There is a bit of a theme to the recipes at the moment... yes, the courgette are growing very well!
This is pretty similar to the courgette and tomato soup from a while ago, but with a couple of extra bits that really make it a very flavoursome and rich meal.
Of course, to be very pedantic, it's not really a tagine because it's not been cooked in a tagine- but even without the proper dish to cook it in, it's really tasty!
Ingredients (to serve 12)
3-4 onions
half a head of garlic
Lots of courgette- as with the soup, you can pretty much fill the pan
2 lemons
250g dried apricots
A small jar of black olives (again, we usually use Aldi)
Harissa paste or chilli and basil
Salt and pepper to taste
A sploosh of vegetable oil
2 tins of tomatoes, passata or a tube of tomato puree- or about a dozen fresh tomatoes if you have them.
Water
You will also need
A large pan
A sharp knife and chopping board
A wooden spoon
A teaspoon (if using harissa)
Method
Roughly chop the onions and garlic
Gently fry the onions and garlic in the vegetable oil
Roughly chop the courgettes, lemons and apricots and add to the pan
Fry for a few minutes
Add 2-3tsp harissa paste or chilli, basil, salt (but see next step) and pepper to taste
Tip in a jar of olives: You will need to drain off most of the brine, but you can use a little in the tagine instead of adding salt if you like.
Add the tomatoes and enough water that the tagine won't stick to the pan
Put in the oven at about 140 degrees C- or cook on a medium heat on a hob for a couple of hours, until the vegetables are all softened and the flavours mixed nicely.
Serve with couscous or flatbreads- or on toast, or with pasta!