Vegetarian mains
Summer vegetable and harissa tagine
Full-flavoured, cheap and healthy, this North African-style recipe makes a great complete vegetarian meal. For a gluten-free version, substitute couscous for quinoa or brown rice. If you like things spicy, stir in a little extra harissa at the end, but proceed with caution as it’s got quite a kick.
Ingredients
- 100g wholemeal couscous
- olive oil
- 1 red pepper
- 1 green pepper
- 300g potatoes, scrubbed clean, skins on, cut into bite sized pieces
- ¼ preserved lemon
- 125g cherry tomatoes
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tsp harissa (spicy North African chilli paste)
- 10 pitted black olives
- 1 pack halloumi, cut into 2-3cm cubes
- handful fresh coriander, chopped
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Put the couscous in a heatproof bowl and pour over just enough boiling water to cover. Add a glug of olive oil and leave to stand.
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Step 2
Put the whole peppers on your grill tray (no oil needed) and grill on a medium high heat until they char, turning regularly so they cook evenly.
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Step 3
After about 15 minutes the skins will have burnt. Remove them from the grill and put in a plastic bag. Leave them to steam for 5 minutes, then peel off the skins under cold running water.
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Step 4
Put them on your chopping board, remove the stalks and seeds and cut the flesh into thick strips. Keep to one side.
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Step 5
Parboil the potatoes in a pan of salted boiling water for 10 minutes, then drain.
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Step 6
Scoop the flesh out of the preserved lemon piece and discard (you don't need this bit) and finely chop the rind.
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Step 7
Gently warm 2 tablespoons olive oil, the garlic, harissa and preserved lemon in a heavy-based pan for 1 minute. Add the potatoes, peppers, tomatoes and olives.
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Step 8
Season with salt and pepper. Add 100ml water, cover and cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes.
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Step 9
Add the halloumi and cook for 5 minutes.
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Step 10
Fluff up the couscous with a fork. Stir in the coriander leaves, check the seasoning and serve your tagine with the couscous.