Roast cauliflower, nacho-style
Prep 10 min
Cook 25 min
Serves 4
1 cauliflower, trimmed and cut into florets
50ml oil
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tsp onion powder
Zest of 1 lime
1 big bag of your favourite corn chips – I love Spicy Nacho Doritos
For the cheese sauce
30g butter
40g plain flour
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
250ml whole milk
250ml condensed milk
1 tbsp ready-made English mustard
100g finely grated parmesan
150g smoked scamorza, (or smoked cheddar), shredded or grated
2 bay leaves
10g cayenne pepper
For the topping
1 jar sliced jalapeños
4 spring onions, trimmed and sliced
1 big handful chopped coriander
Soured cream
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Put the cauliflower in an oven tray with the oil, paprika, chilli powder, onion powder and lime zest, toss to coat, then roast for 15-20 minutes, until soft but not sloppy.
Meanwhile, make the sauce. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, then stir in the flour and garlic, and cook, stirring, for three minutes – don’t let it brown. Add a little whole milk to the pan, stir to combine and cook out a little, then repeat bit by bit until you’ve added all the milk and the sauce is lovely and smooth. Fold in the condensed milk and mustard, bring gently to a boil, stirring all the time, then add the cheeses, bay and cayenne, turn down the heat and leave to simmer, stirring regularly, for three minutes.
Put the nachos in a bowl, top with the roast cauliflower and pour the cheese sauce all over the top. Scatter over the jalapeños, spring onions and coriander, dot with big dollops of soured cream and serve.
Bombay potato tray bake
Prep 10 min
Cook 20 min
Serves 4
1kg baby potatoes
1 onion, peeled and sliced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
2-3 tbsp vegetable oil, to coat
Salt and black pepper
6 ripe plum tomatoes
2½cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 green chillies
1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained and washed
1 bunch coriander, picked
1 bunch mint, picked
2 tsp sugar
75ml white-wine vinegar
200g Greek-style yoghurt
1 big handful chopped fresh spinach
For the spice mix
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp garam masala
Heat to oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Put the spuds in an oven tray with the onion and garlic, slosh in the oil, season generously and toss to coat. Roast for 10 minutes.
While the potatoes are roasting, blend the tomatoes, ginger and chilli. When the 10 minutes is up, pour this over the potatoes, add the chickpeas and stir to coat. Turn down the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4, and roast for five minutes. Blend the spices, add to the main dish, and roast for about half an hour more, until soft.
Meanwhile, put the coriander, mint, sugar and vinegar in a blender, blitz to a paste, then fold in the yoghurt.
Remove the potatoes from the oven, stir in the spinach until wilted, and serve straight from the tray topped with dollops of the herby yoghurt.
Lamb shawarma
Prep 10 min
Cook 5 hr+
Serves 8
3 onions, peeled and sliced
6 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
750g small potatoes
250g small carrots
100ml red-wine vinegar
50ml port (or full-bodied red wine)
700ml lamb stock (or chicken or vegetable stock)
2.5kg lamb shoulder, butterflied, most of outer fat removed
100g rose harissa
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp sumac
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp sea salt
1 tsp chilli flakes, or more to taste
500g kale
4 medium tomatoes, chopped, to serve
Pickled chillies, to serve
For the sauce
1 half-head garlic
Olive oil
100ml thick Greek-style yoghurt
100ml tahini
Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4. Put the onion, garlic, potatoes and carrots in a large ovenproof dish, pour over the liquids, then sit the lamb on top and rub the harissa all over the meat. Mix the paprika, sumac, cinnamon, salt and chilli in a small bowl, then sprinkle on top of the lamb.
Cover the dish with a lid or foil, then roast for four hours. Remove the foil and roast for another hour, to crisp up. Add the kale for the last half-hour of cooking, stirring it into the liquid in the bottom of the dish, so it wilts.
Put the half-head of garlic for the sauce into a small ovenproof dish, drizzle over some olive oil, and roast alongside the lamb for half an hour-plus, until soft. Squeeze the roast garlic flesh into a bowl, add the yoghurt and tahini, and stir.
Remove the lamb from the oven and use two forks to shred the meat; stir a little water into the base of the tray if it seems a bit dry. Spoon the yoghurt sauce over the shredded lamb mix, scatter over the chopped tomatoes and pickled chillies, and scoop up with flatbreads.
Super-simple flatbreads
Prep 5 min
Rest 30 min
Cook 20 min
Makes 8-10
375g flour, plus extra to dust
375g yoghurt
1 heaped tsp baking powder
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
2 tsp chilli flakes
1-2 tbsp chopped chives
Olive oil, for cooking
Put everything in a bowl, stir to combine, then cover and leave for 30 minutes. Tip the dough on to a floured worktop, divide into eight to 10 equal-sized pieces and roll each one into a 12½-15cm circle. Brush both sides of each flatbread with olive oil and put a large, heavy-based frying pan on medium-high heat. Fry the flatbreads in batches for four minutes on each side, and serve warm.
