This is an absolutely lovely side dish for a summer Sunday lunch and is my decidedly Mediterranean take on the standard roast potato. Here, the potatoes are new and coated in a sumptuous mix of olive oil, tomato paste and fiery smoked paprika. It is inspired by a dish I first came across in La…
Tag: Parsley
Cetara Marinated Plum Tomatoes with Cipolla Rossa di Tropea DOP
Positioned high above the glittering Tyrrhenian Sea along the staggeringly beautiful Amalfi coast, the small fishing village of Cetara is often missed as the hoards head out to the more popular towns of Ravello, Amalfi itself or Positano to the beaches lined with ice cream coloured umbrellas laid out in their perfectly judged rows. They’re all…
Amirim Lemon-scented Labneh with Zhoug
Labneh is a beautiful soft cheese simply made from strained yoghurt that can be eaten with pretty much everything but which is an especially good friend to rich and spicy mezzes. The first time I tasted it I was sat at a little linen-covered table on the edge of a vegetable garden in Amirim, an entirely vegetarian organic…
Cádiz Tortilla de Patatas, a Spanish Omelette
For a time, I lived close to Cádiz in Andalusía, the southernmost point of the country where the Atlantic crashes into the Mediterranean. It’s a beautiful city with a laid-back vibe, brilliant seafood and a maze of curved streets bathed in intensely luminous white sunlight. It’s a place described by the novelist Laurie Lee as “a scribble…
Greek Spelt, Roasted Red Pepper and Chickpea Salad with an Oregano and Lemon Dressing
Picture yourself sitting at a table for six on chairs painted in a faded shade of Aegean blue, its white cotton cloth billowing in the warm breeze, the sea slowly lapping onto the beach just yards from your feet. Women, invariably dressed in black, sit alongside one another on a bench cracking pistachio shells as…
Neapolitan Ragù of Cannellini Beans with Fragrant Rosemary and Amalfi Chillies
One of the most popular flavours of Neapolitan cooking is peperoncino, the local red chillies that you will see threaded along lines of string and hung across the windows of the teeny tiny domestic kitchens of Naples, and all along the Amalfi Coast, in order to dry in the sun. They are used throughout the year to…
Mexican Sweetcorn and Chilli Fritters with a Chipotle and Lime Salsa
The joyful exuberance of Mexican culture has always appealed to me but it was the sound of a hundred beating drums that first drew me to downtown Austin one hot and sultry Sunday morning. It was late October and a time of celebration for the Mexican people who were gathering together to pray for, and remember,…
Spanish Paprika-baked White Beans with a Sourdough and Manchego Cheese Crust
Now that it’s officially spring I am turning to the brighter, more vibrant dishes I prefer. This one is inspired by a visit to a very old tapas bar I stumbled upon amongst the sprawling tobacco fields that surround the architectural wonder that is the grand old city of Granada in the south. The heat…
Santorini Tomato Keftedes with Feta and Wild Oregano
At the beginning of my adult life, I spent a lot of time exploring the Greek Islands. I did pretty much all of them from Paxos and Corfu to the North to Santorini and Rhodes in the South. I was drawn to the azure sea, the oregano-covered mountains, the tiny beaches, the glamorously bearded Greek academics…
Lebanese Slaw with Mint, Oranges and Pomegranate Molasses
This gorgeous autumnal salad is one of those versatile recipes that has it all – sweet and sour flavours, texture and a fresh herby zing. It’s perfect on its own, as part of a mezze table, piled atop a bowl of creamy hummus or served as part of a sabich open sandwich (pictured above) or with a vegetarian Greek souvlaki. Ingredients 2 large carrots, unpeeled…
