This super easy, quick traybake is equally good eaten cold as it is hot, so is fab in lunchboxes. It’s also an excellent make-ahead dish as it both freezes and reheats well. If you can’t find rose harissa, regular harissa will do just fine. Swap the mint for roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley, if you like.
Serves: 4
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Photography: Martin Poole
Food styling: Marina Filippelli, Becks Wilson
Prop stylist: Jo Harris
Season: Summer/Autumn
Ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil
2 medium aubergines, cut into 2-cm cubes
3 tbsp rose harissa (look for the Belazu brand), diluted with 1 tbsp water
300g cherry tomatoes
1 x 400g tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
3 tbsp tahini, thinned with warm water to make a dressing the consistency of single cream
1 small handful of fresh mint leaves
Flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Flatbreads or pitta breads, to serve
Method
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Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/425°F/Gas mark 7.
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Pour the olive oil into a large ovenproof dish or roasting tray and heat in the oven for 5–10 minutes. Carefully add the aubergine cubes to the hot oil. Season well with salt and pepper, add the diluted rose harissa and toss everything together. Place the dish or tray in the hot oven, setting the timer for 15 minutes. When the timer sounds and 15 minutes has passed, stir to make sure all sides of the aubergine cubes are roasting. Set the timer again for another 15 minutes.
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After a further 15 minutes, remove the tray from the oven and add the cherry tomatoes. Return the tray to the hot oven, this time setting the timer for 20 minutes. When the 20 minute timer sounds, add the drained chickpeas and stir well. Return the tray to the oven and roast for a final 10 minutes.
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Remove the tray from the oven, stir in the grated lemon zest and leave to cool for 15 minutes. Check the seasoning and adjust as necessary.
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Drizzle with a generous amount of the tahini dressing and scatter over the mint leaves. Toast the flatbreads or pitta breads in a dry frying pan and serve immediately.
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Leftovers will keep when covered and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, cover the tray with foil and warm in a 180°C fan/200°C/400°F/Gas mark 6 oven until piping hot.
Read more: Green
It’s the easy, nutritious mid-week dinners that we sometimes get stuck with the most. Vegetarian and vegan cooking is often the perfect thing to turn to, and Elly’s recipes will make you want to do more of it. This is one is from Green (Ebury Press, £22). Photography by Martin Poole
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