Badargani
Aubergine rolls filled with walnuts andpomegranate, which you can serveas a starter if you want, or as a main with some yoghurt and a large green salad.
Dinner for 4
aubergines 4 large, trimmed
olive oil for brushing and drizzling
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
For the filling
red onion 1 large (about 150g)
olive oil 3 tbsp
salt ½ tsp
toasted walnuts 100g, roughly chopped (reserve 2 tbsp to garnish)
pomegranate molasses 2 tbsp
freshly ground black pepper ½ tsp
fresh ginger 5cm piece, peeled and grated
parsley 1 small bunch, chopped (about 15-20g)
fresh pomegranate seeds 100g (reserve 2tbsp to garnish)
cayenne a pinch
Heat the oven to 220C/gas mark 7.
Slice each aubergine into five or six slices lengthways. Keep the outside slices for the filling and use the nice, long, inside slices for the rolls. Brush a baking tray with oil and place the nice inside slices flat on it. Drizzle with some more oil and season with sea salt and black pepper. Roast in the oven for 12 minutes, then turn the tray around to ensure the slices cook evenly. Roast for another 8-12 minutes until they are golden and soft. Set aside to cool.
While the slices are in the oven, peel the onion and dice finely. Cut the aubergine trimmings (the outside slices) into equal-size cubes. Fry the onion in the oil over a medium heat until it starts to soften, then add the diced aubergine and salt. Cook until the aubergine is very soft. Remove the pan from the stove and add the remaining ingredients. Mix well and season to taste.
Place a large spoonful of the filling at one end of each roasted aubergine slice and roll them into thick sausages. Place the filled aubergine rolls in an ovenproof serving dish. If you have a little filling left over, spread it around the edges of the dish. Place in the oven for 5 minutes to warm through before serving. Sprinkle the warmed rolls with the reserved walnuts and pomegranate seeds and serve 3 rolls per person.
Carrot and butternut fritters
The following recipes make about 25 small fritters: enough for 6-8 people as a generous mezze, or for 4 as a vegetarian main course with green salad and a dipping sauce. If you can't be bothered with the dipping sauce, thick natural yoghurt is a delicious alternative.
Serves 6-8 to share as a mezze
carrot 1 large, peeled (about 150g)
potato 1 medium, peeled (about 150g)
butternut squash ¼, peeled and deseeded (about 150g)
onion ½, peeled (about 60g)
salt ½ tsp + another ½ tsp salt
eggs 2
tarragon 6 sprigs, picked and roughly chopped
freshly ground black pepper ¼ tsp
ground cardamom pods ½ tsp
wholemeal flour 3 tbsp
baking powder ½ tsp
vegetable oil for frying
For the chive sour cream
sour cream 1 small tub (about 170ml)
chives ½ bunch, chopped finely
lemon juice 1 tsp
mayonnaise 1 tbsp
freshly ground black pepper
Grate all the vegetables on a coarse grater (or use a food processor) and place in a sieve over a bowl. Sprinkle with half a teaspoon of salt and mix lightly. Allow to sit for at least 30 minutes at room temperature to draw out the excess water.
Place the eggs, tarragon, remaining half-teaspoon of salt, pepper, ground cardamom, flour and baking powder in a bowl. Squeeze out whatever liquid you can from the vegetables, add them to the bowl and mix vigorously to combine.
Heat about 2cm of oil in a frying pan, and line a plate with some absorbent kitchen paper. Scoop little spoonfuls of the batter into the oil and fry for about a minute until they start to crisp up. Flip the fritters carefully and fry on the other side for another minute or so till crisp. Remove to the lined plate to absorb the excess oil. Repeat until you have used all the batter.
Mix all the chive sour cream ingredients together (I wouldn't add any salt, as chives have a natural saltiness) and serve with the fritters.
Stuffed (wedded) sardines
Mediterranean sardines are delicious but tiny, barely a mouthful each. That could be why this dish was invented – two sardines glued together with a paste made of fish roe and herbs, and then fried. The result looks like a couple in coitus, hence the name "wedded sardines" (this is a dish from north Africa, where coitus means marriage). The sardines we get in this country are just as good but much bigger, so (sadly) there is no need to couple them; they remain single, but still delicious. Ask your fishmonger to butterfly the sardines, or you can do it yourself. If you haven't done it before, I'd suggest that you check online to see how – if I were to try to explain the process here, you would never try it, but it is truly simple.
Dinner for 4
sardines 8 medium-sized, butterflied
vegetable oil for frying
flour for coating
salt a pinch
black pepper a pinch, freshly ground
For the filling
coriander 1 small bunch (about 15-20g)
parsley 1 small bunch (about 15-20g)
garlic 1 clove
anchovy fillets 3 or 1 tbsp salted cod roe
For the potato salad
potatoes 1kg, peeled and diced
water 1.5 litres
salt
turmeric ¼ tsp
olive oil 2 tbsp
black pepper a pinch, freshly ground
garlic 2 cloves, peeled and crushed
lemon juice of ½ (about 1 tbsp)
capers small, 3 tbsp
parsley 3 tbsp, chopped
celery 2 sticks, finely chopped
For the tomato salsa
plum tomatoes 4, halved
olive oil 2 tbsp
salt a generous pinch
To make the filling, simply blitz all the ingredients together. Place a teaspoonful of the filling on the cut surface of each butterflied sardine, spread it all over and then close it up so it looks like a whole fish. Cover the sardines and place in the fridge till you are ready to fry them – this can be done up to a day in advance.
Place the diced potatoes in a large pan with the water, salt and turmeric and bring to the boil. Boil for 6-7 minutes, then check a cube to see whether a knife goes through it easily; if it does, quickly drain. Transfer the warm potatoes to a large mixing bowl, add the olive oil, pepper and crushed garlic, and carefully toss around to coat. Set aside for 15-20 minutes to cool, then stir in the remaining ingredients. Adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Grate the tomatoes on a coarse grater until you are left with the empty skins. Discard the skins and season the tomato pulp with the olive oil and salt.
Heat a large pan containing 2cm of vegetable oil until very hot. Season some flour with salt and pepper and dip the sardines in it to give them a little coating – this helps the skin go lovely and crispy when fried. Drop a little pinch of flour into the oil to test the heat – it should fizz up immediately. Carefully place the sardines in the hot oil. Don't overfill the pan: it's better to cook these in batches and allow plenty of space for them to crisp up. Fry for 2 minutes on each side, then remove to a plate lined with some kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil.
Once the fish are all fried, sprinkle them very lightly with some sea salt and serve straight away with the potato salad and tomato salsa, preferably on a balcony overlooking the Med.
Lamb shawarma
Serves 6 as a big, fun-filled dinner
onions 4, peeled (about 500g)
ras el hanout spice mix 3 tbsp
salt 2 tsp
white pepper ½ tsp
shoulder of lamb 1, on the bone (about 1.8-2kg)
For the cabbage salad
salt ½ tsp
white cabbage ½, shredded (about 350g)
lemon juice of 1
parsley 1 small bunch, chopped (about 15-20g)
vegetable oil 2 tbsp
pomegranate seeds from 1 small (if you like)
Preheat your oven to 250C/gas mark 9. Puree the first 2 onions to a pulp in a food processor with the ras el hanout, salt and pepper. Slice the other2 onions and lay them on the base of a deep roasting dish big enough to contain the lamb. Pat the pureed onionmixture all over the lamb, top and bottom, and lay it on the bed ofonions.
Place the roasting dish uncovered in the upper-middle part of the very hot oven for 30 minutes. It should have started to colour and brown (it may take an extra 10 minutes if your oven doesn't run very hot).
Pour in enough water to reach halfway up the lamb joint and cover the dish. Lower the oven temperature to 200C/gas mark 6 and cook for 1hour. Uncover, baste with the liquid at the bottom of the dish, then re-cover and return to the oven. Reduce the heat to 180C/gas mark 4 and cook for an hour. Baste again, re-cover and cookfor a further hour. Basting is important as it will help to soften the lamb, so don't skip doing this. After 3½ hours the meat should be really soft and come away from the bone easily.
Sprinkle the salt on the shredded cabbage in a bowl, mix and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes until it starts to soften. Add the lemon juice, parsley and vegetable oil and mix well. If need be, add a touch more salt – it should be really sharp and lemony. Sprinkle with the pomegranate seeds if using.
Set your table with flatbread to soak up the juices, some yoghurt, a bowl of mint leaves to cool, pickled chillies if you want some heat and some cabbage salad for crunch. Bring the whole beautiful shoulder to the table and dish it out with a large spoon.
Yoghurt mousse with cherry and pomegranate granita
We use mahleb in this recipe, a bittersweet spice that complements theflavours so well; replace it with vanilla if you can't get hold of any. For the best results use a strained yoghurt – you can either buy it ready-strained (such as Total Greek yoghurt) or hang 500g of natural yoghurt in some cheesecloth over a bowl for 2 hours to yield 300g of strained. Make sure to start the granita at least a day in advance as it takes time to freeze, but once made it will keep in the freezer for two weeks.
Makes 4-6
For the cherry and pomegranate granita
pomegranates 2
cherries 250g
sugar 2 tbsp
boiling water 2 tbsp
lemon juice of ½ (1 tbsp)
orange juice of ½ (2 tbsp)
For the mousse
egg whites 2
honey 60g
strained yoghurt 300g
ground mahleb or vanilla 1 tsp
Crack one of the pomegranates open and remove 3-4 tbsp of the seeds to serve with the finished dessert later on.
Squeeze the juice out of the remainder of that pomegranate and the whole one; this is very easy – use a citrus press, or a home juicer or justpress the pomegranates until all the little seeds explode and let out their juice.
Reserve about 12-14 cherries to use as garnish and stone the rest. Puree the stoned cherries with the pomegranate juice, sugar, water, lemon juice and orange juice. Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl or plastic container and place in the freezer. Give the mixture an hour to start to freeze, then use a fork to smash it up. Return to the freezer and repeat 3-4 times until the juice is all frozen into lovely crystals.
Now for the mousse. Place the egg whites in a mixer bowl with a whisk attachment and whisk until they start to go white and fluffy. Heat the honey in a small pan till it boils, then pour into the whites in a steady drizzle. Continue whisking until the mixture forms a strong shiny meringue.
In a separate bowl mix the yoghurt and mahleb. Take a spoonful of the meringue and stir through to release the yoghurt a little, then carefully fold the rest of the meringue into the yoghurt. Spoon into a glass serving bowl, or individual dishes or glasses, and chill the mousse until ready toserve.
To serve, scoop the granita on to the yoghurt mousse and decorate with the reserved cherries and pomegranate seeds.
