
Grilled pepper tacos with mole sauce
These vegan tacos feature mole sauce – a satisfying blend of smoky chillies, peanuts, spices and dark chocolate. This staple of Mexican cuisine is usually found on enchiladas but here it compliments the sweet bitterness of green peppers, blistered over the grill
MOLE SAUCE
- 350ml vegetable stock
- 1 dried ancho chillisee notes below
- 1 dried chipotle chillisee notes below
- 1 slice white breadtorn into rough strips
- ½ x 400g tin plum tomatoes
- 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 1 onionfinely chopped
- 2 cloves garliccrushed
- 20g unsalted peanutsfinely chopped
- 30g raisins
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- 50g vegan dark chocolatefinely chopped
- 2 tbsp soft dark brown sugar
PICKLED ONIONS
- ½ red onionfinely sliced
- 1 red chillideseeded and finely sliced
- 1 limejuiced
TACOS
- 4 green peppershalved and deseeded
- 10-12 small corn tortillas
- a small bunch corianderchopped
- 1 limecut into wedges
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal224
- fat7.2g
- saturates2.4g
- carbs32.1g
- sugars10g
- fibre4.3g
- protein5.7g
- salt0.7g
Method
step 1
Bring 250ml of the vegetable stock to a boil in a pan over a medium heat. Toast the dried chillies and bread strips in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for 2 minutes, flipping regularly, until hot and fragrant. Tip them into the boiling stock and remove from the heat. Soak for 10 minutes, then add the tomatoes, transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth.
step 2
Heat the rapeseed oil in a large, deep frying pan over a medium heat, then add the onion, garlic, peanuts, raisins, thyme and spices. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly, until the onions are soft. Add everything to the food processor with the chillies and blend until smooth.
step 3
Pour the purée back into the pan and stir in the remaining 100ml of stock, chocolate, sugar and pinch of sea salt. Bring to a simmer and stir regularly for 10 minutes or until the mixture has reduced and is thick – it should coat the back of a spoon.
step 4
To make the pickled onions, mix together the onion, chilli and lime juice in a small bowl. Cover and chill for 20 minutes, until the onions are bright pink.
step 5
To assemble the tacos, put the peppers on a BBQ over white-hot coals until slightly blackened and blistered, or under a hot grill until charred. Flip and repeat until fully cooked and quite soft, then remove from the heat and tear into pieces.
step 6
Heat a tortilla over the heat of the BBQ or a griddle pan for a few seconds. Top with a good spoonful of mole sauce, some grilled pepper and a few pickled onions. Finish with a sprinkle of coriander and a squeeze of lime.