SIMPLE PLEASURES
FOOD
Author and cook Julia Busuttil Nishimura shares simple, seasonal recipes to nourish your family from her new cookbook.
“Harissa is incredibly versatile – it can be used simply as a condiment, but also makes a great marinade. It has such a pronounced flavour you don’t need to complicate things and add much else. I’ve used it here as a marinade for pork cutlets paired with a fresh, vibrant salad of peaches, tomato and corn. This is a lovely way to eat during the warmer months.”
POACHED CHICKEN VERMICELLI NOODLE SALAD
Serves 4
2 skinless chicken breast fillets (about 500g in total)
2cm piece of ginger, sliced 100ml saké
200g rice vermicelli noodles
2 small carrots or 1 large, julienned
1 Granny Smith apple, julienned large handful of mint leaves, torn large handful of coriander leaves, torn
60g roasted salted peanuts
2 red shallots, halved and finely sliced
COCONUT GINGER DRESSING
125ml (½ cup) coconut cream
1 tablespoon fish sauce generous pinch of sea salt juice of 2 limes, plus extra if needed
1 teaspoon caster sugar, plus extra if needed
1cm piece of ginger, finely grated
1 bird’s eye chilli, finely sliced
Place the chicken breasts in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Add the ginger and saké and bring to the boil over a high heat. Reduce the heat and gently simmer, covered, for approximately 10 minutes. Allow to cool in the liquid for 15 minutes. Remove the chicken, shred the meat and set aside.
Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions, refresh in cold water, then drain. Combine the carrot, apple, mint, coriander, peanuts, shallot, noodles and shredded chicken in a large bowl.
To make the dressing, whisk all the ingredients together in a small bowl and taste to make sure that it is balanced. It should be nice and bright from the lime with a good amount of saltiness and subtle sweetness – adjust the seasoning if you need to. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well to ensure everything is thoroughly coated. Check again for seasoning and serve.
HARISSA PORK AND A SUMMER SALAD
Serves 4
4 pork cutlets
(about 250g each)
2 tablespoons harissa paste 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil sea salt
PEACH, CORN AND TOMATO SALAD
1 small red onion, finely sliced sea salt
4 yellow peaches (about 500g in total), stones removed, cut into wedges
2 corn cobs, blanched, cooled and kernels removed
200g tomatoes (a mixture of heirloom varieties is nice), roughly chopped large handful of basil leaves, torn large handful of mint leaves, torn
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil juice of 1 lime
Place the pork cutlets in a large, non-reactive dish or bowl and add the harissa paste, olive oil and a good pinch of salt. Using your hands, massage the paste and oil into the pork. Cover and leave to marinate for at least 20 minutes. If you are marinating for longer, pop it in the fridge, but allow the pork to come to room temperature before cooking.
Meanwhile, for the salad, place the red onion and a large pinch of salt in a small bowl. Rub the salt into the onion and allow to sit for 5 minutes. On a large plate, arrange the peach, corn and tomatoes. Scatter over the herbs and the salted red onion. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil and lime juice. Season to taste and drizzle over the salad.
Heat a large frying pan over a medium–high heat or a barbecue grill plate to medium–high and cook the pork cutlets for about 4 minutes on each side until just cooked through. Make sure you do this in a wellventilated area as the harissa, once it hits the heat, will give off very strong chilli fumes. If you are particularly sensitive, I would advise using an outdoor barbecue or roasting the cutlets in a 180°C oven for around 20 minutes until just cooked through. Serve with the salad.
CENCIONI WITH TOMATO, FISH AND MINT
Serves 4
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, sliced 250g cherry tomatoes, halved
300 g skinless fillets of firm white fish, such as snapper, blue eye or coral trout, cut into 3cm pieces
100ml dry white wine sea salt small handful of mint leaves, shredded, plus extra to serve finely grated lemon zest, to serve
CENCIONI
400g semolina flour, plus extra for dusting
180ml warm water fine sea salt
To make the dough for the cencioni, tip the flour onto a clean work surface and mix with a large pinch of salt. Make a well in the centre and slowly pour in the warm water. Use your hands to slowly bring the flour into the water, mixing until you have a rough dough. If the dough feels very dry or diffcult to bring together, sprinkle over a little extra water. Knead for about 10 minutes, until
smooth. It should be soft but not sticky. Add extra semolina flour if necessary. Cover with plastic wrap or an upturned bowl and set aside for at least 30 minutes.
Take a small piece of the dough, keeping the remainder covered while you work, and roll into a rope about 1.5cm wide. Cut the rope into 1.5cm pieces and, using a flat butter knife angled at 45 degrees, drag the piece of dough across your work surface. It should be mostly flat with a little texture. Place the cencioni on a clean tea towel dusted with semolina flour and continue with the remaining dough.
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a low–medium heat and gently fry the garlic and tomatoes until the tomatoes are beginning to blister and release some liquid. Add the fish and cook for a minute, then add the wine and simmer gently for 3–4 minutes until the fish is just cooked through, stirring occasionally – be gentle so you don’t break up the fish. Season with salt to taste.
Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Generously salt the water, add the pasta and cook for 4–5 minutes or until just under al dente. Drain, reserving 250ml (1 cup) of the cooking water. Increase the heat to medium and add the pasta to the sauce, along with some of the cooking water if the sauce is a little dry. Cook for 1–2 minutes until the pasta is well coated, adding more water if necessary. Stir through the mint, then sprinkle with the lemon zest and extra mint and serve. >
“The combination of fish, tomato and mint is a common flavour set in Maltese cooking.”
LEMONY POTATO AND FENNEL SALAD
Serves 6
1kg Dutch Cream or other waxy potatoes
70ml extra-virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons salted capers, rinsed and patted dry 150g plain full-fat yoghurt finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon sea salt handful of mint leaves, roughly chopped handful of parsley leaves, roughly chopped handful of basil leaves, roughly chopped
1 small fennel bulb, finely sliced and fronds roughly chopped
MAYONNAISE
(Makes about 375g/1½ cups) 1 egg
300ml vegetable oil 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon dijon mustard ½ preserved lemon, rinsed, flesh discarded and rind very finely chopped (optional) sea salt
Boil the potatoes in generously salted water for 15–20 minutes, depending on size, until very tender. Drain and cool, then cut into 3cm pieces. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a small frying pan over a medium heat and fry the capers for about 2 minutes until crispy. Allow to cool.
To make the mayonnaise, place the egg in a food processor. With the motor running, add the oil in a thin stream until the mixture is pale and thick. Add the vinegar, mustard and preserved lemon (if using) and continue to process until combined. Season to taste. The mayonnaise can be made ahead of time. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 2–3 days.
Place 160g (⅔ cup) of the mayonnaise in a bowl (reserve the remaining mayonnaise for another use). Add the yoghurt, lemon zest and juice and the remaining 2½ tablespoons of olive oil, whisk together and season to taste.
Combine the potatoes in a large bowl with the herbs, fennel and most of the capers. Pour the dressing over the top and mix well to combine. Scatter over the remaining crispy capers and serve.
PEACH, RASPBERRY AND ALMOND CAKE
Serves 8
150g unsalted butter, softened
250g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract finely grated zest of 1 orange 155g (1½ cups) ground almonds
100g (⅔cup) self-raising flour, sifted
125g (1 cup) fresh or thawed frozen raspberries
50g almonds, roughly chopped POACHED PEACHES
3 white or yellow peaches (about 500g in total) 3 tablespoons caster sugar 1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 21cm round loose-bottomed or springform cake tin with butter and line with baking paper.
To poach the peaches, using a small sharp knife, make a small cross in the base of each peach. Place the sugar and vanilla in a large saucepan with 1 litre of water. Bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Carefully add the peaches and poach gently for 3–5 minutes until the skin looks like it will slip off easily. The purpose of the poaching is to remove the skin, not to cook the peaches, so just keep an eye on them and be conservative with timings so as not to cook them too much – ripe peaches especially may need less time. Remove the peaches with a slotted spoon and allow to cool. Remove the skin and discard. You can keep the poaching liquid for another use. Cut the peaches in half, removing the stone, then slice into 1.5cm wedges. Set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar together, either using a wooden spoon or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Stir in the vanilla, orange zest and ground almonds, then gently fold in the flour, mixing until just incorporated and smooth.
Pour the batter into the prepared tin. Gently press the raspberries and peach slices into the cake batter, then scatter the almonds around the edge. Bake for 40–45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the centre. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.