As you might imagine, with a little restaurant to open next month, our evening suppers need to be fast but not at the cost of nutrition. This über simple dish of white beans and spinach gently sautéed together with a quick basil and pistachio pesto and garnished with toasted pumpkin seeds and pomegranate arils delivers everything I need it to….
Category: Herbs
Turkish-style Baked Eggs with Biber Salçası
Here’s a very quick one for you. I’m dashing about all over the place right now so, for supper last night, I threw together these Turkish-style eggs. It’s another perfect dish for these cooler autumnal evenings or brunch. Ingredients 1 tsp cumin seeds A splash of extra-virgin olive oil 450g jar of roasted red peppers, drained…
Greek Melitzanosalata, Roasted Aubergine Dip
As many of you already know, my very favourite way to eat is to place several dishes across the table alongside a pile of bread and last night was no exception. We enjoyed a couple of left over stuffed peppers from last week’s gallery menu – I don’t throw anything away, I merely repurpose it; luscious Santorini tomato keftedes…
Lucca Rigatoni with Roasted Tomatoes and Salsa Verde
This recipe is inspired by an al fresco dinner we recently enjoyed in the beautiful city of Lucca in Tuscany. We were sitting on the outside of the infamous Piazza Anfiteatro when I noticed a long snake of very young children each holding tiny posies of flowers with their very handsome teacher who was nervously whispering instructions to them….
Turkish Smashed Cucumber Salad with Late Summer Berries and Herbs
Just behind our home there is a wild country path that connects the river Ouse to the historic centre of York. Hardly anyone knows about it so nature rules and has created a paradise for city foragers. Right now, we have flowering baby nettles – the old ones were cut down after the heatwave and…
Sicilian Pea and Ricotta Salata Bruschetta
The word ‘ricotta’ means re-cooked and ‘salata’ means salted. Ricotta Salata is a Sicilian cheese made from the whey part of sheep milk which is pressed, salted and aged for at least 90 days. It is milky white in colour with firm texture and a refreshingly salty taste (similar to Cheshire cheese). It’s great for slicing, crumbling and…
Paulo’s Creamy Cannellini Bean Dip with Parsley and Sicilian Lemon
‘Shopping at the Dandelion Co-op made me feel European. Very Audrey Hepburn as Sabrina in Paris. River picked out goat cheese to spread on crispy-crusted French bread for the picnic, and olives, and a jar of roasted red peppers, and a bar of seventy percent dark chocolate, and a bottle of sparkling water. He bought…
Amirim Kasundi, a Spicy Tomato Chutney
This is my take on a traditional Bengali condiment known as ‘kasundi’ which I first tasted in a tiny vegetarian village in Israel called Amirim, a special place in the world quietly positioned in the mountains high above the wondrous Sea of Galilee. Here, one can vanish from the pressures of daily western life (leave…
Provençal Tomato Soup with Fennel and Vermouth
At last May is here, it’s my favourite time of the year. All the promises of summer – new opportunities, travel and the chance to spend quality time with far-flung friends – are tantalisingly close yet still delicious in their anticipation. Meanwhile, nature is popping up all over the place bringing new life and hope…
Sóllar Lemon and Saffron-infused Roast Potatoes with Olivas Negras Sea Salt
We’ve just returned from a brief visit to the beautiful island of Mallorca where the sun was shining and the air was heavy with the scent of orange and lemon blossom, heady wisteria and clouds of tumbling white jasmine. It made my heart sing to be back in the Mediterranean where I had the chance…
Cardamom and Dill 