Читать книгу The Kitchen Diaries II - Nigel Slater - Страница 79

A vegetable-based stew to serve with rice or bread.

tomatoes: 800g

red peppers: about 500g

olive oil: 110ml

red wine vinegar: 3 tablespoons

cumin seeds: a teaspoon

chickpeas: two 400g cans

preserved lemons: 60g

harissa paste: a teaspoon

basil leaves: a handful

soft, Middle Eastern-style bread, to serve

Set the oven at 200°C/Gas 6. Remove the tomatoes from their stalks, cut each into six and put them in a baking dish. Cut the peppers in half, tear out their stalks and seeds, cut the flesh into short chunks, then add to the tomatoes.

Add 75ml of the oil, plus the vinegar, cumin seeds and a generous grinding of black pepper and sea salt. Roast for fifty minutes to an hour, until the peppers are tender and the tomatoes are soft and juicy. If the edges have caught slightly, then all to the good.

Transfer the tomatoes and peppers from the baking dish to a saucepan. Drain the chickpeas of their canning liquor and rinse them under the cold tap. Mix the drained chickpeas with the tomatoes and peppers.

Chop the preserved lemon, discarding the soft inner pulp. Stir the harissa, chopped lemon and remaining olive oil into the chickpeas, place the pan over a moderate heat and leave to simmer for ten minutes or so, till it is thoroughly hot and juicy. Season with salt and coarse black pepper.

Fold the basil leaves, whole, into the mixture, letting them wilt in the heat. Transfer to a serving dish and serve with warm bread.

Enough to serve 4, generously, as a main course