Moroccan Spiced Stuffed Onions with Chickpeas and Apricot

Ingredients

• 4 large white onions
• 400 g tinned chickpeas
• 80 g dried apricots
• 100 g long grain rice
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 300 ml vegetable stock
• 15 g fresh coriander

Method

1. 1

   Preheat the oven to 190°C (fan 170°C). Peel the onions and parboil them whole for 10 minutes. Drain and leave to cool slightly.

2. 2

   Slice off the top third of each onion and carefully scoop out the inner layers with a teaspoon, leaving 2–3 outer layers as a shell. Finely chop the scooped-out onion.

3. 3

   Cook the rice in boiling water for 8 minutes, drain. Fry the chopped onion in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add the spices and tomato purée and cook for 1 minute.

4. 4

   Drain the chickpeas and finely chop the apricots. Stir both into the spiced onion with the part-cooked rice and half the coriander. Season well.

5. 5

   Sit the onion shells in a baking dish, fill with the mixture and pour the stock around them. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes, then uncover for a further 10 minutes.

6. 6

   Scatter with the remaining coriander and serve with flatbreads and harissa on the side.