwise
  
• 1 tablespoon butter
  
• A pinch of sugar
  
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
  
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
  
• 1/2 tablespoon ground turmeric
  
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  
• Salt, to taste
  
• Water

For the chickpea aioli:

• Makes about 1 cup
  
• 1 garlic clove
  
• 1/4 cup aquafaba (from one 15 ounce can of no-salt-added chickpeas) 2 tablespoons chickpeas
  
• 3/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 3/4 cup grapeseed or other neutral vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste

For the pasta:

• 200g semolina flour
• 100g warm water
• A pinch of salt

Blister the shishito peppers: Heat 1 tablespoon of neutral-tasting oil in a saute pan over high heat. When the oil begins to smoke, add the peppers to the pan, standing back to avoid popping pepper oil. Blister the peppers on all sides until darkened and wilted, about 5-8 minutes. Remove from heat and splash with lemon juice and salt. Set aside on a paper towel to remove excess oil. 

Start the tagine: Preheat a tagine, or a dutch oven, over medium heat. Melt the butter and stir in the sliced onion, along with a pinch of salt and sugar. Cover with a lid and leave to caramelize, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. 

Blend the aioli: Meanwhile, in a mini food processor or small bullet-style blender, puree the garlic, aquafaba, chickpeas, mustard, and salt until smooth. With the processor running, drizzle in the oil, starting slowly and then feeling free to speed up once it starts thickening. (If using an immersion blender, you may need to blend for several minutes before the mixture will thicken.) When you’ve poured in all the oil and the aioli is thick, add the lemon juice and whir a few seconds just to combine. Taste and add more salt and lemon juice if needed.

Continue the tagine: Once the onions are caramelized, add all of the dry spices and stir to coat. Pour in the grated tomato next and let cook for a minute or two. Add enough water to cover the onion, tomato, and spice mixture, and bring to a simmer. Salt, to taste. Finally, add the squash and chickpeas and and let simmer until the vegetables are cooked through, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Make the pasta: For your pasta making station, you will need the flour, salted water and an empty mixing bowlat the ready, along with a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Start by adding a quarter cup of salted water to the mixing bowl. Next, add a couple tablespoons of flour. Using your dominant hand, mix the water and flour in circles. We're looking for little pasta pellets no bigger than chickpeas. Your mixture is too dry if the pellets are not clumping to each other and growing; try adding a bit of water and continue stirring. Your mixture is too wet iff the pellets are too large and clump together, try adding a bit of flour. Continue alternating back and forth, adding more flour and water, as needed. Once you have a decent quantity of chickpea-sized pasta pelets, add the pasta to your parchment-lined baking sheet to air-dry for 15 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough until all of the pasta is formed. 

Finish the tagine: Be sure that your tagine has plenty of cooking liquid in it; the pasta will be needing it. Add more liquid if needed, allowing the tagine to return to a boil before adding the pasta. Once the squash and chickpeas cooked through, pour the fregola sarda into the pot, stirring once. Add the preserved lemon to the pot and stir once again. After 2 minutes, the fregola will have absorbed most, if not all, of the cooking liquid. Remove the tagine from the heat and allow to cool. 

To serve, spoon the tagine into bowls. Top with blistered shishito peppers, and dollops of aioli.