Nigel Slater’s recipe for roast tomato couscous

I find the sauce is best made with smaller sweet-sour tomatoes, particularly the yellow cherry varieties. The larger, sweeter tomatoes are best served whole, on top of the sauce and couscous. This will also be good with the larger “giant” couscous often labelled mograbia. Cooked in plenty of boiling, salted water, like pasta, then drained, it should be tossed in a little olive oil before being served with the tomatoes and their sauce.

Serves 2. Ready in 45 minutes

assorted tomatoes 650g, including 4-6 large ones

red onion 1

garlic 2 cloves

olive oil

vegetable stock 400ml

couscous 100g

golden raisins

parsley 15g

mint 10g

harissa paste 1 tbsp

Heat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Put the tomatoes into a roasting tin. Peel and thinly slice the onion and garlic and add to the tomatoes with salt and coarsely ground black pepper. Trickle the tomatoes with a little olive then roast in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until the tomato skins are lightly browned.

Bring the vegetable stock to the boil. Place the couscous in a heatproof bowl, then pour the boiling stock over, add the raisins and cover with a lid or plate and leave for 15 minutes.

Tear the parsley leaves from their stalks and chop roughly, then chop the mint leaves and mix together.

Using a fork, lightly crush the smaller tomatoes so the juices flow, then stir in the harissa paste. When the couscous has soaked up all the stock, check the seasoning, adding salt and pepper as you wish, run a fork through the couscous to separate the grains, then divide between 2 shallow bowls, spoon the crushed tomatoes and their juices over the couscous then add the whole tomatoes.

Jonathan Lovekin