Middle Eastern Spiced Beef Ragout

Cut the red onion in half through the root. Peel and then chop into 1cm cubes or as small as you can. Peel and grate the garlic. Remove the core from the red pepper and slice as thinly as you can.

Once the meat has browned, add the chopped red onion,red pepper and the ras-el-hanout to the meat and cook for another 5 mins. Add the garlic and then cook for a minute before pouring in the chopped tomatoes. Half fill the empty tin with water and add this to the pan. Stir in the beef stock pot and bring to the boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low and leave to bubble away for 20 mins.

While the beef cooks away, pop the couscous in a bowl and season with ¼ tsp salt and a good grind of black pepper. Mix in 1 tbsp of olive oil and then pour in 300ml of boiling water. Cover the bowl with clingfilm or a plate and leave for 10 mins.

Chop the top and bottom off the courgette and then cut into eight 1cm thick angled slices (see pic). Roughly chop the coriander.

Heat another frying pan over medium heat and toast the flaked almonds for 3 mins or until golden brown. Tip: Watch the almonds like a hawk, they burn very easily!

Once the flaked almonds are out of the pan, increase the heat to high and cook the courgettes for 5 mins on each side (without any oil). Once nicely charred, remove the courgettes from the pan and keep to the side for a minute while you finish everything else off.

Check your ragout for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if you feel it needs it. Stir in your coriander and get ready to serve.