Stuffed Portobello with Melting Fontina

From Plenty, Yotam Ottolenghi, Ebury Press, 2010.

I had bought more fontina cheese than I needed so decided to make this mushroom dish to used up the remainder of it.

I placed 4 mushrooms on baking paper on a tray and dribbled a little olive oil on them, then a sprinkling of salt and pepper. They went into a 180ºC oven for 15 minutes.

While they were cooking I chopped an onion and sautéed it for about 10 minutes. I now chopped 4 sun dried tomatoes and added them to the onion with 2 chopped garlic cloves. After a couple of minutes they were removed from the heat and a tablespoon chopped tarragon was added.

The mushrooms were then taken from the oven and the onion mixture was packed into them. Slices of fontina were placed on top and they went back into the oven for another 5 minutes, They were now ready to eat.

This is a tasty way to enjoy mushrooms. The flavours were all strong though I found that the mushroom caps had toughened a little from the baking.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

‘Mixed Grill’ with Parsley Oil

From Plenty, Yotam Ottolenghi, Ebury Press, 2010.

I was in need of a vegetable accompaniment to go with some potato cakes. I had a potato mixture left over from Potato and Cheddar Tortellini and thought they would readily and easily be turned into cakes by forming the mixture into patties and then dipping them in egg and breadcrumbs and frying them.

Ottolenghi’s mixed grill looked as though it would suit so I set to work to make the parsley oil. I took 25g parsley, leaves and stems, and put them in the blender with a garlic clove, juice of half a lemon, salt and pepper. I gave them a whiz and then added olive oil, sufficient to make a sauce. Another churn in the blender and it was ready.

The vegetables I was using were cut into thin slices: eggplant, kohlrabi and zucchini. They were placed in a bowl and given a dribble of olive oil. They then went onto a hot grill until they were well striped and sufficiently cooked. They went into the oven to be kept warm until all were ready. Once the last vegetable slice was done they went back into their bowl and the parsley oil was poured over them. They were then left to cool.

At serving time some haloumi was sliced and quickly fried until golden on both sides. This was mixed in with the vegetables.

I was pleased with my potato cakes. They were crunchy on the outside and creamy and cheesy on the inside. The vegetables grill went well with them. The parsley oil was tangy and enhanced the vegetables which had the added smokiness from the grill. My eggplant was cooked a little too long and began to disintegrate, though this added to the sauce on the plate.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Radish and Broad Bean Salad

From Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, Ebury Press, 2008.

You always find something a little different and worth trying in a book by Ottolenghi.

I took 250g frozen broad beans and dropped them into a pan of boiling water for a couple of minutes. They then went under a tap of cold water until they were cool enough to handle. The tougher skins were pinched and the bright green inner beans popped out.

About 8 small radishes were washed and scrubbed and cut into 6 or 8 wedges depending on their size. A small amount of red onion was finely sliced. A little coriander was chopped. A piece of preserved lemon skin was chopped finely. Some parsley, about the same amount as the coriander, was chopped. The ingredients were all carefully mixed together. The juice of a lemon and a couple of tablespoons of olive oil were added with a teaspoon of ground cumin and some salt and pepper. The salad was tossed to mix and was served.

This was a pleasant salad. The ingredients all worked well together. I’m not a great fan of radishes but in this salad they went down well.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔✔

Caramelised Endive

From Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, Ebury Press, 2008.

When I looked at this recipe and its accompanying illustrations I realised it must have been for what we call witlof, or Belgium endive.

The witlofs were cut in half lengthwise and fried until caramelised in a pan containing butter and a little caster sugar. This took about 4 minutes.

Now a mixture was made of breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan cheese, a very small pinch of thyme leaves, salt and black pepper and sufficient cream to made a thin paste. This was layered over the caramelised side of the witlofs. The recipe called for slices of ham to be laid over this; I used a vegetarian substitute (it might have been better without). The witlofs now went into a 200ºC oven for a quarter of an hour.

The vegetarian ham was not good. It had dried and gone a bit hard so was unpleasant to chew. The witlof and their paste covering worked quite well. Previous to this I had only had witlof in salads so it was worthwhile trying this vegetable cooked. Quite good.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Roasted Butternut Squash and Red Onion with Tahini & Za’atar

From Jerusalem, Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, Ebury Press, 2012.

Being in the mood for Middle Eastern food I turned to Yotam Ottolenghi as a starting point. Inspired I ended up making a little feast from a variety of sources: this roast, a yoghurt sauce, a pilaki and some filo pastries.

The roast was a simple one to make and very tasty. I turned the oven on to heat up to 220ºC. While it was heating I cut up some butternut pumpkin and a red onion into nicely sized pieces. They went into a bowl and were mixed with some olive oil, salt and black pepper. When the oven was ready they went in for about ¾ hour.

While the vegetables were roasting I made a tahini sauce. I used a little over a tablespoon tahini, some lemon juice and a little water. They were beaten together until a pouring mixture was gained. A little tasting was done and some adjustments made until it just seemed right. 

A handful of pine nuts were roasted in some olive oil in a pan and taken off the heat to wait for the vegetables to be ready.

When the pumpkin was ready it was left to cool a little and the tahini sauce was dribbled over. The pine nuts went on as well as the oil they were cooked in. Za’atar was sprinkled over and some chopped parsley.

This was such a flavoursome way to have roast pumpkin. The tang of the tahini went so well with the vegetables. The red onion had sweetened. The pine nuts were full of crunch. I’ll be making this one again.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔