Ed Smith’s herb and garlic spring greens with fried eggs (main picture)
Just-cooked greens tossed with butter, softened garlic and handfuls of tarragon is one of my go-to easy supper dishes.
Serves 2
2 slices of bread
300g greens (weight after trimming), such as spring greens, broccoli, kale and cabbage
2 eggs
25g butter
1 large garlic clove, finely sliced
4 sprigs tarragon or other soft green herb, leaves stripped and roughly chopped
Salt and black pepper
Zest from ½ lemon
1 Put a large saucepan of heavily salted water on to boil. Toast the bread, ensuring it’s fully browned.
2 Cut the stalks from the spring greens and discard. Trim the largest leaves into pieces around 8cm wide, leaving the smaller ones intact. When you’ve prepared all the ingredients and the water is at a rolling boil, drop in the greens for 45 seconds. Drain and leave in the colander while you bring everything else together.
3 Fry the eggs, then set aside. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook for around 20 seconds, then add the greens, tarragon, loads of black pepper and a little salt and toss well. It needs no more than another 30 seconds on the hob.
4 To serve, pour any butter and garlic juices over the toast, pile the greens on, and grate the lemon zest over the top. Serve with an egg on the side.
Anna Jones’ simple jersey royals with three dressings
Each of the dressing recipes is enough for 1kg of potatoes. For a crowd, you might want twice as many potatoes and a couple of dressings.
Serves 4 as a side dish
1kg jersey royal or other new potatoes, scrubbed clean
Salt
1 Put the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with plenty of cold water. Add a big pinch of salt, then put on the heat and bring to the boil. Simmer, covered for about 10 minutes (you may need longer for bigger potatoes), or until a knife slides into their flesh easily.
2 Drain the potatoes well, then return them to the heat for 2 minutes, to steam away their moisture. Serve with a big dollop of butter, or one of the toppings below.
Aioli
2 egg yolks
¼ tsp salt
1 tbsp dijon mustard
Juice of 1 lemon
250ml rapeseed oil
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Start with all your ingredients at room temperature. Put a damp tea towel beneath a mixing bowl (or, alternatively, use a food processor). Add the egg yolks, salt, mustard and lemon juice. Whisk together for a few minutes.
2 Add the oil, drip by drip, while whisking vigorously at the same time. Go slowly: your mayonnaise may split if you rush this stage. As the mixture thickens, you can add it more quickly, in a thin, steady stream.
3 Once you have incorporated all the oil, give the mayonnaise a really good stir and add the crushed garlic cloves. Keep it refrigerated until you are ready to eat.
Salmoriglio
½ bunch of marjoram or oregano, leaves picked and finely chopped
½ bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped very finely
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
A pinch of salt
150ml extra virgin olive oil
1 Combine the herbs, lemon zest and juice, salt and stir in the olive oil. Set aside to allow the flavours to mingle before serving with the potatoes.
A quick bravas sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped
½ tsp salt
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
500g cherry tomatoes, halved (or 400g tin of chopped tomatoes if you can’t find fresh ones)
1 tsp honey
2 tbsp sherry vinegar
A small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and finely chopped
1 Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pan on a medium heat, add the onion and cook until soft.
2 Add the chilli, salt and smoked paprika and stir until you can really smell the spices.
3 Add the tomatoes and cook until they are soft and completely broken down (use a spatula to help them).
4 Add the honey and sherry vinegar, season to taste and finally, stir through the parsley.
Sophie Missing and Caroline Craig’s stuffed tomatoes and rice
If you’re willing to upgrade your holiday cooking from the usual bread, ham and cheese, then stuffed tomatoes are a good choice, given their usual superior size and deliciousness at this time of year. And, if you’re in France, you can buy the stuffing, known as la farce, ready-made from most meat counters. Otherwise, try our version here, cooked in delicious rice.
Serves 4-6
4 tbsp olive oil, plus more for drizzling
18-20 medium to large tomatoes
Salt and black pepper
2 onions, finely chopped
A bunch of fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 aubergine, finely chopped
4 tbsp breadcrumbs (optional)
500g lean beef or pork mince
A sprig of thyme
600g long-grain rice
450ml white wine
1 Set the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Drizzle olive oil into two oven dishes, then set aside.
2 Wash the tomatoes, slice their tops off and reserve. Scoop the flesh from the tomatoes. Put roughly half of it in a bowl, rescuing any juice you can. Save the rest for another day.
3 Arrange the empty tomato shells in the oiled oven dishes and sprinkle with plenty of salt and pepper, then put a drizzle of olive oil in each.
4 Combine the onions, parsley leaves, aubergine, breadcrumbs, mince, olive oil and thyme with plenty of salt and pepper, in a large bowl.
5 Sieve the reserved tomato flesh and set aside the juices. Finely chop the flesh. Add it to the mince stuffing.
6 Pack the empty tomato shells with a generous amount of the stuffing, then pop their lids back on top.
7 Sprinkle the rice around the tomatoes. Drizzle the reserved tomato juice over the top, along with some more olive oil and the white wine. Cover the dishes with foil, then bake in the oven for 45 minutes.
8 Remove the foil and roast uncovered for a further 15-20 minutes – top up with some hot water if the rice still isn’t cooked. Serve immediately alongside plenty of crusty bread, red wine and green salad.
- Ed Smith is a food writer and author: rocketandsquash.com; @rocketandsquash
- Anna Jones is a chef, food writer and author annajones.co.uk; @we_are_food
- Caroline Craig and Sophie Missing are food writers and authors @CarolineCraig @sophiemissing
Rachel Roddy is back next week.
