Vegetable Tagine

Warning and comforting. I normally make a large pot and freeze a couple of portions. The actual hands on time is quite minimal and it can just he left to simmer, either on the hob or in a slow cooker, for a few hours. The quantities below make four very generous portions.

Ingredients

• 2 aubergines
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 1 tin of chickpeas
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 500ml of veg stock
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp zaatar
• 1 tsp garlic granules
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 8 to 10 dried apricots
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Method

• Chop the aubergine into bitesize pieces and then fry gently in the olive oil until starting to brown slightly
• In the meantime, peel and chop the sweet potato into bitesize pieces. Once the aubergine is beginning to colour a little, add the potato to the pan too
• Chop the apricots into smallish chunks and add to the pan. Fry for about 5 minutes
• Add all of the spices (garlic, paprika, cinnamon, cumin and zaatar) and fry for a further 3 minutes until everything is fragrant
• Then add the stock, chickpeas, tinned tomatoes and lemon juice and mix everything together
• Leave to simmer for a few hours with the lid on.
• Taste and add salt if needed (the veg stock will already contain some salt so just add further salt to taste).

The definition of comfort food