Obviously, I couldn’t have a chapter in this book without a puff pastry tart or three. This variation is inspired by an absolutely stunning dish in my pal Richard Burr’s cookbook BIY, which I still remember wolfing down in about three minutes. Try either if you’ve got friends staying over at the weekend. The spring onions help cut the richness of the bacon and eggs.
Serves: 4
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 25–30 minutes
1 × 320g ready-rolled puff pastry sheet
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
95g thinly sliced pancetta or streaky bacon
200g asparagus spears
5 spring onions, finely sliced
4 free-range eggs
Freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/gas 6. Lay out the puff pastry on a baking sheet, leaving it on the paper that it came in, and spread it with the mustard, leaving a 1½ cm border around the edges.
Lay the pancetta or bacon over the tart from side to side, leaving about a 2½ cm gap between the slices, then lay the asparagus over them. Scatter the spring onions around the edges of the veg and bacon as it’ll help prevent the eggs going everywhere later. Transfer the tart to the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, remove the tray from the oven and crack the eggs over the tart. Season them well with freshly ground black pepper, then return to the oven and bake for a further 10–15 minutes, until the eggs are cooked to your liking. Serve hot.
NOTE: The fresher the eggs you use here, the more likely they are to behave when you crack them over the tart: the whites will stay together in a neat egg shape.
BREAKFAST TART WITH PANCETTA, EGGS & ASPARAGUS
BREAKFAST PANCAKE WITH BERRIES & LEMON BUTTER
VEGETARIAN
I’m not sure there’s anything better than pancakes for a weekend breakfast, unless it’s pancakes that don’t require standing and flipping at the stove. This recipe, inspired by my favourite Curtis Stone ricotta pancakes, will make the most beautifully light, fluffy oven pancake, with a crisp top and edges. If you haven’t got ricotta in the house, a tub of cottage cheese from the corner shop works perfectly as a replacement.
Serves: 4
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 25–30 minutes
50g unsalted butter
250g ricotta or cottage cheese
4 free-range eggs
200ml milk
50g caster sugar
150g plain flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
Big handfuls of raspberries, blueberries & blackberries (frozen is fine here)
Icing sugar, to dust
TO SERVE
100g softened unsalted butter
30g icing sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ a lemon, zest and juice
Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/gas 7. Put the butter into the roasting tin and pop the tin into the oven for the butter to melt.
Beat the ricotta or cottage cheese, eggs, milk and sugar together, then pour in the melted butter from the tin. Stir through the flour and baking powder until smooth, then pour the batter into the hot buttery roasting tin.
Scatter over the berries, then return to the oven to bake for 25–30 minutes, until golden brown and well risen.
Meanwhile, beat the softened butter, icing sugar, lemon zest and juice together.
Dust the pancake with the icing sugar, then cut into slices and serve hot with the lemon butter alongside.
BREAKFAST PANCAKE WITH BERRIES & LEMON BUTTER
BAKED EGGS WITH ASPARAGUS SOLDIERS
VEGETARIAN
These eggs, baked in a blanket of crème fraîche with a mushroom and spring onion, are inspired by Rachel Khoo and a quick fridge forage for ingredients. Serve with mountains of hot buttered toast (cut into soldiers, of course). I give the quantities per person, because then it’s easy to scale up if you’re serving two, four, or having a luxurious breakfast for one.
Serves: 1
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
2 heaped tablespoons crème fraîche
1 medium-sized mushroom, finely chopped
½ spring onion, finely chopped
Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
1 free-range egg
5–6 asparagus spears
A tiny bit of olive oil
Freshly made buttered toast soldiers
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/gas 6. You will need a small ramekin per egg. Put 1 heaped tablespoon of crème fraîche at the bottom of your ramekin, then top with the finely chopped mushroom, half the spring onion and a good pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Crack the egg in over the mushrooms, then gently top with another heaped tablespoon of crème fraîche and the remaining spring onion. Season with salt and pepper, then put the ramekin into a roasting tin.
Pop the asparagus spears in the tin alongside, dress them with the olive oil, salt and pepper, then transfer to the oven and bake for 12–15 minutes, until the egg is just set, but still dippable. (Cook for longer if you prefer your egg more set.)
Serve the egg and asparagus with buttered toast soldiers.
NOTE: This is one of the few recipes where having a slightly differently temperatured oven will make a difference to the finished dish. I’d recommend watching the egg from 10 minutes, giving it a prod, then returning to the oven if needed.
BAKED EGGS WITH ASPARAGUS SOLDIERS
WEEKEND BREAKFAST TRAYBAKE
My weekend breakfasts (when not based around pancakes) almost always involve mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes and eggs. Ususally I’d roast the tomatoes, fry the mushrooms, wilt the spinach and fry the eggs, leaving four pans, a tin and a colander to wash up as well as the coffee pot. I’m not sure why it took me so long to realise you can do it all in one tin …
Serves: 2–4 (depending how many eggs you want per person)
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes
300g portobello mushrooms, halved
1 red onion, roughly chopped
300g cherry tomatoes on the vine
200g cooking chorizo, cut into 1½ cm chunks (alternatively, use mini cooking chorizo)
1 tablespoon olive oil
160g spinach, roughly chopped
4 free-range eggs
Hot buttered toast, to serve
Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/gas 7. Mix the mushrooms, red onion, cherry tomatoes with their vines, the cooking chorizo and the oil in a roasting tin large enough to hold everything in a single layer, then transfer to the oven and roast for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 160°C fan/180°C/gas 4 and stir through the chopped spinach. Make 2 to 4 wells in the traybake, crack the eggs in, then return to the oven to cook for a further 7–12 minutes, until to your liking.
Serve with plenty of hot buttered toast.
WEEKEND BREAKFAST TRAYBAKE
CRISP CHEDDAR-TOPPED BREAD COBBLER WITH CHILLI SPIKED GREENS
VEGETARIAN
This is easily one of my favourite creations, born out of thinking of a savoury bread and butter pudding, cheese on toast, and how nice cabbage can be when it’s buttery, hot and ideally served with cream. Livened up with chilli, garlic and sage, this all-in-one meal is perfect for a cold evening and, if you’re anything like me, you’ll be living off it from autumn onwards.
Serves: 4 generously
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes
1 sweetheart cabbage, halved, cored and cut into ½ cm slices
1 small head of broccoli, cut into small florets
1 small onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
14 fresh sage leaves, half roughly chopped, the rest left whole
250ml vegetable stock (use 1 stock cube and 250ml water)
500g crème fraîche
2 heaped teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 free-range eggs
60g cheddar cheese, grated
1 heaped teaspoon sea salt flakes
250g good stale bread, cut into 1cm slices and buttered
Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/gas 7. Mix the cabbage, broccoli, onion, garlic, chilli flakes and chopped sage leaves in a medium-sized deep roasting tin or lasagne dish, then pour over the stock.
Whisk the crème fraîche, mustard, eggs, half the grated cheese and the salt together, then spread half of this over the veg.
Thickly pave the tin with the sliced bread (I like to halve mine to look like cobblestones, see here), then pour the remaining crème fraîche and mustard mixture evenly over this. Use a big spoon to smooth and squash this so the bread is well covered. Scatter it with the remaining whole sage leaves and some grated cheddar cheese.
Transfer to the oven and bake for 25 minutes, until the top is golden brown and crisp, then serve hot. This is great heated through in the oven the next day too, if you have leftovers.
NOTE: If your bread isn’t very stale to start with, consider putting the slices into the preheating oven to dry out while you prepare the vegetables (if the bread is too fresh, it won’t get as crisp).
CRISP CHEDDAR-TOPPED BREAD COBBLER WITH CHILLI SPIKED GREENS
SCANDI-STYLE MEATBALLS WITH FENNEL, BEETROOT & DILL
This dish was born out of a shopping trip with my friend Danielle, where we ate meatballs, insane quantities of lingonberry jam, mashed potatoes (me) and chips (her) before attempting to navigate the three-floored heaven/hell that is the North London IKEA. She very kindly brainstormed this dish with me on the bus home, transforming it from a slightly odd traybake involving rhubarb into the rather lovely recipe below.
Serves: 4
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes
2 fennel bulbs, very finely sliced
3 medium beetroot, grated
1 × 400g tin of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
200ml chicken stock, made with 1 stock cube or little plastic tub, plus 300ml water
500g minced free-range pork
1 heaped teaspoon Dijon mustard
20g fresh dill, chopped, plus a handful to serve
½ teaspoon fennel seeds
1 free-range egg
100ml soured cream, to serve
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/gas 6. Mix the fennel, beetroot, beans, garlic, oil and stock in a roasting tin large enough to hold the veg comfortably without over-crowding.
Blitz the minced pork, mustard, dill, fennel seeds and egg together, then form into 24 walnut-sized meatballs. Dot these over the beetroot mix, then transfer to the oven and roast for 25 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through.
Stir the soured cream through the stew and scatter over the dill before serving.
NOTE: It’s quite useful to get a helper on this, so one of you can grate the beetroot and the other can make the meatballs. If you have a food processor with a grating attachment, definitely use that. Feta cheese is a non-Scandi addition, but if you have leftover meatballs the next day, I highly recommend scattering it all over them before re-baking at 180°C fan/200°C/gas 6 for 20 minutes.
SCANDI-STYLE MEATBALLS WITH FENNEL, BEETROOT & DILL
ONE POT PEANUT CHILLI CHICKEN WITH TOMATO RICE
This is the ultimate Saturday night, bowl in front of the television food and can be made even when you think your energy reserves could not be lower. Peanut, chilli and chicken is one of my favourite flavour combinations, whether in a groundnut stew (see the recipe in Ruby Tandoh’s Flavour) or here, spiked with soy and sesame oil. The rice helpfully cooks along with the chicken, so you need do nothing more than decide what to watch.
Serves: 4
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes
200g basmati rice
300g cherry tomatoes on the vine
400ml boiling chicken stock
60g crunchy peanut butter
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 lime, juice only
8 free-range, boneless, skinless chicken thighs
FOR THE DRESSING
½ tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon sesame oil
TO SERVE
A handful of peanuts
3 spring onions, finely sliced
25g fresh coriander, chopped
Preheat the oven to 210°C fan/230°C/gas 8. Tip the rice into a lidded casserole dish or medium deep roasting tin, along with the tomatoes and their vines. Then pour over the boiling chicken stock.
Mix the peanut butter, red chilli, sesame oil, soy sauce and lime juice together. Lay the chicken thighs over the rice and tomatoes, pour the peanut butter mixture over and smooth it down, then cover with the lid or very tightly with foil (this is really important, as the rice needs a very tight seal to cook properly). Transfer to the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
Once the chicken is cooked and the peanut butter has formed a lovely golden crust, mix the soy, lime juice and sesame oil for the dressing. Pour it over the chicken and rice, scatter over the peanuts, spring onions and coriander and serve hot.
NOTE: Don’t try to use chicken thighs on the bone as they won’t cook in half an hour.
ONE POT PEANUT CHILLI CHICKEN WITH TOMATO RICE
BEETROOT & LEEK GRATIN WITH GOAT’S CHEESE & HAZELNUTS
VEGETARIAN
I love a gratin: the way it bubbles out of the dish, the crisp topping burning your mouth on the first bite. By using grated fresh beetroot instead of sliced, this ruby beauty with leeks and fennel is easily ready in half an hour, and works beautifully with the hazelnuts and goat’s cheese. It’s rich and comforting.
Serves: 4
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes
2 large leeks, finely sliced
2 bulbs of fennel, finely sliced
300g raw beetroot, grated (about 4)
2–3 sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves roughly chopped
500g crème fraîche
1 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
200g goat’s cheese, sliced or crumbled
40g panko breadcrumbs
50g hazelnuts, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ a lemon, juice only
Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/gas 7. Pop the sliced leeks and fennel into a large bowl and pour over a kettleful of boiling water. Leave to sit for 2 minutes, then drain and tip into a large roasting tin. Stir through the beetroot, rosemary, crème fraîche and salt.
Scatter over some freshly ground black pepper, then top with the goat’s cheese, breadcrumbs and hazelnuts. Drizzle with the olive oil, then transfer to the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
The gratin will look alarmingly soupy when you take it out of the oven, but don’t panic. Leave it to sit for 10 minutes and it’ll settle down, then serve hot, with a good squeeze of lemon juice.
NOTE: This gratin is fabulous made in advance and reheated, so it’s a good recipe to make on the weekend for an easy side during the week.
BEETROOT & LEEK GRATIN WITH GOAT’S CHEESE & HAZELNUTS
SAFFRON FISH STEW WITH FENNEL & LEEKS
Otherwise known as bouillabaisse, the classic Provençal fish stew. For a definitive description of the dish, see John Lanchester’s A Debt to Pleasure. This version uses many of his suggested ingredients, but in an easy, quick oven version, perfect for a relaxed weekend lunch. Serve with lots of crusty bread to mop up the soup.
Serves: 4
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes
220g cherry tomatoes on the vine, halved
1 bulb of fennel, halved and very finely sliced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 small leek, halved and finely sliced
2 strips of orange zest
1 bay leaf
A good pinch of saffron threads
500ml good fish stock
50ml olive oil
500g mixed fish fillets (think salmon, smoked haddock, cod, large raw prawns or monkfish if you are feeling fancy; fish can be ready-cubed as fish pie mix)
Sea salt flakes, to taste
1 lemon, juice only
Frondy fennel tops or a few sprigs of fresh dill, to serve (optional)
Crusty bread and butter, to serve
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/gas 6. Tip everything except the fish, salt, lemon juice, and fennel tops or dill into a small deep roasting tin or lidded casserole dish. Don’t forget to include the tomato vines – as ever, they’re your secret ingredient for maximising flavour. Cover the dish with tightly scrunched foil or a lid, then transfer to the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
If you haven’t bought ready-cubed fish pie mix, cut your fish fillets into 2½ cm pieces.
Once the broth has had 20 minutes, remove the tin or casserole dish from the oven, then use a wooden spoon to squash the tomatoes down. Add the mixed fish, then return the dish to the oven uncovered and cook for a further 7 or so minutes, until just cooked through. (The broth is so hot that the fish and prawns will cook very quickly.)
Fish out the tomato vines, taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and lemon juice as needed, scatter over the fennel tops or dill (if using) and serve immediately, with crusty bread and butter.
These are some of the nicest meatballs I’ve ever had and it’s well worth looking at the spice section in the supermarket for the slightly more unusual juniper berries and pink peppercorns (they won’t go to waste, as you’ll definitely want to make these again). Use good-quality sausages, as the texture works really well here and you’ll need the added seasoning from them.
Serves: 2–3
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 25–30 minutes
3 leeks, halved and cut into 1cm half-moons
1 × 250g vac pack of cooked Puy lentils
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
1 tablespoon juniper berries
1 tablespoon pink peppercorns
1 lemon, zest and juice
1 free-range egg, beaten
6 free-range pork sausages
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
A handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/gas 6. Tip the leeks and Puy lentils into a roasting tin with the olive oil and sea salt and mix well.
Grind the juniper and pink peppercorns to a rough powder, then add them to a bowl with the lemon zest and egg.
Squeeze the sausagemeat from the sausage casings into the bowl and mix well with your hands until everything is evenly incorporated. Take walnut-sized balls of the mixture (this is easier with wet hands) and form into meatballs, popping them into the roasting tin as you go. You should have about 18 meatballs by the end.
Transfer the tin to the oven and bake for 25–30 minutes, until the meatballs are golden and crisp on top.
Whisk the lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of sea salt together and dress the meatballs and lentils with it. Scatter with the parsley and a pinch more of the pink peppercorns if you like and serve hot.