Mechouia Salad

1. Preheat an oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas mark 7, line an oven tray with olive oil and place the whole onions inside, once the oven is hot place this inside and cook for 20 minutes.

2. In the meantime, take a frying pan and place over a medium heat. Once hot, add the coriander seeds and fennel. Dry fry the seeds for 1-2 minutes, then crush in a pestle and mortar and place to one side.

3. Once the onions are well on their way, add the peppers and courgette, return to the oven till the peppers begin to turn black. Once the peppers are blackening add the garlic, tomatoes and chilli if using, then return to the heat until the peppers and tomatoes are black and the other ingredients are cooked.

4. In the the meantime, fill a bowl with water and ice cubes. Now, take a pan and fill with boiling water, add the eggs and cook for 6-8 minutes, then remove the eggs from the boiling water and place in the iced water to stop the cooking process.

5. Once your vegetables are cooked, pour the whole contents into a large bowl and cover with clingfilm for 10-15 minutes. Now, remove the clingfilm, and providing the vegetables are cool enough to handle, begin to prepare. Remove the outer layer of the onions and discard, finely chop the rest of the onion and place in a large mixing bowl, add the coriander and fennel seeds then mix.

6. Next, quarter the courgette disks and add.

7. Now, peel the peppers and tomatoes, discard the burnt skin and roughly chop down the flesh. Add this to the mixing bowl.

8. Squeeze out the garlic cloves, crush and add. Then, scrape the chilli out using a knife and discard the skin and stalk, then add.

9. Mix all the ingredients together and present on a plate.

10. Now, peel the eggs, discard any shell, quarter, and place on top of the mixture.

11. Finally, top with olives and parsley and serve

Traditionally this dish is served with broken up bits of tinned tuna on top!