ARF Tuesday : Felfla Mechouia

This is my first participation to the ARF Tuesday organised by Sweetnicks. As you probably know, this is the occasion to remember healthy eating by cooking with antioxydant foodstuff.

North African cuisine in general, and Moroccan cuisine in particular, both use antioxydant vegetables and fruits so liberally and in such a delicious way, health food stores appear to be vain with their shelves full of dietary supplements in form of pills or otherwise.

I chose to prepare a typical accompaniment to entrees we serve all summer long in Morocco. It contains two of the most powerful antioxydant vegetables, tomatoes and peppers. With of course a special mention to the tomato and its cancer fighting lycopene.

But in Morocco, we don’t even think about these health blessings, we eat Felfla Mechouia because it tastes so great.

It’s meant to be enjoyed cold or room temperature. We serve it usually like westerners serve bread and butter, on the side of the entrée. Usually, we serve other “salads” with it (4 to 6, in little plates surrounding the entrée plate) and all are antioxydant rich foods. But more about the other side dishes in coming ARF Tuesdays…

Felfla Mechouia

2 large green peppers
6 medium to large tomates
2 hot peppers like habaneros or jalapenos, seeded and chopped (optional, only if you like your food hot)
2 small garlic cloves or 1 large, finely chopped
1 tablespoon paprika
Salt to taste (pepper not needed, unless you really can’t do without it)
¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil (Moroccan cooks, including me, use 1/3 a cup or more)
About 1/3 cup packed Italian parsley (flat) leaves
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice or to taste (in case tomatoes are not that acidic)

Broil the peppers on all sides to burn their skin (alternatively burn the skin by putting them directly on the gas burner). Put them in a plastic bag and allow to cool enough to handle comfortably. Peel the blackened skin, rinsing slightly if necessary (not too much so you don’t wash off the taste of the peppers). Using paper towels helps too.

Remove seeds cut the peppers in small cubes.

Put the tomatoes few seconds in boiling water, remove and peel. Carefully remove seeds and their gelatinous bed, keeping only the flesh. Chop in little cubes.

Mix together in a saucepan the tomatoes, paprika, garlic, salt and hot peppers if using. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to medium. Allow to cook, uncovered, for about 20 minutes.

Add the chopped bell peppers and lower the heat to medium/low. Allow to simmer, uncovered and mixing from time to time, until all the cooking juices are evaporated. A good sign is to look when the olive oil resurfaces over the vegetables. It’s a confit actually.


Lower the heat to the minimum and add chopped parsley leaves. Allow to cook 1 or 2 more minutes. Remove from heat and taste to adjust seasonning. If the tomatoes were not acidic, add some lemon juice.

Allow to cool to room temperature and refrigerate if you like to it cold. I like mine to be room temperature.

This confit keeps 3 to 4 days in the fridge, but if you have good bread around, it usually lasts less than a day…