Aubergine tagine with halloumi croutons

Faced with a bare fridge the other evening and an option of two frozen fish fillets for dinner , I did venture out in the rain to buy the vegetables for this meal from “The Green cookbook”. One of the super books out of a series of great one pan recipes by Rukmini Iyer. I opted for chickpeas instead of haricot beans,  as I had a jar of the queen chickpeas from the Bold Bean Company, which are way superior to the tins . I didn’t think it would be wonderful but thought it was a healthy , easy dinner . I was so pleasantly surprised at how good it was ,  anything with crispy halloumi is going to be tasty and appetising. Even without the coriander and flaked almonds there was plenty of flavour going on . The recipe was enough for two meals on two evenings and I feel it tasted even better on the second night , heated slowly covered with foil to stop it burning . 

Ingredients

2 aubergines, cut roughly into 3cm chunks
3 mixed peppers (not green) cut into 3cm chunks
1 red onion, roughly chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp baharat spice mix
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 cloves garlic, finely grated
1 tsp sea salt flakes
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
200ml boiling water or vegetable stock (gluten-free, if required)
1 x 700g jar or 2 x 400g tins haricot beans, drained and rinsed
225g halloumi, cut into crouton-sized cubes

To serve:
smoked or ordinary sea salt flakes
drizzle extra virgin olive oil
A handful of toasted flaked almonds
chopped fresh mint and/or coriander
quinoa, couscous or flatbreads (gluten-free, if required), to serve



Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/gas 7. (You’ll need to use a fan oven to cook the croutons on another shelf; if not, fry or grill the halloumi croutons instead.)

Mix together the aubergines, peppers, onion, olive oil, baharat, smoked paprika, garlic and salt in a large roasting tin. Transfer to the oven and roast for 40 minutes until the vegetables are just charring around the edges. Add the tinned tomatoes, water or stock and haricot beans, mix well, then return to the oven for a further 40 minutes to reduce the tomato sauce. Twenty minutes before the tagine is ready, pop the halloumi on a baking tray and transfer to another shelf of the oven to roast.

Once the tagine is ready, taste and adjust the salt as needed, transfer to bowls and drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil. Scatter with the halloumi croutons, flaked almonds and chopped herbs before serving hot, with quinoa, couscous or flatbreads on the side.