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Posts Tagged ‘Ottolenghi Simple’

Roast Chicken with Caraway & Cranberry Stuffing

Posted in Chicken, Food, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 13 March 2022| 1 Comment »

Some Sunday lunch inspiration and a particularly delicious stuffing. Bring the chicken up to room temperature before putting into the oven.

Wine Suggestions: This demands a nutty, toasty Chardonnay like a good Burgundy. With these, however, becoming harder and more expensive to find there are many superb alternatives from around the world and it was to the US we turned and opened an Au Bon Climat Santa Barbara Chardonnay from the late, great Jim Clendenen. Mouth filling and creamy with a flinty core and vibrant citrus finish.

Roast chicken with caraway and cranberry stuffing – serves 4

  • 70g unsalted butter
  • 5 tsp caraway seeds, toasted and lightly crushed
  • 7 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 1 tbsp soft dark brown sugar
  • 1 whole chicken (about 1.4kg)
  • 3-4 large celery sticks, cut into 1cm dice
  • 1 onion, cut into 1cm dice
  • 100g dried cranberries
  • 100g ready-cooked chestnuts, roughly chopped
  • 4-5 slices of mixed rye and wheat sourdough, crusts removed, lightly toasted, then roughly torn into 2cm pieces
  • 15g parsley, roughly chopped
  • 120ml chicken stock

Make the marinade for the chicken first by melting 30g of the butter and stirring in 1 tbsp of the caraway seeds, 2 cloves of garlic, the sugar and ½ tsp of salt. Set the chicken into a large dish, rub the marinade all over and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 190C fan.

Next make the stuffing. Put the rest of the butter (40g) into a large non-stick pan over a medium-hight heat. Add the remaining 2 tbsp of caraway seeds and fry for a couple of minutes until aromatic. Add the remaining 5 cloves of garlic, the celery, onion, cranberries, chestnuts and 1 tsp of salt. Fry for 12-13 minutes, stirring, until golden and softened. Tip into a bowl and stir in the bread, parsley and stock.

Set the chicken into a small roasting tray. Season generously with salt and pepper and fill the cavity with the stuffing. You will probably have too much stuffing and you can heat the rest for 30 minutes in an ovenproof dish before the chicken is ready.

Roast the chicken for 70-75 minutes, basting every 20 minutes, until the skin is golden-brown and crispy adn the juices run clear. Rest for 10 minutes before serving.

(Original recipe from Ottolenghi Simple by Yotom Ottolenghi with Tara Wigley & Esme Howarth, Ebury Press, 2018.)

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Conchiglie with Chickpeas and Za’atar

Posted in Food, Pasta, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 16 January 2022| Leave a Comment »

A simple pasta dish with fantastic flavours. It looks veggie but actually contains anchovies and chicken stock. If you’re not bothered by those it’s a definite winner!

Conchiglie with chickpeas and za’atar – serves 4

  • 3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve
  • a small onion, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 10g thyme leaves, finely chopped
  • 25g anchovy fillets in oil, drained and chopped
  • 1 lemon, finely shave off a piece of the skin of half, then squeeze to get 2 tbsp of juice
  • 2 x 400g tins chickpeas, drained
  • 1 tsp soft brown sugar
  • 400ml chicken stock
  • 200g conchiglie pasta (or gigli or orecchiette)
  • 50g baby spinach
  • 15g parsley, roughly chopped
  • 1 ½ tsp za’atar

Heat the oil in a large sauté pan until hot, then add the onion, garlic, cumin, thyme, anchovies, lemon skin, ½ tsp of salt and plenty of black pepper. Fry for 3-4 minutes, stirring, until soft and golden.

Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the chickpeas and sugar. Fry for 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until the chickpeas start to brown and turn crispy. Add the chicken stock and lemon juice and simmer for 6 minutes, or until the sauce has slightly reduced. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Bring a large pan of salty water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the timings on the pack, then drain.

Stir the spinach and parsley into the chickpeas, if it doesn’t wilt you can warm the chickpeas through again gently. Add the pasta to the pan of chickpeas and stir to combine. Divide between bowls, then sprinkle with the za’atar and drizzle with olive oil.

(Original recipe from Ottolenghi Simple by Yotam Ottolenghi with Tara Wigley and Esme Howarth, Ebury Press, 2018.)

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Harissa Chickpeas with Flaked Cod

Posted in Fish, Food, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 16 February 2021| Leave a Comment »

This is really a dish for sharing but we ate the lot with some crusty bread. Fabulous and intense flavours of lemon and harissa.

Wine Suggestion: Given this dish has a lot of strong, savoury flavours, including heat from the harissa and sour from the lemon, we had to choose Grüner Veltliner. Tonight’s choice is by Höpler from Burgenland in Austria and it was a pure and elegant wine with an appetising freshness and zesty finish. This stood it’s own ground against the big flavours in the food, was nice as an apertif and a wonderful palate cleanser after we’d finished; versatile indeed.

Harissa chickpeas with flaked cod – serves 4 as a starter

  • 200g skinless cod, remove the bones and cut into 3cm pieces
  • olive oil
  • 1/3 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 cloves of garlic, one crushed and one finely sliced
  • ½ an onion, finely sliced
  • 2 cardamom pods, bashed
  • 1 tbsp harissa, rose harissa if you can get it
  • 2 tsp tomato purée
  • 1½ small preserved lemons, skin finely chopped (discard the flesh)
  • 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 200ml vegetable stock
  • 5g coriander, roughly chopped

Put the cod into a bowl with 1½ tsp of olive oil, the cumin, crushed garlic and a pinch of salt. Mix gently, then set aside for 15 minutes.

Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large sauté pan, then add the onion and fry for 4-5 minutes, until soft and golden-brown. Add the sliced garlic and cook for another minute over a gentle heat. Add the cardamom, harissa, tomato purée, preserved lemon, chickpeas and ¼ tsp of salt. Stir for a minute, then add the stock and heat for a few minutes, crushing some of the chickpeas with the back of a spoon to thicken the sauce.

Add the fish and gently stir, then cook for 3-4 minutes, turning half-way through, until cooked and easy to flake. Discard the cardamom pods, sprinkle with the coriander and serve.

(Original recipe from Ottolenghi Simple by Yotam Ottolenghi, Tara Wigley & Esme Howarth, Ebury Press, 2018.)

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Curried Lentil, Tomato & Coconut Soup

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Soup, Vegan, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 18 January 2021| Leave a Comment »

This soup uses all store cupboard ingredients. You do need fresh coriander but we regularly have an almost full bag of this in the fridge and are happy to have this soup idea to use it up. We make soup almost every week in the winter months and this is definitely one of our favourites. The recipe is from Ottolenghi Simple where they suggest leaving it rough, which we did, but you can blend until smooth if you prefer.

Curried lentil, tomato & coconut soup – serves 4

  • 2 tbsp coconut oil or sunflower oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp medium curry powder
  • ¼ tsp chilli flakes
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 4 cm piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
  • 150g red lentils, rinsed and drained
  • 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
  • 25g coriander stalks, roughly chopped, plus 5g picked leaves to garnish
  • 1 x 400ml tin of coconut milk

Put the oil into a large saucepan and put over a medium-high heat. Add the onion and fry for 8 minutes, stirring often, until soft and caramelised.

Add the curry powder, chilli flakes, garlic and ginger and keep frying for another 2 minutes, stirring all the time.

Add the lentils, stir through for a minute, then add the tomatoes, coriander stalks, 600ml of water, 1 tsp of salt and a lots of black pepper.

Pour the coconut milk into a large bowl and whisk gently until smooth. Set aside 4 tbsp to garnish the bowls, then add the coconut milk to the soup. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer gently for 25 minutes, until the lentils are soft abut still holding their shape. Add a bit more water – 100-150ml – if the soup is too thick.

Divide the soup between warm bowls and garnish with a drizzle of coconut milk and some coriander leaves.

(Original recipe from Ottolenghi Simple by Yotam Ottolenghi, Tara Wigley and Esme Howarth, Ebury Press, 2018.)

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Couscous, Cherry Tomato & Herb Salad

Posted in Food, Side dish, Vegan, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 22 May 2020| 2 Comments »

Couscous, Cherry Tomato & Herb Salad

We made this couscous salad from Ottolenghi Simple for the first time this week and couldn’t recommend it highly enough. Serve it at all your summer barbecues (provided local restrictions allow) and expect very happy guests.

Couscous, cherry tomato and herb salad – serves 4

  • 250g couscous
  • 6 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp ras el hanout
  • 300g cherry tomatoes
  • 2 onions, sliced into thin rings
  • 30g golden raisins or sultanas
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and lightly crushed
  • 50g roasted and salted almonds, roughly chopped
  • 15g coriander leaves, roughly chopped
  • 15g mint leaves, roughly chopped
  • 1 lemon, finely grate to get 1 tsp of zest and squeeze to get 1 tbsp of juice

Put the couscous into a medium-sized bowl. Drizzle over 2 tbsp of oil, sprinkle with 1 tsp of the ras el hanout, ¾ tsp of salt and plenty of black pepper. Pour over 400ml boiling water, then seal well with tin foil and set aside for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and fluff the couscous with a fork, then set aside to cool.

Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. Add the tomatoes and fry for 3 to 4 minutes or until they start to brown and split. Remove the tomatoes from the pan and sprinkle them with salt.

Add the remaining 3 tbsp of oil to the same pan. Add the onions, the other tsp of ras el hanout and an a pinch of salt. Fry over a medium-high heat for 10 to 12 minutes or until dark golden-brown and soft. Remove from the heat, stir in the raisins and leave to cool.

When the couscous has cooked a bit, transfer it to a large bowl. Add the onions and raisin mixture and stir, then add the cumin seeds, almonds, herbs, lemon zest & juice, ¼ tsp of salt and plenty of black pepper. Mix gently to combine.

Serve on a platter with the tomatoes on the top.

(Original recipe from Ottolenghi Simple by Yotam Ottolenghi with Tara Wigley and Esme Howarth, Ebury Press, 2018.)

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New Potatoes with Peas & Coriander

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Side dish, Vegan, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 23 April 2019| Leave a Comment »

New potatoes with peas and corianderWe’ve just had a sunny Easter weekend, so we cooked lots of Spring side dishes from Ottolenghi Simple. These potatoes are lovely and fresh and tasted good with some barbecued lamb gigot chops. We’re binge eating Jersey Royals while we can get them.

New potatoes with peas & coriander – serves 4

  • 300g fresh or frozen peas
  • 2 green chillies, finely chopped
  • 1 small preserved lemon, pips discarded
  • 15g coriander, roughly chopped, plus an extra 5g leaves to garnish
  • 60ml olive oil
  • 1 small lemon, finely grate the zest, then juice to give 1 tsp
  • 750g new potatoes, halved if large

Blanch the peas in a saucepan of boiling water for 1 minute, then drain and set a third of them aside.

Put the remaining peas in a food processor with the chillies, preserved lemon, coriander, olive oil, lemon zest, ½ tsp of salt and plenty of pepper. Blitz to a rough paste and set aside.

Cook the potatoes in a large pan of boiling salty water for about 15 minutes or until soft. Drain and steam dry in the warm pot.

Roughly crush the potatoes, leaving about a third of them whole. Add the reserved peas, the pea mixture, the lemon juice and the coriander leaves. Gently stir and serve warm (though we found the leftovers were quite nice cold the following day).

(Original recipe from Ottolgenghi Simple by Yotam Ottolenghi with Tara Wigley & Esme Howarth, Ebury Press, 2018.)

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Mustardy Cauliflower Cheese

Posted in Food, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , on 19 December 2018| 4 Comments »

Mustardy Cauliflower Cheese

We love cauliflower cheese and are rarely tempted to tamper with the traditional dish of steamed cauliflower smothered in cheesy béchamel sauce and well-browned under the grill. We suspected we might be safe however in the hands of Yotam Ottolenghi. This version is spicy and has loads of flavours going on. We thought it would be great with roast chicken or lamb or something off the barbecue.

Yotam helpfully suggests that you can make this up to the point of baking and keep in the fridge for up to a day.

Mustardy Cauliflower Chicken – serves 4

  • 1 large cauliflower, broken into roughly 4cm florets
  • 30g unsalted butter
  • 1 small onion, finely diced
  • 1½ tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp medium curry powder
  • 1 tsp mustard powder
  • 2 green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
  • ¾ tsp black mustard seeds
  • 200ml double cream
  • 120g mature Cheddar, coarsely grated
  • 15g fresh white breadcrumbs
  • 5g parsley, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 180C fan.

Steam the cauliflower for about 5 minutes or until starting to soften. Remove and set aside to cool a bit.

Put the butter into a 24cm round casserole dish and put over a medium heat. Sauté the onion for about 8 minutes or until golden. Add the cumin seeds, curry powder, mustard powder and chillies and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the mustard seeds, cook for another minute, then pour in the cream. Add 100g of the Cheddar and ½ tsp of salt, then simmer for 2-3 minutes to thicken. Add the cauliflower, stir gently, and simmer for another minute before removing from the heat.

Mix the rest of the Cheddar with the breadcrumbs and parsley, then sprinkle over the cauliflower. Wipe the inside of the pan clean to stop the cream from burning and place in the oven. Bake for about 8 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling and the cauliflower is hot. Turn the grill to high and grill to brown the top for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cook for 5 minutes before serving.

(Original recipe from Ottolenghi Simple by Yotam Ottolenghi with Tara Wigley & Esme Howarth, Ebury Press, 2018.)

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Cucumber & Lamb’s Lettuce Salad

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Side dish, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 30 October 2018| 4 Comments »

Cucumber & lamb's lettuce salad

We’ve been eyeing up lots of recipes in Ottolenghi Simple and so far have only made a green salad. As green salads go however it was  pretty good with a great fresh flavour from the herbs and cucumber and an unusual dressing. We served this with some spiced baked salmon but it would be great with loads of dishes.

Cucumber & lamb’s lettuce salad – serves 4

  • 5 baby cucumbers (or 1½ regular cucumbers with the seeds removed)
  • 30g lamb’s lettuce
  • 10g picked mint leaves
  • 10g picked coriander leaves
  • 1 tsp nigella seeds

FOR THE DRESSING

  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 small garlic clove, crushed
  • 2cm piece of ginger, finely grated
  • 20g plain yoghurt
  • third tsp flaked sea salt

Make the salad dressing by whisking all of the ingredients together in a small bowl.

Cut the cucumbers into quarters, lengthways. Cut each quarter diagonally into ½ cm slices and put into a large bowl with the lettuce, mint and coriander. Gently mix in the dressing and spread into over a large shallow bowl. Sprinkle with the nigella seeds and serve.

(Original recipe from Ottolenghi Simple by Yotam Ottolenghi, Ebury Press, 2018.)

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