"Roasted root vegetables with Mole Sauce - a tomato based sauce featuring mole mix, a blend of chillies and other spices that gives this sauce a hot, nutty and sweet flavour.
Mole is a spice blend from Central America. Each country has its own version, but always made with 3 kinds of chillies. I used bullet red chillies, bird’s eye (Thai) chillies and dry Kashmiri. The result was a VERY spicy sauce, which we loved. But the good part is that you can adjust the spiciness by using less chillies, or adding less of the spice blend to the sauce and saving the rest for another time."
Sheet Pan Vegetables with Spicy Mole Sauce
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- Recipe Card
Prep time 10mins
Cook time 20mins
Serves or Makes: 2
Recipe Card
For the Mole Sauce
ingredients
- 6 dried red chilies (Kashmiri, Thai or Bullet)
- 3 tablespoons cacao nibs
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 small cinnamon stick, broken up
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 cloves
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 cups chunky tomato puree
- water, to thin
For the Roasted Vegetables
ingredients
- 1 small head cauliflower, cut into florets
- 1 sweet potato, cubed
- 1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
- 1 large red onion, sliced into thick wedges
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Kosher salt, to taste
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
For the Mole Sauce
Method
Step 1
In a large skillet on medium low heat, dry-roast all the spices, except the chillies until fragrant.
Step 2
Transfer to a blender along with the chillies and grind to a powder. Store in a jar if not using immediately.
Step 3
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat and add onion and garlic. Saute until onion is translucent, 3-4 minutes.
Step 4
Add the chunky tomato sauce, salt to taste, and the mole spice blend, adding little by little until you reach your preferred amount of spiciness. Mix a few splashes of water to dilute the sauce while cooking. Cook on a medium low flame until the sauce has darkened, thickened and the oil separates.
For the Roasted Vegetables and Assembly
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Step 2
Add all the vegetables to a sheet pan. Season with oil, salt and thyme and roast until golden brown and tender, about 30 minutes.
Step 3
Serve the sauce on the side to dip with the roasted vegetables and enjoy!