In a bid to eat healthier as a household, we only eat meat at weekends where we focus on quality cuts from our local butcher: less is more, as they say! As such, find something that’s quick and easy to cook, healthy and meat-free was initially quite challenging… step forward this delicious, yet simple vegetable tagine! Warming spices add depth of flavour, texture and more flavour from the varied vegetables combined with the fluffiness of the cous cous has made this a real winner!
You can scale it up if you want to have it over a few nights, I personally think it’s better the following day as it allows all the flavours to fuse together and deepen.
When it comes to choosing the wine, you need something fresh and vibrant yet that also has texture, weight, as well as complexity to stand up the myriad of spices. The perfect pairing comes in the form of a new arrival: Quinta Nova Grainha Reserva Branco 2023, a stunning Portugueuse white that hails from the Douro Valley and is made from a blend of native varietals such as Gouveio, Rabigato, and Viosinho.
Ingredients
3 x carrots
3 x parsnips
2 x red onions
2 x pointed Sweet Red Peppers
1 x 400g chopped tomatoes
1 handful of dried apricots
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ras el hanout
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon honey
Method
Set the oven to 200C fan.
Roughly chop the vegetables and scatter in a baking tray.
Drizzle with olive oil and coat thoroughly using hands.
Add a sprinkle of salt and roast for 30 minutes (or until tender and beginning to caramelise).
Meanwhile, add some oil to a frying pan followed by the spices, which should begin to sizzle and release their aromas (be careful not to burn).
Add the chopped tomatoes (plus a can of water), honey, and apricots.
Simmer for 5 minutes to reduce the sauce and allow the apricots to plump up.
Add the vegetables from the oven and stir gently.
Serve with cous cous, flatbread, and a glass of Grainha Reserva Branco. Saúde !
The Perfect Wine Match
Quinta Nova Grainha Reserva Branco
Attractive nose of lemon, peach, and apricot with added richer almond and vanilla undetones. Rich, rounded and generous mid-palate that is underpinned by a streak of fine, mineral acidity that adds impressive drive, focus, and tension, leading into a more tropical fruit dominant core of grapefruit, mango, and melon with added white pepper spice on the persistant finish.
