FENNEL, AUBERGINE AND ARTICHOKE CAPONATA

Caponata is a great test of culinary ingenuity! You can make this versatile dish with fresh vegetables if you have them, or preserved if you don’t, and serve it as a vegetarian main course with some good bread, for lunch with an egg on top or as a side dish to accompany any roasted or grilled meat or fish.

SERVES 4

4tbsp rapeseed oil ½ onion, finely chopped 4 globe artichokes (or 200g artichoke hearts in olive oil, drained) Lemon juice, to prevent discolouration (if using fresh artichokes)

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 spring onions, chopped 1 small fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 aubergine, peeled and diced into

1.5cm cubes 3 tomatoes, diced 4tbsp canned chopped tomatoes

4tbsp red wine vinegar 2tbsp capers, drained and rinsed

2tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds

1tbsp finely chopped basil

1tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

1tbsp finely chopped lemon thyme

Salt and pepper Toasted bread, to serve

1 Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion, cover and leave for 10 mins to sweat down, stirring every so often.

2 Meanwhile, prepare the globe artichokes, if using. Remove the leaves until only the innermost leaves and hearts remain. Trim the stems and hard leaf remnants around the bottoms, and use a vegetable peeler to peel the stems, removing the tough exterior.

Chop the hearts in half and use a spoon to remove the hairy chokes. Cut in half again so you are left with quarters of artichoke heart.

3 If you are not using them immediately, rub with a little lemon juice to stop discolouration. 4 Add the garlic, spring onions, fennel, aubergine, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, vinegar, capers and pumpkin seeds to the frying pan with the onion, cover and simmer for 10 mins, or until all the vegetables are tender.

5 Add the herbs and cook, uncovered, for another 5 mins to allow the flavours to combine. Season with salt and pepper and serve warm or at room temperature, spooned over toasted bread.