The Wholefood Pantry
Page 3
A few handfuls of baby carrots
Ghee or olive oil
1 quantity of gremolata
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas mark 4.
Leave about 2cm of the stalks on the baby carrots. Give them a good scrub but there’s no need to peel. Spread them out on a baking tray and sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons of ghee or olive oil.
Roast for about 35 minutes, or until tender and cooked.
Remove from the oven, transfer the carrots to a serving platter, season with salt and pepper, sprinkle over the gremolata and serve.
Roasted beets with green oil.
SERVES 5–6 AS A SIDE
Roasting beets really brings out their deep, sweet earthiness. The green oil drizzled over the top is simply divine and cuts the sweetness of the beets with a grassy freshness. You could serve these just as they are as a side dish or make them the hero of a salad. I love these beets with a soft-boiled egg, peeled and halved, with a few watercress leaves. Quail eggs would also be delicious.
5 medium beets
1 x soft green herb oil
A handful of toasted pumpkin seeds
A handful of rocket
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas mark 4.
Wash the beets, trim off the stalks without cutting into the beets, then wrap them in foil. Place them in a roasting dish and pop into the oven for about 1 hour. To test if they are fully cooked, poke a sharp knife into the centre of a beet; it should feel tender right the way through.
Unwrap the beets, being careful of the hot steam that will escape. Allow them to cool a little, then carefully peel the skin off the beets – it should slip off quite easily.
Cut the peeled beets into wedges and scatter onto a serving platter. Generously spoon over the green oil, give a sprinkle of salt and a few twists of pepper. Sprinkle over the pumpkin seeds and rocket and serve.
Courgette noodles and ribbons.
SERVES 2
When I discovered how easy it was to create gluten-free vegetable noodles and ribbons from courgettes, it was a revelation. You can add these noodles to soups, use them as a base for bolognese, or my favourite tomato sauce for a quick tomato pasta. You can also turn them into a salad by adding fresh tomatoes, pine nuts, torn basil, shaved Parmesan and a drizzle of oil – really the possibilities are endless and they are all tasty, not to mention nutrient dense and incredibly good for you.
My son’s favourite way of eating ‘courgetti’ is just as they are in this recipe, topped with garlicky Mediterranean prawns, a squeeze of lemon and plenty of chopped parsley. You will need a good spiraliser to make these noodles, though, it’s essential. For the ribbons you can use a sharp peeler, preferably a swivel-headed one, unless you have a spiraliser with a shaving attachment. The ribbons are great lightly warmed in a frying pan and then topped with a fried egg and anything else you might fancy for a cooked breakfast, perhaps some garlic mushrooms or roast cherry tomatoes.
I find courgette noodles a bit plain served completely bare, so here I jazz them up a bit to create a more delicious base for your toppings.
2 courgettes, topped and tailed (i allow 1–2 medium courgettes per person)
A drizzle of olive oil
A squeeze of lemon
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
A pinch of dried chilli flakes (optional)
A scattering of chive flowers, if you have them (optional)
To make noodles, spiralise the courgettes according to your machine’s instructions. Place the noodles into a mixing bowl, drizzle them with olive oil, squeeze over some lemon juice and add a good pinch of sea salt and a few twists of black pepper. For a bit of extra kick, add a pinch of chilli flakes.
Give the noodles a good toss and now top them with whatever you fancy… meatballs, ragù, garlic prawns, oven-roasted cherry tomatoes, pesto, roast veg and Parmesan – the choice is yours.
To make ribbons, use a good-quality sharp peeler and, using quite a light touch, shave the courgettes lengthways from top to bottom. When you are half way through the courgette you can turn it and start from the side. This will give you thinner ribbons but that’s okay, it looks pretty. Put the ribbons in a bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients. They are now ready to top with whatever you fancy.
Pumpkin stuffed with kale pesto and mozzarella.
SERVES 6–8
This is comfort food at its best! I have my dear friend Tania to thank for it. She lived for ten years in Venezuela, where it’s a staple dish. It’s a genius way of serving pumpkin and kids will love it! I’m a huge fan of pumpkin – I crave its comforting golden nutty flesh when the leaves start to fall from the trees and the evenings are cooler. My mum grew all sorts of varieties of squash and I loved them from a young age. The nutty, drier-fleshed ones were my favourite as they were the perfect vehicle for lashings of homemade butter and salt. For this recipe, try to find pumpkins that don’t have a very moist flesh when cooked as the pesto and mozzarella will supply more than an ample amount of cheesy, tasty and moist deliciousness. Also, I recommend you use best-quality buffalo mozzarella. I find that cow’s mozzarella, although cheaper, releases a lot of liquid during cooking, which is not a good thing for this recipe as it makes the pumpkin flesh watery. If this does happen, drain off the liquid and carry on cooking – it will still be delicious.
2 small round pumpkins (about 400g each)
1 quantity of Kale and Cashew Pesto
2 mozzarella balls, preferably buffalo
Give the pumpkins a good wash, scrubbing off any dirt. Now carefully cut a round into the top of each pumpkin so that you can then lift it off like a lid. It’s best if you can cut the round on a bit of an angle so that as the pumpkin cooks and shrinks slightly the lid has a lip to sit on, which will prevent it falling into the centre. Reserve the lids and scoop out and discard all the seeds from the interior with a spoon.
Place the pumpkins on a baking tray and spoon 4 tablespoons of pesto into each cavity, then pop a mozzarella ball into each one and replace the lids. Put the tray into the hot oven and bake for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and take off the lids, then pop the tray back into the oven and continue cooking for another 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Remove from the oven, replace the lids again and serve immediately, whole or cut into wedges.
Depending on the size and variety of your pumpkins, cooking times can vary considerably, so just test for doneness using a sharp knife. If the flesh is tender right the way through and the cheese has melted, then the pumpkins are ready to go.
Oven chips with rosemary and garlic.
SERVES 4–6 AS A SIDE
Sometimes all you need in life is a plate of chips. My mum used to cook great chips, made with beautiful potatoes from her garden, sprinkled with rosemary from the herb patch and a generous sprinkle of sea salt: heaven!
We didn’t have tomato sauce in our house when I was growing up. Instead we had my mum’s delicious homemade plum ketchup. There’s also my recipe for homemade probiotic ketchup. Because it’s fermented it contains probiotics, the friendly yeasts and bacteria that our gut needs to stay healthy, which in turn boosts our immunity.
5 tablespoons ghee
2 large sweet potatoes, unpeeled and scrubbed
1 large potato, unpeeled and scrubbed
¼ medium-sized celeriac, peeled
2 sprigs of rosemary
1 bulb of garlic, separated into cloves but skins left on
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
TO SERVE
Any or all of the following:
Probiotic ketchup
Plum ketchup
Homemade aioli, sriracha or saffron mayo, or any mayo that takes your fancy (see here)
Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan 170°C/gas mark 5.
Put 4 tablespoons of the ghee into a large roasting tin with shallow sides an
d place it into the oven to heat.
Cut the sweet potatoes, potato and celeriac into long chip-size pieces. Place the chips in a bowl and toss them in the remaining tablespoon of ghee, then lay them in the preheated roasting tin – be careful as the ghee will be hot. Sprinkle over the rosemary and garlic cloves. Make sure the chips are in a single layer or they won’t crisp up.
Return the hot tin to the oven and roast for 40–50 minutes, turning the chips over half way through.
When the chips are golden and just starting to catch at the edges, remove them from the oven and enjoy with the probiotic tomato ketchup just as they are or served with the rest of your meal.
Try using one of the flavoured salts for a different flavour boost.
Roasted red onions to go with anything.
SERVES 4–6 AS A SIDE
These beautiful rings of deep purple deliciousness lend a superb depth of flavour and colour to many dishes. They are both sharp and sweet at the same time and are insanely good tossed into salads, served with roast meats, added to sandwiches or as a topping for vegetarian mains. They are a great thing to have up your sleeve, to bring a bit of excitement to a dish that needs enlivening.
8–10 medium red onions, peeled
130ml maple syrup
220ml balsamic vinegar
70ml ghee or olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas mark 4.
Cut the onions into slices about 3mm thick. Spread them out in a single layer on a large baking tray. Drizzle first with the maple syrup and balsamic vinegar, then the ghee or olive oil. Roast for 30 minutes, turning them halfway through. When they are done they should look deep purple and glistening; give them a few more minutes if they are not yet yielding and starting to caramelise.
Serve warm or cold. Best eaten the day they are cooked.
Slow-roasted tomatoes.
SERVES 4
These bright red little parcels of joy lend both flavour and colour to many dishes. They are softer and less chewy than sun-dried tomatoes, which I am not much of a fan of. Roasting really intensifies the flavour of these beauties – they work really well with fish, red meat and salads. They also go beautifully with cheeses, especially goat’s cheeses and ricotta. Warm from the oven, they are incredible with soft scrambled eggs and plenty of chopped chives. I like to make a big batch and keep any that are left over under olive oil in the fridge for adding to a cheese board or sandwich (they will last for about a week under oil).
20–30 baby plum tomatoes (about 300g)
15g coconut sugar
A pinch of chilli flakes
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
½ teaspoon thyme leaves
A squeeze of lemon juice
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 110°C/fan 90°C/gas mark ¼ and line a baking tray with baking parchment.
Halve the tomatoes lengthways and lay them in a single layer, cut-side up, on the prepared baking tray. Mix together the rest of the ingredients, except the lemon juice, with a good hearty pinch of salt and about ten twists of the pepper grinder. Sprinkle the mixture over the cut tomatoes, squeeze over the lemon juice and pop them in the oven and leave undisturbed for 3–4 hours. They should shrivel to some degree and yet remain moist. Remove from the oven and set aside until ready to use.
These delicious and intensely flavoured tomatoes will keep in the fridge for 4–5 days.
Sweet potato hasselbacks.
SERVES 4
These are crispy roasties prepared Swedish style, but here I’m using sweet potatoes (in New Zealand we call them kumara) instead of ordinary potatoes. I have served them with an avocado salad and shavings of Parmesan, but I have been known to top them with meatballs in tomato sauce – even beans and cheese. They are good any which way you serve them.
4 medium sweet potatoes, washed
4 small knobs of butter (30–50g each), softened
Olive oil
Leaves from 4 thyme sprigs
½ teaspoon sumac
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas mark 4.
Place the sweet potatoes lengthways on a chopping board. Starting at one end and using a sharp knife, carefully cut about three-quarters of the way through the width – be careful not to go too far or you will cut off slices. Repeat, making the cuts quite close together, keeping the potatoes intact at the base, all along the length of the potatoes.
Lay the potatoes in an ovenproof dish just big enough to fit them all in a single layer. Rub the butter over the tops, carefully pushing it down the slits. Drizzle over a generous amount of olive oil, sprinkle over the thyme leaves and sumac, and season.
Transfer to the oven and bake on the middle rack for about 40 minutes, or until the potatoes are just catching at the edges and soft all the way through.
Serve piping hot with your favourite sides or toppings.
For a flavour bomb, try sprinkling one of my Spice Mixes (see here) in place of the sumac and thyme.
Mushrooms with a hazelnut, thyme and pecorino crumble.
SERVES 4–6 AS A SIDE
Pure comfort for those colder autumn days, this dish can be a vegetarian main or it could be served alongside a roast chicken and green salad. The crumble topping adds a pleasing crunch.
100g hazelnuts
120g unsalted butter
200g portobello mushrooms, cleaned and cut into thick strips
200g chanterelles, cleaned
A small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and roughly chopped
A small bunch of fresh thyme, leaves only
½ lemon
50g pecorino, finely grated
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas mark 4.
Spread out the hazelnuts on a baking tray and roast for about 8 minutes, or until they are lovely and golden. Take out of the oven and rub them in a clean tea towel to remove most of the skins. Divide the nuts into two equal portions, finely grind half in a food processor and roughly chop the other half. Set aside.
Set a large frying pan over quite a high heat and add half the butter to the pan. When the butter is sizzling, add the mushrooms, give them a quick toss and allow them to sizzle without stirring too much (stirring them releases too much liquid and they will become soggy). After 2 minutes, turn them over to cook on the other side. When they are tender and nearly cooked, add the parsley, 1 teaspoon of thyme leaves and a good squeeze of lemon juice. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper and give one last stir. Scoop the mushrooms into a roasting dish that holds them snugly, without too much room. They can be piled up a little.
Preheat the grill to medium. Mix the remaining butter with the finely ground nuts, add 1 teaspoon of thyme leaves, salt and pepper, then mix in the roughly chopped nuts and lastly the cheese. Sprinkle the crumble mix over the mushrooms and place under the grill for 2–3 minutes, or until nicely browned. Serve while hot.
My favourite 3-root smash with roasted garlic and chives.
SERVES 4
This smash is moreish, creamy, delicious, colourful and has a great chunky texture, perfect for topping with all manner of things. I top it with everything from roast meat and sausages through to garlicky greens with a crispy fried egg. It’s totally comforting and a great winter warmer, wholesome and filling.
1 bulb of garlic, kept whole
2 tablespoons ghee
4–5 large carrots, peeled and cut into 3cm chunks
⅓ swede, peeled and cut into 3cm chunks
½ celeriac, peeled and cut into 3cm chunks
100g unsalted butter
A small bunch of chives, roughly chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas mark 6.
Cut the garlic bulb in half horizontally, place it on a large sheet of foil, drizzle with the ghee
and season with salt and black pepper. Wrap the foil around the garlic and place on a baking sheet in the oven for 40 minutes until golden and soft.
Place the carrots, swede and celeriac in a large pan of lightly salted water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 20 minutes until soft, then drain and allow to cool in the colander for 5 minutes.
Return the carrots, swede and celeriac to a clean saucepan. Squeeze in half the roasted garlic (discarding the papery skins, and keeping the other half for another recipe), and add the butter. Using either a fork or a masher, mash the root veg until you have a rough, chunky consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Spoon the mash into a serving bowl, scatter over the chives and serve while piping hot.
Whole roasted spiced cauliflower.
SERVES 4
This is a stunning and delicious vegetarian main dish. You can keep it simple or you can spice it up and really go to town for a decadent festive treat. It’s perfect for a Sunday roast and beautiful enough for a vegetarian Christmas main.
FOR THE MARINADE
1 lemon, juice only for the marinade (zest added later in the cooking)
A few sprigs of thyme, leaves only
2–3 tablespoons olive oil or ghee
1 teaspoon honey
4–5 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon sumac
A few twists of freshly ground black pepper
A generous pinch of sea salt
FOR THE CAULIFLOWER
1 large cauliflower
4 tablespoons dry Marsala
400g cherry tomatoes
A few whole sprigs of thyme
40g flaked almonds, lightly toasted
20g pumpkin seeds, lightly toasted
½ bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves torn
Extra virgin olive oil
Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas mark 4.
Blitz all the ingredients for the marinade in a food processor, just enough until they come together in a rough, chunky paste – you don’t want it totally smooth.