Allow me to introduce the delightful Linda Harding, known to many as ‘The Squashed Tomato’. Linda was one of my first reciprocal followers on Twitter and we’ve been following/stalking each other since.

I asked her to submit her favourite recipe in honour of ‘Feb Foodies’ and she sent over this lovely vegetarian number: Butternut & lentil tagine with carrot & coriander fritters.

It tastes delicious and is super easy to make, I already had 90% of the ingredients on hand, including 2 fresh butternuts harvested out of my allotment garden. Don’t worry if you don’t own a tagine, you can easily cook it in a pot, as I did.

Ingredients:

For the tagine

* 500g cubed butternut
* 1 large onion, diced
* 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
* 1 teaspoon cumin
* 1 teaspoon paprika
* 1 teaspoon turmeric
* 1 teaspoon brown sugar
* 1 tin lentils, drained
* 1 sachet (50g) tomato paste
* Fresh parsley, chopped

Saute the onion and garlic in a glug of olive oil until soft and glossy. Add the cumin, paprika and turmeric. Saute together for 30 seconds or so, before adding the tomato paste and sugar. Add the lentils and butternut and coat well in the spicy onion mix. Add a small amount of water (about 1/2 cup or so) and the parsley. Cover and allow to simmer gently until the butternut is cooked.

For the fritters:

* 4-6 carrots, grated
* 1 handful fresh coriander, chopped
* 1 tablespoon self-raising flour
* 1 large egg, beaten
* 1 cup grated cheese (mature cheddar or parmesan are good choices)
* Salt and pepper

Mix all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Form small fritters and fry lightly in olive oil – leave the fritters to form a crust first before turning – about 2 minutes or so.

Don’t be alarmed at the size of the fritters as they will puff out quite a bit as you fry them.

I served both dishes with a pilaf rice and found the textures and fragrant taste make it a real winner!