Method

In a large saucepan on a medium heat, add 1 tbsp of olive oil and add the chopped onion and fry gently until translucent.

Add the garlic and cook for a few more minutes, then add the chopped carrots and celery and season well. Put a lid on the saucepan and sweat the vegetables until they begin to soften slightly – about 10-15 minutes.

Add the ground spices and cook for 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile, boil a kettle for the stock.

Pour in the vegetable stock to the saucepan, it should just cover the vegetables, then add the honey, cloves and bay leaf. Remove the lid and cook until the vegetables are soft – about 30-40 minutes or until the liquid has reduced to a thicker consistency.

Add the artichokes, chickpeas and prunes to the vegetable tagine and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the bulgur wheat to a small saucepan on a medium heat. Crumble in half a stock cube and pour over the boiling hot water. After 5 minutes of simmering, cover with a lid, turn off the heat and let it stand on the hob for 10 minutes, and when there is no liquid left at the bottom add the butter and a little seasoning.

Before serving the vegetable tagine, remove the bay leaf and cloves. Serve with the bulgur wheat and scatter over the parsley. Also great served with Beluza Chermoula and plain yoghurt.

Enjoy!

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C. Cut the aubergines in half lengthways (no need to cut the tops off). Rub the aubergine all over with a little olive oil and put skin side up on an oven tray lined with baking paper. Put into the oven for 45 minutes or until soft.

Meanwhile, combine all the ingredients for the meatballs in a large bowl. With your hands, combine the mixture really well. When all the spices are even throughout start rolling into balls. It’s nice to have larger meatballs on this dish so I divide the mixture into 9 balls. I also like to make one more than I’ll serve – best to test it’s cooked through!

In a large frying pan over a medium heat, add the meatballs and cook until brown all over. I don’t add oil to the pan here because the lamb mince is quite fatty anyway.

Add the garlic clove to the oven for 10 minutes so it softens slightly and takes away that garlic burn.

When the aubergine is done, scoop out the insides from the skins. Discard the skins and add the remaining aubergine to the blender. Add the remaining ingredients for the purée. Blend until smooth.

To serve, place a couple of scoops of the purée onto a plate and with the back of the spoon spread it out into a circle. Add 3 or 4 of the meatballs on top. Scatter over the parsley, pickled red onions and feta. Serve with soft pitta.

Enjoy!

Method

Chop the onion and heat a frying pan with 2 tbsp of oil. Add the onions to the pan and cook them low and slow (I cook them for as long as I can without them burning). When softened, add the spices in. Mix in the spices and 1 tbsp olive oil until it forms a deep rich colour almost like a paste.

Add in the garlic clove and continue to cook for a minute or two then stir in the tomato puree.

Meanwhile, chop the roasted peppers into small pieces and on another chopping board, slice the sausages into bite size pieces. Add the sausage into the pan to brown then after a little while add the peppers in too.

Add a can of chopped tomatoes to the pan. Crumble in half a stock cub and stir well so it’s throughly mixed. You may want to add more of the stock cube depending on taste.

Simmer for 10-15 mins until the consistency is quite thick and the excess water has evaporated.

You want the consistency to be quite thick and not watery. I recommend using a good quality can of chopped tomatoes. If your mixture does end up quite watery then just reduce the mixture for longer.

Pre-heat the grill to a high heat.

When your mixture is almost ready, make four little pockets in the mixture. Break an egg into each of these. Season the top of each egg and leave to cook for 5 minutes.

If you’ve made your shakshuka in an oven proof pan then place under the grill for the final 3 minutes to cook the top of the eggs. If not, then place a lid over the top and cook for a further 4 minutes.

When the egg white is cooked but the yolks still runny, remove from the heat.

Serve with bread/pitta and sprinkle some parsley on top for garnish.

Enjoy!

Method

Boil a pan of water, when it reaches boiling point add the eggs. Quickly bring to the boil again and cook for 4 minutes. Drain and plunge the eggs into cold water for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the lamb, cooked bulgur wheat, garlic, parsley and baharat to a large bowl. Season the mixture generously and combine really well. Best to get your hands in to ensure the ingredients are distributed evenly.

At this point, prepare some plates/bowls for the next few steps. Measure the flour on to a plate and season. In a new bowl, add the beaten eggs and season those too. And in a third plate/bowl, add the breadcrumbs (I think some dukkah might be nice to add in with the breadcrumbs next time I do this).

Next, peel the eggs then roll them in the flour. Tap of any excess flour then start wrapping the meat around the outside of the egg. Trying to maintain 1 cm thick all around the egg. This is important for even cooking. Do this for each egg.

When each egg has its meaty wrapper, roll in a layer of flour (tapping off any excess), then roll in the egg, and lastly in the breadcrumbs. Put them on a plate and set aside until you’re ready to cook.

Heat a frying pan with a good few glugs of vegetable oil. I’ve chosen to shallow fry these but you could deep-fry or oven cook them if you wish. When the oil is hot, add two of the scotch eggs. Rotating the eggs so they’re brown and crispy on all sides. You want to make sure the inner parts of the meat is cooked through which is why I only add two to the pan at the same time. Adding all the scotch eggs may bring the temperature of the oil down which will slow cooking times.

Best served hot and with a drizzle of tahini yoghurt.

Method

For the pickled onions, combine the vinegar, sugar and salt together and stir until everything has dissolved. Slice the onion into very thin half moons and add to the pickle liquor. Stir and set aside. The longer you leave these the better – a minimum of an hour I reckon.

Pre-heat the grill and line an oven tray with baking paper.

Slice the aubergines in half length ways and rub with a little oil then place skin side up on the oven tray. Place under the grill for about 30-40 minute until soft. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Once cool, scoop out the filling and place in a sieve to drain the excess liquid. Transfer the aubergine to a chopping board and chop the mixture into a paste. You could choose to do this in a blender but I enjoy the chunkier texture of the baba ganoush in this dish.

In a bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients for the baba ganoush. Add the aubergines in and stir to combine. Taste for seasoning then set to one side.

For the harissa ketchup, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine. Set aside. If you can add the sauce to an empty ketchup bottle you’ll be able to apply your sauce easier. If you don’t have one of these bottles it doesn’t matter – they’ll still taste just as good.

For the herby yoghurt , measure the yoghurt into a bowl (or bottle), then stir in the rest of the ingredients. Season and set aside. I’ve specified table salt and white pepper here but any salt and pepper will do. Whilst I usually prefer sea salt i think the fine grain salt works better here and the white pepper is really just an aesthetic thing.

Grill/fry/boil the bockwurst according to package instructions.

When you’re ready to serve, slice the buns along the top and add a layer of baba ganoush to the bottom of the buns. Place the bockwurst on top then drizzle with the sauces and top with pickled onions and crushed crispy chickpeas

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C and start boiling a pan of water on the hob.

Cut the baby aubergines into quarters lengthways so they become aubergine fingers. Place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper and drizzle with the oil. Sprinkle over the sumac, salt and pepper and mix it all together so everything is coated.

Cook in the oven for 30 minutes or until browned and a little crispy around the edges. Remember to toss the aubergines half way through cooking.

Meanwhile, add the eggs into a boiling pan of water and put a timer on for 7 minutes. I cook them for 7 minutes in boiling water to get fudgy eggs (sticky centre but the white is cooked through).

Whilst the eggs are cooking, you can start preparing the pickled red onion. Slice the onion into very thin half moons and put them in a small bowl. Add the white wine vinegar, a little table salt and the sugar. Mix well and leave to one side.

To make the dressing, add the tahini and yoghurt together mixing well so the sauce is smooth and velvety. Then add the lemon juice and season to taste. Adjust ingredients to your liking.

When the eggs are done, remove from pan and run them under cold water to stop further cooking. Leave them to cool for a moment whilst you prepare the salad.

For the salad, slice the tomatoes into quarters and scoop out the seeds, then cut the tomatoes into smaller 1.5cm pieces and add to a bowl. Add the chickpeas, artichokes, finely chopped parsley, and the cumin. Season and give it a stir. Put the bowl aside.

By now the eggs should be cool, so peel the eggs and cut into quarters lengthways.

When the aubergine is ready it can come out of the oven. Whilst they cool, toast the pittas and cut them into strips.

To assemble the sabich, mix the aubergines in with the chickpea salad and plate along with the pitta and the egg. Crumble over the feta and generously spoon over the tahini sauce, scatter with the fresh oregano and add the pickled red onion to the top.

Enjoy!