The recipe
Put 650g of assorted small tomatoes (red, orange, yellow, green, cherry etc) into a roasting tin with a crushed clove of garlic and 2 tbsp olive oil. Peel and slice a red onion and add it to the tomatoes with a seasoning of salt and black pepper. Roast at 200C/gas mark 6 for 25-30 minutes until the tomatoes are soft and the skins lightly browned.
Bring 400ml of vegetable stock to the boil. Place 100g of instant couscous into a heat-proof bowl, then pour the boiling stock over, cover and leave for 15 minutes. Roughly chop 15g each of mint and parsley.
Use a fork to lightly crush the tomatoes so the juices bleed into the pan, then stir in 1 tbsp of harissa paste. Stir most of the chopped herbs through the couscous with a fork. Serve the roast tomatoes and their juices on top. Enough for 2.
The trick
It is perfectly fine to use water to plump up your couscous, but I like using stock, in this case vegetable, to add flavour to the bland grain. Use liquid just off the boil, and pour enough over the couscous to cover it by a good 3 or 4cm. Covering the bowl with a plate or lid will help it to keep its heat during the 10 minutes or so it takes for the grains to sponge up the liquid. No further heating required.
The twist
If time is tight, you could grill the tomatoes and onions, setting the roasting tin a good way from the heat and turning the vegetables from time to time as they cook. This also makes a cracking summer salad. Cook as above, but let the couscous and the tomatoes cool a little before serving. Instead of finishing with mint and parsley, make a herb mixture of chopped basil and finely grated lemon zest, then toss with toasted, finely crumbed ciabatta and a glug of olive oil.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk. Follow Nigel on Twitter @NigelSlater
