Moroccan spiced sweet potato, carrot and chickpea patties

Back in July this year, my parents came to Brisbane for a mini holiday and to watch me walk across the stage as I graduated from university. We spent the week in the beautiful sea-side town of Caloundra on The Sunshine Coast, chatting, wandering the local markets, exploring the nearby mountains and towns, strolling along the sandy beaches, and eating, lots and lots of eating.

I find, when I spend time with my parents, I instantly revert back to being a child. I love having them dote on me, listen to my every word, and tell me how amazing I am – seriously, where else do you get that kind of unconditional love? There’s always a never-ending flow from my parents.

Of course, living alone generally means cooking and eating alone. So, whenever I get the chance, I love to try out a new recipe creation on unsuspecting victims. And that’s exactly what I did while my parents were here. These chickpea patties are one of those creations.

I’ve added a hint of chili for a little kick and gorgeous grounding cinnamon which always complements sweet potato so well.

Can I let you in on a little secret? These guys actually taste even better the next day once the flavours have settled, and they are just as delicious cold as they are warm. So they make perfect additions to lunchboxes or ripped up and layered onto a sandwich. Yum!

If you’re wondering, they freeze very well too. You can pop unbaked patties into a container in the freezer. When you’re ready to eat, just allow them to defrost and then bake as normal.

I like to make a double batch so I always have some on hand for barbecues or a quick dinner.

Enjoy.

What goes in

Makes approximately 10 patties

1/2 a medium sweet potato, peeled and diced (approximately 2 cups)
2 carrots, peeled and diced
400g tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Olive oil for frying
1 brown onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
A sprinkle of chili flakes
3 tablespoons of tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of paprika
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
Salt to taste
4 tablespoons of buckwheat flour, plus additional for dusting

The doing

Preheat your oven to 220 degrees Celsius and line an oven tray with baking paper.

Steam the diced sweet potato and carrots until soft.

While the vegetables are steaming, pop the chickpeas into a food processor and blitz until mashed down. If you don’t have a food processor, you can easily use a potato masher or a fork will also do the trick. Place the mashed chickpeas in a large bowl.

Heat the olive oil in a small fry pan. Add the onion and garlic and fry until the onion becomes soft. Add the mixture to the mashed chickpeas.

Once the sweet potato and carrots are soft, pop them into your food processor and blitz until mashed.

Add the mashed vegetables, tomato paste and spices to the chickpea mixture. Mix well to combine. Finish by mixing through the buckwheat flour.

On a small plate, sprinkle some buckwheat flour. Using your hands, take some of the mixture and form a patty. The mixture will be quite wet but that’s not a problem. Pop the patty onto the plate and sprinkle with the flour. The patty should then become easier to handle and you can finish forming it’s shape.

Place the patty onto the oven tray and then continue until all the mixture has been used.

Pop your patties in the oven for about 30 minutes until they start to golden. I’m sure you could also grill or fry these if your prefer.

I served mine with a simple salad of leafy greens and zucchini noodles sprinkled with lemon juice.