Jono & Jules do food & wine

Our default lockdown lunch is soup, it helps with the heating bills! We ran out of soup last week and found this recipe when looking for lunch inspiration that would use the only ingredient left in the fridge – carrots. It was really very nice. 

Spicy Carrot & Chickpea Pitta – serves 4

• 50g butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 heaped tsp of cumin seeds
• 4 large carrots, cut into 2cm thick rounds
• 1 large garlic clove, finely sliced
• finely grated zest of an orange, plus a good squeeze of the juice
• 1 tsp hot smoked paprika
• 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 4 pitta breads
• yoghurt or sour cream to serve

Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and fry for a couple of minutes, then add the carrots and fry for 8-10 minutes. The carrots should be tender and starting to brown, but still with a bit of bite. 

Add the garlic, orange zest, paprika, and chickpeas and cook until the chickpeas are hot. Remove from the heat, season well with salt, pepper and a good squeeze of orange juice. 

Warm the pitta breads in a toaster or under the grill, then stuff the mixture into the pockets and top with yoghurt or sour cream. 

(Original recipe from River Cottage Veg Everyday! by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Bloomsbury, 2011.)