Seasonal eating: zucchini, halloumi and harissa tagine with couscous

This is a recipe I came up with to use up one of the giant zucchinis the neighbours gave me, in addition to a number of leftovers in my fridge from a housewarming and guests. It's a good way to make a spicy, wholesome meal out of a zucchini and would be vegan if the halloumi were omitted. The halloumi in this case was a ewe's-milk version, made by Grandvewe cheeses.

Zucchini, halloumi and harissa couscous
Would feed 4, or 1 for many meals!

3/4 cup couscous

2 tbsp olive oil
50 g halloumi, cut into dice
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic and 1-2 chillies, minced together (I used a jalapeno and a Thai chilli in this case)
1 carrot (I used a purple one), finely chopped
1 large or 2 small zucchini, cut into small dice
3 roma tomatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 tbsp ras el hanout
2-3 tbsp harissa (or more, I used about 1/4 cup as mine was home-made and mild)
2 tbsp each chopped fresh mint, coriander and parsley
1/2 vegetable stock cube, or 1 cup vegetable stock
1/4 cup olives (optional: I used lemon-garlic marinated green olives and tossed in the lemon slices as well)

Add the couscous to a cup of boiling water, cover and allow to sit while preparing the rest of the meal.

Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan or wok and fry the halloumi until crisp on the edges. Add the onion and cook until softened, then add the garlic, chilli, carrot and zucchini, frying over a medium-high heat until the zucchini starts to brown. Add the tomatoes, stock cube (if using), ras el hanout and harissa along with a cup of water or stock and cook for 10 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened slightly and the tomatoes have softened but not disappeared. Taste and season with salt to taste, adjust spices if required. Toss the mint, coriander and half the parsley through the dish. YOu want there to be quite a bit of liquid still in the dish as this will be soaked up by the couscous

Fluff the couscous with a fork and tip into a serving bowl. Pour the tagine over the couscous and garnish with the reserved parsley. Eat piping hot.

Seasonal eating: zucchini and parmesan soup with garlic ciabatta

We've been on holiday lately and came home to 10 kilograms of zucchini in the allotment. I've managed to give a lot away, but wanted to use some fresh for some wholesome soup. Mr. G isn't really a soup fan, but I think I won him over with this. This is delicious, tasty, wholesome and satisfying, and if you choose your chilli right it's spicy too. I ought to make vegetable stock but I rarely think of it in time, so happily use a good quality vegetable stock cube.

No photos, because it all got gobbled up in short order, so you'll have to believe me it's pretty.

Zucchini and parmesan soup
Serves two. Easily expands to serve more, or have some for freezing.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic and one chilli, finely chopped together
15 leaves basil, torn
2 small-medium zucchini, or two large ones (about 200g), chopped into 1/2-inch dice
1 vegetable stock cube
2-3 cups water
1 tsp soya sauce
1/4 cup (about 30g) finely grated fresh parmesan, reserving a little for the garlic bread (if you have a parmesan rind use it in the soup too)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley

Heat the oil in a saucepan and fry the onion for 2-3 minutes. Then add the basil, garlic, chilli and zucchini and fry for 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring to ensure they don't stick, until the zucchini start to brown. Add the water, stock cube, parmesan rind if using and soya sauce, bring to the boil and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and remove parmesan rind. Blend either in the pot with a stick blender or use a normal blender. Return pot to the heat, add parmesan and cook for 5 minutes more, or until required consistency. Taste and adjust for seasoning. Serve in bowls with a grinding of black pepper and the parsley scattered over, with the garlic bread on the side.

Garlic ciabatta
Makes two. Make this while the soup is boiling.

1/2 small ciabatta, cut in half horizontally as though for a sandwich
2-3 cloves garlic
1 pinch coarse salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp parmesan (optional)

Pound the garlic and salt together in a mortar and pestle, or alternatively chop the garlic finely and crush the garlic and salt together on the chopping board with the flat of a knife. Add the olive oil and stir to blend. Let these sit for a few minutes so the flavours can permeate. Spread this garlic oil over the cut surface of the ciabatta: I use a pastry brush for this. Sprinkle the parmesan over if using. Bake in a 180C oven for 10 minutes or under a grill for 5 minutes, until the bread is toasty and the garlic and cheese are golden.

Seasonal eating: very courgetty pasta sauce

This is one of my solutions to too many courgettes. You slowly seethe lots of courgettes with a few other ingreditns in olive oil until they are a mush, then toss through pasta for a delicious and very wholesome meal. Although I call this very courgetty pasta sauce, the puree takes on a rich flavour unlike that of fresh courgettes. The dish focuses more on the vegetables than the pasta. The sauce takes a while to cook, but requires minimal supervision. I think I'll make some of this to preserve, to remind me of summer flavours in the depths of winter. Don't be afraid of the large amount of garlic in this dish, as the slow method of cooking mellows the flavour in the same way as roasting.

Very courgetty pasta sauce
(for four, takes up to an hour to cook)

2-3 tbsp olive oil
6-8 medium to large courgettes
1 tsp small capers packed in salt (don't bother to rinse them)
6 cloves garlic
1 large or 2 small chillies
200g baby plum or cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters
1/2 cup black olives, pitted and halved
1/2 cup white wine
1 handful basil leaves, torn
200g long wholewheat pasta, such as spaghetti or fettucine: fresh or dried both work well

Cut the courgettes lengthways and then thinly across into half-circle slices. Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a large frypan over a medium-high heat and add all but one of the courgettes. Fry, stirring occasionaly, until the courgettes brown, soften and start to break up into a mush. This will take 20-30 minutes, depending on your heat. Be careful not to let the courgettes burn, and add more oil if they start to look dry. When the courgettes are starting to soften and break up, add the remaining courgette, garlic and chilli and fry for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, olives and white wine and continue to cook until the mixture resembles a thick paste (see picture below). Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to directions. When cooked, toss the pasta through the sauce with 1/2 to 1 cup of the pasta cooking water. Toss the basil leaves through and serve immedaitely.

A thick sauce, ready for the pasta.

Seasonal eating: chilli tofu, pak choi, onion flower stems and garlic scape

Do not adjust your screen, there are two plates in the above image. I'm pleased to say that all of the veg for this dinner last night came from the garden. Stir-frying is a great way to enjoy garlic scapes and onion flower stems. This is a variation on a Chinese-Singaporean dish, and serves 2-4, depending on how hungry they are!

Chilli tofu, pak choi and garlic scape

300g tofu, cut into small squares
2 tbsp groundnut oil
8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 thai chillies, (or 8 larger cayenne types), filely chopped
4-6 garlic scapes and/or onion flower stems, sliced on the diagonal to about 1/2"
2-3 pak choi, sliced across about 1/2" thick
the tops of 2-3 shallots (or green onions), sliced on the diagonal to about 1/2"
juice of 1 lime
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
fish sauce to taste (optional)
1 egg
2 coriander plants, roots and all, finely chopped

1 cup jasmine rice, to serve.

For the sauce:
1 cup water
5 tbsp tomato puree (or 2 pureed tomatoes)
1 tbsp hoisin sauce or black bean sauce
1 tsp dark soya sauce
1/2 tsp flour
1/2 tsp palm sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Heat the oil in a wok over a high heat and add the tofu. Fry, stirring occasionally, until the tofu crisps and browns evenly - this will take up to 20 minutes. Add a splash more oil as you go if required. Add the garlic and stir fry for 1 minute, then add the chilli, garlic ramps and onion flower stems and stir fry for 1 minute more. Add the sauce, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes until thickened slightly. Add the pak choi and cook for 1-2 minutes more, until wilted. Add the lime juice and rice wine vinegar, then taste for seasoning. You can add some fish sauce to add salt and savouriness at this stage if you think it is required. Crack the egg into the sauce and stir in so that it creates little strands of egg in the sauce. Remove from the heat, stir in the coriander and shallot tops, and serve with jasmine rice (see note below) and a coriander garnish.

Jasmine rice: I like to microwave my rice in a microwave rice cooker. You get great steamed rice with little mess. Put the cup of rice and 2-and-a-bit cups of water in the cooker, and put in the microwave for 10 minutes just as the tofu is crispy and you're ready to get on with the rest of the recipe. This gives it a couple of minutes to rest. The slight stickyness of the jasmine rice makes it perfect for pressing into a mould such as a coffee cup, to make a pretty rice cake to go with your meal.

Seasonal eating: linguine with garlic scape pesto, and spring greens

Garlic scapes are one of the true luxuries of early summer. They're the curly flower heads that form on hardneck garlic, and should be removed to encourage the plant to pour its goodness into the bulb rather than the flower head. They look a bit like the aliens are about to invade, but they're really pretty. They're edible, flower head and all. And they're delicious, with a spicy, peppery kick.

While wandering the garden yesterday, I also harvested the last of the asparagus heads I'll take from the crown (making I think about 8 meals we've had from that crown), and wanted to make a meal with the scapes, asparagus, mushrooms from the strawberry barrel and some early baby broad beans from the garden. The stereotypical thing to make from garlic scapes is pesto, and that seemed a great way to go.

A note on the pesto recipe: this makes enough for two meals. I used half in dinner last night, and froze the other half to savour another day.

Linguine with garlic scape pesto and spring green veg
(Serves four, takes about 20 minutes to cook)

For the pesto:
1 handful (about 100g) garlic scapes
5 tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted
zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
5 tbsp olive oil
1 healthy pinch salt
5 tbsp (not quite 1/4 cup) grated parmesan - a great way to use the dried-out end of the cheese

For the pasta:
250 g linguine
1 tbsp olive oil
8 spears asparagus, cut into thin rounds leaving the tips uncut
1/2 cup sliced white mushrooms
1/2 cup shelled baby broad beans
12 baby plum tomatoes
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 - 1/2 cup grated parmesan

Put a large saucepan of water on to boil and make the pesto. Add the garlic scapes, pine nuts, lemon zest and juice, salt and olive oil to a blender and blend, adding water as required to allow the mixture to move. Add the parmesan and quickly blend again. Divide mixture in half and set half aside to use in another dish.

Cook the linguine according to the directions on the packet. Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan and add the asparagus, mushrooms and broad beans. Saute for 1-2 minutes then add the wine and reduce for 1-2 minutes. When the pasta is almost cooked, add the pesto and taste to adjust seasoning. Add a grinding of black pepper. Drain the pasta and toss through with 1/4 cup parmesan, stirring to coat the pasta well with the sauce. Serve with remaining parmesan on the side.

If you're pairing this with wine, make it something robust. I tried pairing it with a Voigner, which did the poor wine no favours at all.

Seasonal eating: cauliflower pakoras

This is a wonderful way to eat cauliflower, and makes a great starter for a curry meal.

1/2 large or 1 small head cauliflower, broken into bite-sized florets
1/2 cup gram (chickpea) flour
1 cup plain white flower or cassava flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking power (or 1/2 tsp each bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar)
high-temp oil for frying, such as peanut oil

Combine the dry ingredients with 1 cup of water, and dilute to a thickish batter. Heat the oil over a medium-high heat in a wok. Test the temperature of the oil by dropping in a small amount of batter: if it cooks and turns golden within a minute, it's the right temperature. Toss the cauliflower in the batter in batches of a half-dozen or so florets at a time and add to the oil, turning when the batter turns golden. Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot.

This is also a great way to cook okra, plaintains, and purple sprouting broccoli.

Seasonal eating: tagliatelle with lemon, mushroom and herb sauce

This is a lovely fresh sauce that's a real favourite in my household in summer. Because we have the mushrooms coming out of the strawberry barrel at the moment and always have lots of fresh herbs near the kitchen door, it's an almost completely out-of-the-garden affair. Serves four generously with a side salad (in this case, of fresh baby salad leaves from the garden, carrots, radish and broad beans sauted in a little olive oil with green garlic stems). This is also fabulous with fresh pasta, but last night I was in need of a quick meal to feed some surprise guests.


Tagliatelle with lemon, mushroom and herb sauce

300 g tagliatelle or any other long pasta
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced (or use two whole baby green garlic heads, stems and all)
100 g mixed mushrooms (in this case, St George's, but try a mixture of shitake, oyster and enoki)
2 tbsp capers, preferably packed in salt
1/2 cup white wine
juice of 1 lemon (approx. 1/4-1/3 cup)
10 baby plum tomatoes, halved (this is the cheat ingredient)
30 sage leaves
30 sprigs chervil (approx) - or substitute fresh tarragon
1 small handful lemon thyme
1 small handful Italian parsley
1/4 cup parmesan shavings

Bring water to boil in a large pot and cook the tagliatelle as per directions on the packet, until almost al dente but still a little firm on the tooth. Meanwhile, pick over the herbs so that they are reduced to individual but whole leaves. Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan and add the garlic. Cook 1-2 minutes to soften and add the mushrooms. Fry for 1 minute more until they start to release their juices and add the capers, wine and lemon juice. Add the tomatoes and cook until the liquid has reduced by roughly half. Taste and adjust the seasonings - remember there will have been salt from the capers. Toss the drained pasta through the sauce until coated throughly, sprinkle the herbs and parmesan over the pasta and toss lightly to combine. Remove from the heat immediately. Garnish with a little more parmesan and a sprig or two of parsley.

Seasonal eating: onion flower stem mallung

When I went to weed the bed in shich I put my autumn-sown onion sets, I noticed that many of them had started to set flower heads. This is undesirable as it creates a rough layer in the middle of the onion and reduces their storage capacity, so they should be removed. Of course, although they're tougher than spring onions they're perfectly edible and tasty, so I decided they were the perfect candidate to turn into a mallung to accompany a curry feast.

Mallung is a Sri Lankan dish, which is used as a way for people to get their vitamin intake from green vegetables. Basically it's a well-steamed curry of any green vegetable you can think of: leeks, cabbage, broccoli, broccoli leaves, kang kung leaves, Ceylon spinach...you name it. It can look a bit like slime but it tastes delicious beside curry and rice. There are often several varieties of mallung on the dinner table in Sri Lankan households. It's a method use by housewives everywhere to disguise the flavour of vegetables their children don't like (we regularly enjoy mallungs of vegetables we'd never dream of eating on their own). Recipes often include coconut milk, which I do not use. The recipe I use is quite simple, but does call for an ingredient unique to Sri Lanka called Maldive fish. This is a dried, pounded tuna-type fish which adds a savouriness. You can sometimes find it in spice stores which specialise in Sri Lankan foods. You can substitute dried shrimp for it, try adding a little splash of fish sauce or for a totally vegetarian version, just omit it altogether.

Onion flower stem mallung

1 large bunch onion flower stems, sliced finely (or any other green vegetable) - aim for about 2 cups of green matter
2 tbsp neutral-flavoured oil
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp maldive fish (optional)

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the sliced onion stems. Fry for 5 minutes until slightly softened, stirring occasionally. Add the spices, stir to combine, reduce the heat to low and cover to steam for 10-20 minutes, depending on how tough your vegetable is (about 10 minutes for onion flower stalks). Remove lid and stir. If there's a lot of liquid in the pot, increase heat and cook this off, stirring.

Seasonal eating: purple sprouting broccoli and feta tart

This is a nice quick meal. We were eating it within 20 minutes of walking in the door. And for two people who aren't particularly fond of broccoli, we found this delicious and very moreish.

Purple sprouting broccoli and feta tart
(For two)

1 tbsp olive oil, plus a little for greasing
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/2 a habanero or 1 birds eye chilli, finely chopped
1 small leek (white part only), sliced
1 green garlic top (white part only), sliced
a large handful purple sprouting broccoli, head pulled off stalks (roughly 100g or 1.5 cups broccoli heads)
1/2 a tomato, roughly chopped (optional, but add whatever leftover veg you have)
1 small glug (about 3 tbsp) white wine, or water
1 large flour tortilla, or whatever else you have on hand to line a flan tin (shortcrust or puff pastry, a pastry shell, etc)
30 g Applewood smoked cheddar (optional, or just use all feta)
70 g feta cheese
4 small or 3 medium eggs
salt and pepper to taste
Spanish smoked paprika

Preheat the oven to 180C. Heat the oil over medium heat in a frypan and add the shallots, garlic and chilli, saute for a minute or two until soft. Add the rest of the vegetables and cook for another minute or two, then add the wine or water, cover and cook for two minutes until the veg are lightly steamed and the wine has cooked off. Season with a little salt and remove from the heat.

Lightly grease a flan tin with olive oil and line with the tortilla, or whatever pastry you have on hand. Turn the veggie mixture into the tortilla shell and spread around. Crumble the cheese over the veg. Beat the eggs with a little salt and pepper and pour over the filling. Sprinkle a healthy pinch of smoked paprika over and bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until the eggs are golden and cooked.

As it was a nice summer's evening we ate this as a light supper in the garden, with a mixed salad of leaf greens tossed with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. With a glass of that lovely white wine, as we'd opened the bottle!

Eating seasonally(ish): Italian herby roast potatoes and salsify with spinach and pine-nut stuffed porcini mushrooms

When I went to open up the last bag of stored potatoes last week - a mixed bag of Desiree and Robinta potatoes - they'd sprouted in the hot weather of the week before. Mea Culpa, I'd left them in a hot garden shed. I'd thought I might have to waste the 10 kg bag of spuds, but a quick sorting showed that there were some shrivelled, sprouted potatoes (which were set aside for planting because I may as well risk it), and many which were sprouted but still OK. So I knocked the sprouts off those and put them back in a paper bag in a cool place. We now have 7 kg of 'old' potatoes which will want using soon, but which will probably get us through the next couple of months until the earlies come through. I now understand why the Italians refer so often to using 'old' potatoes for gnocchi, a kilogram at a time.

This all meant that last night roast potatoes were our dinner treat, with something knocked up from whatever veg were in the fridge needing using:

Italian herby roast potatoes and salsify with spinach and pine-nut stuffed porcini mushrooms
(Serves 2 with plenty of left-over roast veg for something else)

For the roast veg:
1 kg large old potatoes, peeled and cut into roasting-size chunks
10 roots mixed parsnip, salsify and scorzonera, or whatever other root veg are in the garden
1 small handful each thyme, rosemary and sage, leaves peeled from stems but left whole
2 big glugs olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
optional: one head smoked garlic

Preheat the oven to 210C. Parboil the potatoes in water for 5 minutes, drain into a colander and give them a good shaking (this is the secret to crispy roast potatoes). Put in a large bowl with the other ingredients and toss to coat the veg in the oil and herbs. Pour them all into a large baking tray and bake in the oven for 45 minutes-1 hour. In the meantime, prepare the mushrooms.

For the Porcini mushrooms stuffed with spinach and pine nuts
8 baby plum tomatoes
2 large porcini mushrooms
2 chestnut mushrooms
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp pine nuts
1/4 white wine
1-2 large handsful fresh spinach, chopped
10 basil leaves, torn
20 sage leaves, finely chopped
2-3 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs, made from a slice of stale bread
1-2 tsp Spanish smoked paprika
30 g (about 4-6 thin slices) tallegio cheese

Put the baby plum tomatoes in a small casserole and roast in the oven with the potaotes until soft, about 10 minutes. Remove the stems from the porcini mushrooms and chop finely with the chestnut mushrooms. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and gently sweat the garlic and pinenuts until golden. Add the mushrooms and cook for 1-2 minutes until they release their juices, then add the wine. Reduce until the liquid is mostly gone, then add the spinach and cook until wilted. Add the herbs and breadcrumbs, and cook until the spinach blend is holding together. Set aside to cool slightly.

Remove baby plum tomatoes from oven and cut in half. Arrange several tomatoes halves inside the porcini mushrooms, saving some for the top. Sprinkle a pinch of smoked paprika over each mushroom. Press the spinach mixture into the tomatoes, top decoratively with the remaining baby plum tomato halves, another sprinkled pinch of smoked paprika and one to three slices of tallegio, depending on the size of your slices and the mushroom.

When the potatoes have been cooking for 30 minutes, remove the garlic, turn the potatoes and return to the oven with the mushrooms. Bake for 20 minutes, until the potatoes, herbs and other veg are crispy, the mushrooms are cooked and the cheese on top of them is golden. While this is happening, remove the roasted garlic from its papery skin.

Serve the mushrooms individually on a plate, and turn the roasted root veg onto a platter to serve on the side, with the yummy crispy herbs and roasted garlic cloves scattered on top to garnish. Savour the herbs as you eat the rest.

Eating seasonally: Green spring vegetable pasta for non-asparagus lovers

Green spring vegetable pasta
(for 2-4, depending on how hungry you are. Takes about 20 minutes to cook.)

200g tagliatelle (we find three tagliatelle nests are enough for four people)

2 glugs olive oil
1 small onion
1 stick celery
1 green chilli
6-8 spears asparagus
2 small or 1 large leek, or a mix of leek and green garlic tops
1 vegetable stock cube, 1/2 cup white wine and 1/2 cup water, or 1 cup home-made veggie stock
2 cloves garlic, minced
juice and fine zest of 1 lemon
1 handful basil leaves, finely chopped
shavings of parmesan - to taste, but about 1 cup

Chop the onion, celery, chilli and leek together. Bend the asparagus to break off the woody base, remove and reserve the tips and chop the stems.

Bring a large pan of water to the boil. While it's coming to the boil, heat 1 glug of olive oil in a large saute pan and saute the vegetables for a few minutes. Add the stock, bring to the boil, and simmer for a few minutes more. Remove from heat and whizz in a blender to a puree.

Put the pasta on to cook according to packet directions, adding the asparagus tips four minutes before it's al dente. Heat the other glug of olive oil in the saute pan, add the garlic and sweat until soft. Add the pureed vegetables, basil, juice and zest of the lemon and simmer while the pasta cooks. Drain the pasta and toss through the sauce, adding a little of the pasta water if neccesary. Remove from the heat, toss some parmesan shavings through and serve in a large bowl with extra parmesan shavings on top.

Eating seasonally: Morrocan tagine recipe

The challenge I have set myself this year is to produce more of our own food. The plan is to be completely self-reliant on our vegetables year-round, which will entail eating more seasonally. We have gone some way down this path already, as we have vegetables we stored or preserved last year supplementing the few veg we still buy from the supermarket. But part of this challenge is to change our diet to eat more seasonally, and not rely on our favourite veg year-round. Especially as these are hot-climate veg.

The veg we have available to us at the moment are the last of the leeks and parsnips still in the ground, which need to be used before they go to seed, a last couple of sad-looking cabbages which have been picked leaf-by-leaf, pak choi and cavolo nero overwintered in the greenhouse, and potatoes stored from last autumn. We also have early carrots planted last autumn and purple sprouting broccoli starting to head. We did have winter squash, but have eaten the last of those. We had stored onions and garlic but finished them long ago, so we have increased the quantities sown of those this year. I was lucky enough to buy some early red onions from a local farm stall recently though, so consider those to be fair game.

The veg ready in the garden now mean we don't need to buy supermarket veg so long as meals are planned accordingly. That means not buying as many greenhouse tomatoes as I'd like (our preferred diet is tomato-heavy) and working with the root veg we have now. Dinner on Saturday night filled that niche nicely.




Recipe: Morrocan tagine of spring and stored root veg.
Serves four.

First pre-heat the oven to 220C and make a Chermoula paste:

2 red onions , chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1-inch knob of ginger , peeled
1/2 cup lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tbsp each honey, cumin, paprika, turmeric
1 tsp hot chilli powder
about 1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves

Put all of these in a blender and whizz to a paste.

Then collect and scrub:
3 large parsnips
3-5 small carrots
4-5 small potatoes (I used Arran victory because those are the potatoes we're using up at the moment)
6 smallish leeks
1 head purple sprouting broccoli
and whatever else you have in the garden/store (I cheated and tossed a few small tomatoes in. I will add some whole garlic cloves and chunks of red onion next time.)

Cut these into bite-sized chunks. Heat a heavy-bottomed frying pan over a medium-high heat and fry the veg in a tablespoon of olive oil for 5-10 minutes until browned. You may need to do this in one or two batches. When browned, put the veg in a casserole dish. Add a few prunes or dates, pour the chermoula paste and 1 1/2 cups of water over, cover and put in the oven. Bake for 45 minutes, reduce the heat to 180C, and bake for another 45 minutes. Sprinkle some chopped mint over the tagine before serving.

The result is sheer magic. Warm, satisfying and really tasty. Traditionally, this is served with couscous or bread. We preferred to eat it with brown basmati rice, accompanied by a good dark mild beer (a form of English ale) while sitting in front of a lit chiminea.