Moroccan Vegetable & Chickpea Tagine

Ingredients

For 5 portions

• 🏺 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 🧅 2 medium onions
• 🧄 3 cloves garlic
• 🪴 15g ginger
• 🌿 2 Tsp ras el hanout
• 🌿 1 Tsp cumin powder
• 🪴 0.5 Tsp turmeric
• 🌿 0.5 Tsp cinnamon
• 🥫 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 🥫 400g canned tomatoes
• 🥕 3 medium carrots
• 🍠 1 medium sweet potato
• 🥒 2 medium courgette
• 🫑 1 medium red bell pepper
• 🫘 480g chickpeas, canned
• 🍑 80g dried apricots
• 🍆 1 cube vegetable stock cube
• 🥤 900ml tap water
• 🧂 1.5 Tsp salt
• 🍋 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 🌿 15g fresh coriander
• 🌾 300g couscous (dry)

Method

1. Prepare the vegetables: slice the onions, mince the garlic and grate the ginger. Peel the carrots and cut into thick sticks. Peel the sweet potato and cut into 3 cm chunks. Cut the courgettes into thick batons and the pepper into strips. Halve the apricots. Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large wide pot or casserole over medium heat. Cook the onions for 8 minutes until soft and golden.
3. Add the garlic, ginger, ras el hanout, cumin, turmeric and cinnamon and stir for 1 minute until fragrant. Stir in the tomato paste for 30 seconds.
4. Add the canned tomatoes, carrots, sweet potato, apricots, crumbled stock cube (check it's vegan), 1 tsp of the salt and 600 ml of the water. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Add the chickpeas, courgette and pepper, laying them on top. Cover and simmer for another 12–15 minutes until all the vegetables are tender but not mushy.
6. Meanwhile make the couscous: put it in a bowl with the remaining ½ tsp salt and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Pour over the remaining 300 ml water, just boiled, cover with a plate and leave for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
7. Stir the lemon juice into the tagine and taste for salt. It should be fragrant, slightly sweet and saucy.
8. Pile the couscous on a large platter, spoon the vegetables and sauce over the top and scatter with chopped coriander.