This recipe comes from Yasmin Khan’s Zaitoun and is seriously good. She gives it the adjective ‘comforting’ and it is, full of flavours I love. YK’s recipe is vegan but I am happy to use chicken stock which gives a deeper flavour.

Perpetual spinach seeds, sown in mid August, were already showing by early September. They should give us enough spinach to last through winter.

This dish can be made in advance and reheated. Serve alone with crusty bread or rice. Smaller portions can be used to accompany chicken, roasted with a sprinkle of Aleppo chilies and salt before cooking and a sprinkle of sumac after.

1 onion, finely chopped
Olive oil
1½tsp cumin seeds
1½tsp coriander seeds
4 garlic cloves , crushed
½tsp ground allspice
Generous pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
2 x 400 cans of chickpeas (or equivalent made from 200g dried chickpeas)
500ml vegetable or chicken stock
500g spinach, roughly chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Heat two tablespoons of oil in a large, lidded frying pan and add the onion. Fry for about 10 minutes on a medium heat or until the onions are soft but barely coloured.

Toast the cumin and coriander seeds in a dry pan over a medium heat until they start to colour and release an aroma (I keep a 15cm frying pan from Lidl for roasting seeds). Grind in a pestle and mortar.

Add the ground cumin and coriander to the onion together with the garlic, allspice, nutmeg and a generous amount of pepper. Fry for a couple of minutes and then add the chickpeas and stock. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Add the spinach in batches, lemon juice, a generous pinch or more of salt and the extra virgin olive oil. Cook gently for 5-10 minutes. You may want more or less liquid in the pan.

Check the seasoning before serving.