Grilled pepper tacos with mole sauce

Mole is a wonderfully thick sauce made with a blend of smoky chillies, peanuts, spices and dark chocolate. It’s usually served on enchiladas but here it complements the sweet bitterness of green peppers blistered over the grill.

50 MINUTES + SOAKING | MAKES 10-12 EASY |

MOLE SAUCE

vegetable stock 350ml

dried ancho chilli 1

dried chipotle chilli 1

white bread 1 slice, torn into rough strips

plum tomatoes 1/2 x 400g tin

rapeseed oil 2 tbsp

onion 1, finely chopped

garlic 2 cloves, crushed

unsalted peanuts 20g, finely chopped

raisins 30g, chopped

dried thyme 1/2 tsp

cumin seeds 1 tbsp

ground cinnamon 1 tsp

ground cloves 1/4 tsp

ground allspice 1/4 tsp

vegan dark chocolate 50g, finely chopped

soft dark brown sugar 2 tbsp PICKLED ONIONS

red onion 1/2, finely sliced

red chilli 1, deseeded and finely sliced

lime 1, juiced

TACOS

green peppers 4, halved and deseeded

small corn tortillas 10-12

coriander a small bunch, chopped

lime 1, cut into wedges

Bring 250ml of the stock to the 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, stirring until hot and fragrant. Tip the contents of the pan into the boiling stock and remove from the heat. After 10 minutes, add the tomatoes, then tip everything into a food processor. Blend until smooth.

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 tomato mixture and blend until smooth.

3 Pour the purée back into the pan and stir in the remaining 100ml of stock, the chocolate, sugar and a pinch of sea salt. Bring to a simmer and stir regularly for 10 minutes until the mixture has reduced and thickened – it should coat the back of a spoon.

4 To make the pickled onions, mix the onion with the red chilli and lime juice in a small bowl. Cover and chill for 20 minutes until the onions are pickled and bright pink.

5 Put the peppers on a barbecue over white-hot coals until slightly blackened and blistered, or under a hot grill until charred. Flip and repeat until fully cooked and very soft, then remove from the heat and tear into pieces.

6 Warm a tortilla over the heat of the barbecue or in a griddle pan for a few seconds. Top with a good spoonful of the mole sauce, some grilled pepper pieces and a few pickled onions. Finish with coriander and a squeeze of lime juice.

PER SERVING (12) 224 kcals | fat 7.2g saturates 2.4g | carbs 32.1g | sugars 10g fibre 4.3g | protein 5.7g | salt 0.7g