THE COUSCOUS

250g/8oz couscous
1tbs olive oil
Vegetable Stock to soak the couscous
2 tbs lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

THE HARIRA

1 head of garlic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3-4 tbs olive oil
5 medium tomatoes
25g/1oz basil
25g/1oz mint
25g/oz flat-leaf parsley
2 red chillies, chopped and deseeded
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp cumin seed
175g/6oz carrots, chopped
125g/4oz leeks, chopped
125g/4oz celery, chopped
250g/8oz shallots, chopped
1.25 litres/2 pints Vegetable Stock
2 red peppers, roasted, skinned, cored, deseeded and chopped
25g/8oz French beans, sliced
250g/8oz frozen petit pois (peas)
mint leaves to garnish

This Moroccan vegetable stew is great. We?ll say no more ? just try it.

1.
Coat the couscous with the olive oil, and soak it in boiling , seasoned vegetable stock with the lemon juice, following the instructions on the packet. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6.

2.
Cut the top off the head of garlic, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap the garlic in foil and place in a roasting tin. Place the tomatoes in the tin and drizzle with olive oil. Roast the garlic and tomatoes in the oven for 20 minutes.

3.
Squeeze the garlic puree out of its skin. Blend in a food processor with the roasted tomatoes, the basil, mint, parsley, chillies, cumin seed and 1 tablespoon on olive oil. Put the mixture aside.

4.
Heat the remaining olive oil in a large, heavy pan. Add the carrots, leeks, celery and shallots and fry gently until softened. Meanwhile heat up the stock in a separate pan. Add the stock to the fried vegetables and bring to the boil. Add the peppers, beans and peas and simmer for 5 minutes. Now stir in the pureed herbs and lemon juice and simmer for 2-3 minutes. An aromatic oily film will rise to the surface, which is good and to be expected. Serve the soup with a pile of couscous in the middle of each bowl.