Roast pumpkin, pancetta and Gruyère tarts S ..................................
1 Roast pumpkin, pancetta and Gruyère tarts
Makes 4
800 gm small Jap pumpkin, cut into thin wedges Olive oil, for drizzling
200 gm firm ricotta
50 gm Gruyère, finely grated
1 egg
1 tbsp each coarsely chopped thyme and flat-leaf parsley, plus extra to serve
Finely grated rind and juice of 1/ lemon
2
375 gm sheet butter puff pastry (see note) 6 thin slices round mild pancetta
11/ tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
Baby kale leaves, to serve (see note) 1 Preheat oven to 220C. Spread pumpkin on an oven tray lined with baking paper, drizzle with a little oil, season to taste and roast on top rack of oven until tender and browned (15-18 minutes).
2 Meanwhile, stir cheeses, egg, herbs and lemon rind in a bowl to combine, and season to taste.
3 Cut pastry into four, place on a baking tray lined with baking paper, score a 1cm border around each and dock inside the border with a fork. Spread cheese mixture over pastry inside the border and bake until puffed and golden brown (15-18 minutes). Place pancetta on a separate baking tray lined with baking paper and bake until crisp (4-5 minutes), then break into coarse pieces.
4 Meanwhile, combine extra-virgin olive oil, vinegar, mustard, garlic and lemon juice to taste in a jar, shake to combine and season to taste.
5 To serve, top tarts with roast pumpkin, pancetta, baby kale and extra herbs and drizzle with dressing.
Note We prefer to use Carême puff pastry, which comes in 375gm sheets (see stockists p175). If it’s unavailable, substitute another butter puff pastry. Baby kale is available from select supermarkets and greengrocers. If it’s unavailable, use regular kale torn into bite-sized pieces.
2 Mini lamb roast with cracked wheat, carrots and green tahini sauce
Serves 4
50 ml olive oil
2 mini lamb roasts (about 350gm each), at room temperature
200 gm fine burghul
3 carrots, cut into julienne on a mandolin 1 onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lemon, or to taste
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
½ cup each coarsely chopped mint and flat-leaf parsley
Green tahini sauce
150 gm hulled tahini
¼ cup each (firmly packed) mint, coriander and flat-leaf parsley
Juice of 1 lemon
1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped
1 Preheat oven to 220C. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan over high heat, add lamb and brown well all over. Transfer to a roasting pan and roast until cooked to your liking (15-20 minutes for mediumrare). Cover with foil and rest for 10 minutes.
2 Meanwhile, cover burghul in a bowl with boiling water, stand to soften (6-8 minutes), then drain well through a fine sieve and transfer to a clean bowl.
3 Wipe out pan with paper towels, return to heat and add remaining oil, and carrot, onion and garlic and fry until just tender (3-4 minutes). Add to burghul along lemon juice, season generously, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil to taste and toss to combine.
4 For green tahini sauce, process tahini, herbs, lemon juice and garlic in a small food processor until smooth, add 150ml water, season to taste and process to combine.
5 Thickly slice lamb, serve with burghul salad and green tahini sauce and scatter with herbs.
3 Soy pork and ginger meatballs with hoisin greens and rice
We’ve taken a shortcut with these meatballs and roasted them in a very hot oven. Yes, it’s cheating, but it works.
Serves 4
2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing 1 bunch choy sum, coarsely chopped 4 spring onions, trimmed and cut into
5cm lengths, plus extra, thinly sliced, to serve
1 tbsp finely grated ginger
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
125 ml ( 1/ cup) chicken stock (or water)
2
Steamed jasmine rice, to serve
Soy pork and ginger meatballs
600 gm minced pork
30 gm self-raising flour
2½ tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp finely grated ginger 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 small red chilli, finely chopped
1 For the meatballs, preheat oven to 240C. Mix ingredients in a large bowl with your hands to combine, working the mixture so it comes together. Wash your hands, then lightly oil them with vegetable oil and roll pork mixture into walnutsized balls, flatten slightly and place on a baking tray lined with foil. Roast, turning occasionally, until browned and cooked through (6-8 minutes).
2 Meanwhile, heat oil in a wok or frying pan over medium-high heat, add choy sum and spring onion and stir-fry until choy sum is just wilted
(1-2 minutes), add ginger and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant (30 seconds to 1 minute). Stir in hoisin and soy sauces and stock, and warm through. Serve meatballs and greens on steamed rice and top with sliced spring onion.
4 Chicken with buckwheat and mushrooms
Dried and fresh mushrooms each bring something different to this dish – the dried mushrooms add depth of flavour to the pilaf, while fresh mushrooms sautéed in butter and garlic add beautiful earthiness. Use dried porcini or mixed dried field mushrooms – whichever take your fancy.
Serves 4
1½ tbsp olive oil
8 skinless chicken thigh fillets
30 gm butter, diced
200 gm Swiss brown mushrooms, thickly sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Juice of ½ lemon, or to taste>
Buckwheat pilaf
500 ml (2 cups) hot chicken stock
20 gm dried mushrooms
2 tbsp olive oil
½ small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
2 tsp chopped thyme
125 gm buckwheat
Large handful of baby kale (see note p42)
1 For buckwheat pilaf, bring stock and dried mushrooms to a simmer. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat, add onion, garlic, lemon rind and thyme, and sauté until onion is just tender (2-3 minutes). Stir in buckwheat to coat in oil and toast lightly, add stock mixture, season to taste, bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until buckwheat is tender and most of the stock is absorbed (15-18 minutes). Stir in kale to wilt and check seasoning.
2 Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180C. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat, add chicken in batches and brown well all over. Transfer to a roasting pan and roast until cooked through (4-5 minutes). Add butter to pan and when it foams add mushrooms and garlic and sauté until mushrooms are golden brown (1-2 minutes). Add lemon to taste, season and serve on buckwheat pilaf with chicken.
5 Barramundi with braised green beans, dill and mint
Many cooks like cooking green beans until they’re just tender and bright green; here we simmer them in a rich tomato sauce until they’re soft. They lose a bit of colour, but the trade-off is they soak up the beautiful flavour. Serves 4 (pictured p41)
1 tbsp olive oil
4 skinless barramundi fillets (200gm each) 50 ml extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
½ cup each mint and dill, coarsely chopped Finely grated rind of 1 lemon juice of ½, plus wedges to serve
Braised green beans
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 baby fennel bulb, thinly sliced, fronds reserved
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
300 gm green beans, trimmed and thinly sliced 400 gm canned chopped tomatoes
100 ml dry white wine
1/ cup each (firmly packed) dill and
4 flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lemon, or to taste
1 Preheat oven to 220C. For braised beans, heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat, add onion, fennel and garlic and sauté until tender
(4-5 minutes). Stir in beans, then tomato and wine, season to taste and simmer until beans are tender (5-6 minutes). Add herbs and lemon juice and keep warm. 2 Heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat, add fish, fry until well browned (2-3 minutes), then turn and brown other side. Transfer to an oven tray, season to taste and roast until just cooked through (2-3 minutes). Meanwhile, wipe out pan with paper towels, add extra-virgin olive oil and garlic and cook over medium heat until light golden (1 minute). Add herbs and lemon rind, fry until crisp (1-2 minutes), then remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.
3 Top braised green beans with fish, herb and garlic mixture and fennel fronds and serve with lemon wedges.
6 Miso with soba, poached eggs and spring onion
This is a very simple and satisfying soup. If you want to add greens, stir them into the broth to wilt them – we’d opt for morning glory or thinly sliced broccolini. If poaching eggs feels too fiddly, soft-boil them instead. Serves 4
200 gm soba noodles
4 eggs
10 cm piece konbu (see note)
5 gm ( 1/ cup) bonito flakes (see note)
2
120 gm ( 1/ cup) shiro miso (see note)
2
3 spring onions, thinly sliced
Black and white sesame seeds, to serve
1 Cook soba according to packet directions
(4-5 minutes), drain and divide among warm bowls. 2 Poach eggs in batches in a saucepan of simmering water until cooked to your liking (3 minutes for soft yolks). Drain and place an egg in each bowl.
3 Place konbu in a saucepan with 1 litre water, bring to the boil, then remove from heat and stir in bonito. Stand for 5 minutes, then strain through a fine sieve. Whisk 250ml stock with shiro miso in a saucepan to combine, then add remaining stock and warm over low heat without boiling.
Stir in spring onion, ladle into bowls, scatter with sesame seeds and serve hot.
Note Konbu, bonito flakes and shiro miso are all available from Japanese grocers.
7 Char-grilled flank steak with crisp potatoes and salsa verde
Serves 4
500 gm scrubbed sebago potatoes, thinly sliced 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
70 ml olive oil
1 flank steak, about 800gm, at room temperature
Salsa verde
1 cup (firmly packed) flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 tbsp capers in vinegar, drained 4 anchovy fillets
1 tsp Dijon mustard
185 ml ( 3/ cup) olive oil
4
Finely grated rind and juice of ½ lemon, or to taste 1 Preheat oven to 220C. Toss potato, garlic, lemon rind and 50ml oil in a roasting pan to combine, spread out in a thin layer and roast until golden and crisp (15-20 minutes).
2 Meanwhile, heat a char-grill pan to high. Brush steak with remaining oil, season generously to taste and grill, turning once, until browned and cooked to your liking (4-5 minutes each side for medium-rare). Set aside to rest for 10 minutes.
3 While the meat rests, make the salsa verde. Process parsley, capers, anchovies and mustard in a food processor, add oil, lemon rind and juice and process to a fine purée, then season to taste. 4 Slice meat thinly across the grain and serve with crisp potatoes and salsa verde.
8
Warm peanut butter cookie ice-cream sandwiches with burnt honey
There’s no fussing with these cookies – it’s all about the melt-and-mix. They’re best served warm, so you don’t have to wait for them to cool – perfect for a quick wintry dessert. If you can’t be bothered making the burnt honey, just drizzle with honey instead. Serves 4
200 gm honey
60 ml (¼ cup) pouring cream
20 gm butter, diced
Vanilla ice-cream, to serve
Peanut butter cookies
260 gm peanut butter
150 gm brown sugar
3 eggs
75 gm ( 1/ cup) wholemeal flour 2
1 tsp baking powder
30 gm salted peanuts
1 For peanut butter cookies, preheat oven to 180C and line 2 oven trays with baking paper.
Stir peanut butter in a saucepan over medium heat until warm and softened, then stir in sugar.
Tip into a bowl, beat in eggs, then stir in flour, baking powder, peanuts and a pinch of salt. Form into 8 balls, place on prepared trays leaving space between, and flatten to about 5mm thick. Scatter each with a little sea salt and bake, swapping trays halfway through cooking, until firm
(12-15 minutes).
2 Meanwhile, cook honey in a saucepan over medium-high heat until caramelised (4-5 minutes), then stir in cream, butter and a pinch of salt.
3 To serve, sandwich scoops of vanilla ice-cream between warm cookies and drizzle with burnt honey.