Easy Peasy

Frozen peas, possibly one of the best inventions in the modern world. They are full of vits, surprisingly high in protein and always reliably to be found in the freezer - even late on a Sunday evening when the fridge is offering up no joy.

So, out of not much came this delicious and just-what-I-need-on-a-Sunday pea and parmesan hash with a kick of chilli and handful of herbs, bound together with the glossy yolk of a fried egg.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

400g frozen petits pois

3 tbsp olive oil

4 spring onions (finely sliced)

1/2 red chilli (finely chopped)

2 cloves garlic (crushed)

Handul of chopped fresh herbs (mint/parsley/basil)

Grated Parmesan, to serve

Zest of 1/2 lemon

salt and pepper

2 tbsp olive oil
4 eggs

In a wide frying pan on a medium heat, fry the spring onion for 2 minutes in the olive oil, then add in the chilli and garlic  for a further 2 minutes. Add the frozen peas straight into the pan, stir fry until heated through. Season with salt and pepper, grate over some lemon zest and parmesan to taste.

Meanwhile, in a separate non-stick frying pan heat the olive oil and fry the eggs until the whites set, but the yolks are still runny. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve immediately.

Tarta de Santiago

Tarta de Santiago derives from Santiago de Compostela in North West Spain and is rumoured to have been brought there by a pilgrim visiting the grave of Saint James - one of the most significant pilgrimages of the middle ages.  It is now commonly found in pastry shops throughout the city, sprinkled with icing sugar and marked with the shape of a cross of the Order of Santiago. 

History aside, the cake's simplicity belies its yumminess. It is a wonder that three ingredients (almonds, eggs and sugar) can combine to make something so perfectly light, fragrant and moist - without the help of fat or flour. The cake is flavoured with a little lemon and orange zest, and makes a delicious alternative for Easter weekend. 

I served it with a dollop of creme fraiche and some pomegranate seeds, which add a burst of freshness. This recipe is by Claudia Roden, from her wonderful book The Food of Spain.

Ingredients

250g ground almonds
6 eggs, separated
250g caster sugar
Grated zest of 1 orange
Grated zest of 1 lemon
4 drops almond extract
Butter, to grease the cake tin
Flour, to dust the cake tin
Icing sugar, for dusting the cake

Creme fraiche & pomegranate to serve (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180C (160 fan).

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar to a pale cream with an electric mixer, then beat in the orange and lemon zests and almond extract.

 

Add the ground almonds and mix well.

In a separate bowl and with a cleaned whisk, whisk the egg whites until stiff. Stir a couple of tablespoons into the egg and almond mixutre to loosen it up (it will be quite stiff at this stage), then gently fold in the remaining whites.

Grease a spring-form cake tin around 28cm in diameter (preferably non-stick) with butter and dust it with flour, then pour in the cake mixture.

Put the cake into the preheated oven for 40 minutes until it feels firm. Let it cool before turning out. Dust the top with icing sugar. You could cut the shape of a Santiago cross out of paper and place it int the middle of the cake before dusting with icing sugar.

Spring Chicken

A colourful pot of nutritious deliciousness and a go-to spring lunch. Moist is a dreadful word, but proves an apt description for the chicken cooked in this way, soothing broth amplified by its archetypal Italian accompaniment of salsa verde, fragrant herbs mingling with the lemony dressing.

Can anyone suggest a 'moist' replacement? Damp doesn't cut the mustard...

Chicken:

Large chicken
2 bulbs fennel, quartered
2 onions, quartered
1 celery heart, broken apart
Salt and pepper
Few stems of fresh thyme
Chicken stock pot
400g baby new potatoes
2 handfuls baby carrots

125g tenderstem broccoli

2 tbsp full fat creme fraiche
400g frozen petits pois

Salsa verde:

2 cloves garlic
juice of 1.5 lemons
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 dsp capers, chopped
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
6 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
50g parsley, chopped
25g mint, chopped

Put the chicken in a large casserole dish, saucepan and just cover with water. Add 1 tsp salt, a few grinds of pepper, thyme, fennel, onions and celery. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 mins. At this point, add in the potatoes and continue cooking for 10 more minutes. Then, add in the carrots for the final 10 minutes.

Meanwhile make the salsa verde, by combining the capers, eggs and herbs (retain some of the herbs to sprinkle over the top of the chicken). Crush garlic, and stir in dijon mustard, lemon juice, olive oil, whisk gently. Season to taste. Stir into the herby mix and adjust ingredients to taste.

Remove the chicken from the dish, set aside and keep warm. Remove all the vegetables from the pot and arrange in a dish. Remove the fennel, onion and celery and discard (the aromatics will have done their job in flavouring the stock by this point).

Reduce the remaining liquid for around 10 minutes, stir in the creme fraiche and taste for seasoning. Add in the tenderstem broccoli for around 5 mins, until just cooked, then add in the frozen peas and bring back to the boil. Pour over the dish of vegetables. Carve the chicken and arrange on top. Sprinkle with the remaining parsley and mint. Serve with a dollop of the salsa verde on top.

A Spring Lunch - Baked Orzo with Mozzarella and Oregano & a Rhubarb and Orange Blossom Frangipane Tart

There has never been a more apt phrase for this sunny weekend than 'full of the joys of spring'. The glad, and much welcome, return of the sun accompanied our lunch in the conservatory, doors flung open, birds singing, heaven. 

This pimped up pasta bake, is an all at once colourful, fresh and utterly comforting bowl of cheesy, tomatoey goodness, punctuated with lemon zest and fresh oregano - keeping it on the right side of rich. It is adapted from my favourite Ottolenghi, whose books are endless sources of vegetable related inspiration. 

This was followed by a buttery almond frangipane tart, strips of tart pink rhubarb cut across its golden surface, glazed with a tart rhubarb syrup and perfumed with orange blossom water.

Orzo with Tomato and Oregano

Serves 6

100ml olive oil

2 small aubergine, cut into 2cm dice

5 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1cm dice

5 celery stalks, cut into 1cm dice

2 small onions, finely diced - 200g 

4 garlic cloves, crushed

375g orzo pasta, rinsed

3tsps tomato puree

700ml vegetable stock, bouillon

15g fresh oregano, leaves chopped - thyme would do

Grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon

200g hard mozzarella, cut into 1cm dice

60g Parmesan, grated

5 medium tomatoes, cut into 1cm slices

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 200C/180C fan

Heat the olive oil in a large pan and add the aubergine. Cook for about 10 mins on a medium high heat, until completely soft and golden brown. Remove onto kitchen paper and set aside. Add the carrots and celery to a pan and fry for another 10 mins, until softened. Set aside. Add the onion and garlic to the pan, cook for about 10 minutes until softened. Add the orzo and tomato puree and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and pour in enough stock to make bind the pasta together, without too much leftover. Add half of the oregano, lemon zest, cooked vegetables, mozzarella, parmesan, 1tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Mix well and transfer to a large ovenproof dish, around 30cm diameter. Arrange the tomatoes on top, sprinkle with the remaining oregano, along with a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and drizzle of olive oil.

Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until all the liquid has been absorbed and the pasta is cooked through. Serve with a green salad.

 Rhubarb and Orange Blossom Frangipane Tart

Pastry:

340g plain flour

165g unsalted butter

165g caster sugar

4 egg yolks, lightly beaten

1-2 tbsp cold water

Frangipane:

200g butter, softened

200g caster sugar

3 eggs

200g ground almonds

3 tbsp plain flour

1/2 tsp almond essence (optional)

400g forced rhubarb stems

3 tbsp caster sugar

1tsp orange blossom water

200ml water

Preheat the oven to 190C/ fan 170C

To make the pastry, tip the flour into a large bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and dot over the flour, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs (this can also be done in a food processor). Stir in the caster sugar, then make a well in the centre, add the egg yolks and mix together, adding water until it comes together in a smooth ball. If the mixture is still crumbly, add a little more water. Roll in cling film and refrigerate for half an hour.

Meanwhile, for the frangipane, cream the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon, electric whisk or food processor, until light and fluffy. Slowly add in the eggs, interspersing with spoonfuls of flour and almonds, to stop it curdling. Add in the rest of the flour and almonds, and mix well.

Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and use it to line a tart tin. I used one which had a 25cm diameter and depth of 4cm. If yours is smaller, you may have to leave out some of the frangipane as it rises during cooking. The pastry is very short and crumbles easily, but patch it up with any remaining pastry and trim off the edges. Fill the case with the frangipane filling and smooth the top. (The pastry does not need to be blind baked in this instance).

Slice each rhubarb stem in half lengthways and lay across the tart. Bake for about an hour, until golden, risen and set. Remove from the oven and cool.

Meanwhile, with the remaining rhubarb, slice into pieces of around 10cm. Put into a saucepan with the water and sugar and poach for 5 minutes, until softened. Remove the rhubarb with a slotted spoon, and reduce the liquid a little until it is viscose and syrupy. Remove from the heat, stir in the orange blossom water and brush over the top of the cooled tart, I also sprinkled it with some freeze dried raspberries.

Serve with double cream!

Beetroot & Celeriac Remoulade with Smoked Mackerel

This recipe is an ode to two unsung food heroes. The unassuming knobbly celeriac root has a deliciously fresh, minerally flavour and smooth creamy flesh, which is pepped up here with a grating of beetroot, a lemony, peppery crème fraîche dressing and scattering of parsley and pumpkin seeds.

The iridescent, striped skin of smoked mackerel is best slightly scorched and its rich oiliness proves the ideal foil for the freshness of the rose tinted remoulade. Accompanied a hunk of generously buttered treacly bread, it is, in the words of my sister, YUM.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1/2 medium sized celeriac
4 cooked beetroots
25g flat leaf parsley
Dsp olive oil
50g pumpkin seeds
3 tbsp creme fraiche (full fat ideally)
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 a lemon
3 tsp horseradish sauce
Salt and pepper

4 smoked mackerel fillets



Peel and roughly grate the celeriac and beetroot (I did this in the Magimix). Heat the olive oil in a wide frying pan and toast the pumpkin seeds for a few minutes, until golden and crackling, season with salt and set aside. Finely chop half of the parsley.



Combine the creme fraiche, mustard, horseradish, squeeze of lemon and season. Adjust to taste. Stir most of the dressing into the beetroot, celeriac and parsley. It may not require all of the dressing, but any left over can be eaten on the side. Serve in a wide bowl, sprinkled with the remaining parsley and the pumpkin seeds.

Grill the mackerel, skin side up until heated through - the skin may split. Serve with hunks of bread and butter.

Persian Chicken with Squash, Pomegranate and Watercress

I  had to beg my mother for her Persian chicken recipe, which she gave up grudgingly - and no wonder. The chicken is stuffed with gently spiced basmati rice, which takes on the lemony jus from the chicken and makes a cracking Sunday lunch. Sorry Ma - this is just too good not to share.

Despite the monumental efforts of kale's PR team, I hear that watercress is in fact far more nutritious, and the peppery kick it lends to this sweet roasted squash, flecked with pink pomegranate seeds, is a match made in heaven.

For the chicken

1.8 kg chicken
Juice of 1 lemon
150g basmati rice
Salt and Pepper
150g butter
2 onions, finely chopped
150g raisins
100g walnuts, coursely chopped
1.5 tsp turmeric
1.5 tsp ground cumin


For the squash

1 large butternut squash
1 red onion, sliced into eighths
Olive oil (around 2 tbsps)
Sprig of thyme
Salt and Pepper
1/2 tsp chilli flakes (optional)
1 pomegranate
1 pack watercress


Preheat the oven to 190C. Wipe the chicken inside and out with some kitchen roll. Pour half the lemon juice into the cavity.

Boil the basmati rice in lightly salted water for 5-7 minutes (until it retains some bite) and drain thoroughly.

Melt 110g butter and fry the onion in it over a medium heat, until soft and golden. Stir in the raisins, walnuts, turmeric and cumin, fry for a further minute then stir in the rice and take off the heat. Season.

Stuff the rice mix into the chicken and place in a roasting tin. Put any remaining stuffing into a porcelain dish and set aside. Be sure not to stuff the chicken too much, there must be at least a 2cm gap between the stuffing and the top of the cavity of the chicken to allow the heat to penetrate. Pour the remaining lemon juice over the chicken and sprinkle with salt. Spread the remaining butter over the breast. Roast for around 1.5 hours until cooked through.

Meanwhile, peel and slice the squash into 1.5 cm slices. Coat lightly with the olive oil, and toss with the onion, thyme, salt and pepper and chilli.



Lay out in a baking tray and roast for around 40 minutes, until soft and golden around the edges. At this point, also put the remaining dish of stuffing into the oven. Remove the squash from the oven, leave to cool slightly, then just before serving sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and watercress.



Remove the stuffing from the chicken's cavity and put in a serving bowl. Carve the chicken.





Note:

I doubled the recipe as this makes excellent leftovers.

Any juices from the roasting pan can be made into a delicious gravy, by bubbling it up with some stock, a glass of white wine or port, salt and pepper and tsp redcurrant jelly. Taste for seasoning and serve. 

Gnocchi with Tomatoes

I think its true to say that once you have tried homemade gnocchi, the little Italian potato dumplings, it's difficult to go revert to ready made ones. Surprisingly easy to make, they are particularly delicious alongside roast tomatoes, basil and some shaved parmesan. The key is not to overwork the dough, and keep the quantity of flour when rolling to a minimum.

Credit for the gnocchi recipe goes to Felicity Cloake, whose Guardian column is well worth a read.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1kg Desiree potatoes
Fine salt
350g plain flour
2 small eggs (beaten)

1 packet of cherry tomatoes, still attached to the vine
Olive oil
Handful of basil
Salt and pepper
Parmesan to serve

Preheat the oven to 190C. Wash and dry the potatoes, prick all over with a skewer. Bake for around an hour until cooked through.

Remove from the oven, and when cool, peel off the skin and discard. Scatter 250g of flour and 1/2 tsp salt on a clean counter. Push the potatoes through a potato ricer or through a metal sieve onto the flour. Make a well in the centre and add the eggs. Mix together until it comes together into a soft dough. Add more flour if too sticky.

Clean the work surface, dust with a little more flour and roll it into a rough square about 1.5cm thick. Divide into 1.5cm wide strips and roll into sausage shapes. Cut into 1cm pieces, roll into oval shapes and press into each with a fork, so there are indentations on one side. Put the gnocchi onto a floured tray.

Meanwhile, put the cherry tomatoes into a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil, until they are all coated evenly in a small amount. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast in the oven for around 20-30 mins until they are just collapsing.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, turn down to a simmer and tip in half the gnocchi. Stir and wait for them to rise to the surface, count to 10 and remove with a slotted spoon. Toss in a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Serve with the tomatoes and the juice from the roasting pan. Top with basil and grated parmesan.