Their food is just delicious and they take their business seriously. They serve food consistently filled with color, fibrance, spice, heat and utter simplicity leaving you craving more. This recipe might not look special but that is the thing about their food. It's casual, not too complicated and easily presented. I promise it's delicious and would be the best recipe for a casual dinner amongst friends. Why not serve this in a huge beautiful bowl table center with indian spiced meatballs and Wild Rice?
Sauté of Chickpea, Butternut Squash and Chard, served with Mint Yoghurt
70g dried chickpeas
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp caraway seeds
½ tsp castor sugar
1½ tsp ground cumin
100g Swiss chard leaves
Juice of ½ a lemon
3 tbsp picked coriander leaves for garnish
Salt and black pepper
Butternut squash
200g butternut squash
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
Yoghurt sauce
80g Greek yoghurt
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
Juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried mint
Salt and black pepper
Instructions:
1) Soak the chickpeas in enough cold water to cover them twice. Add the bicarbonate soda and leave for at least 12 hours.
2) Drain the chickpeas, put in a large saucepan and cover with plenty of fresh water. Bring to the boil and simmer for at least an hour and sometimes up to 90 minutes. The chickpeas should be totally tender but retain their shape. Occasionally you would need to skim the froth off the surface. When ready, drain the chickpeas into a colander and set aside.
3) Preheat the oven to 200°C.
4) Peel the butternut squash and cut into 2cm cubes. Put them in a baking tray, drizzle the olive oil on and season with salt and pepper, mix well to coat and roast for 25-30 minutes or until soft.
5) While cooking the butternut squash, prepare the chickpea sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and add the onion, caraway seeds, sugar and cumin and fry for 10 minutes, while stirring, until golden brown.
6) Stir in the chopped chard, and then add the cooked butternut squash and the chickpeas with about 5 tablespoons water. Mix together and cook for another 5 minutes or until hardly any juices are left. Add the lemon juice, taste and adjust the seasoning.
7) Make the yoghurt sauce by whisking together all of the ingredients. Taste for salt and pepper.
To serve, spoon the warm chickpeas on a serving dish, spoon over a bit of the yoghurt sauce and garnish with coriander leaves.
As the Independent says "It's the meringues that stop the traffic. Cartoonishly huge horns, dusted with cocoa, they form the centrespread of a window display of total, shameless gastroporn. Bulbous chilli peppers, purple-tipped artichokes, pert croissants, glossy fruit tarts; this is the foodie equivalent of an Ann Summers shop; you either bustle past with eyes averted, or stand there, tongue hanging out, brazenly lusting. The deli counters groan under a display of glorious abundance. A giant skillet of golden cornbread gleams under scattered curls of red chilli pepper. Fabulously colourful salads and vegetable dishes are heaped in Provençal bowls - globe artichokes brimming with tiny peas, baby carrots bathed in orange zest vinaigrette, golden slices of roasted butternut squash dressed with tahini. Cuts of meat and fish gleam provocatively over bundles of fresh herbs. Unusual breads (baking legend Dan Lepard's been at work here)are piled high next to trays of light-as-air pastries" http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/reviews/ottolenghi-london-n1-556358.html
Sauté of Chickpea, Butternut Squash and Chard, served with Mint Yoghurt
Recipe:
70g dried chickpeas
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp caraway seeds
½ tsp castor sugar
1½ tsp ground cumin
100g Swiss chard leaves
Juice of ½ a lemon
3 tbsp picked coriander leaves for garnish
Salt and black pepper
Butternut squash
200g butternut squash
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
Yoghurt sauce
80g Greek yoghurt
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
Juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried mint
Salt and black pepper
Instructions:
1) Soak the chickpeas in enough cold water to cover them twice. Add the bicarbonate soda and leave for at least 12 hours.
2) Drain the chickpeas, put in a large saucepan and cover with plenty of fresh water. Bring to the boil and simmer for at least an hour and sometimes up to 90 minutes. The chickpeas should be totally tender but retain their shape. Occasionally you would need to skim the froth off the surface. When ready, drain the chickpeas into a colander and set aside.
3) Preheat the oven to 200°C.
4) Peel the butternut squash and cut into 2cm cubes. Put them in a baking tray, drizzle the olive oil on and season with salt and pepper, mix well to coat and roast for 25-30 minutes or until soft.
5) While cooking the butternut squash, prepare the chickpea sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and add the onion, caraway seeds, sugar and cumin and fry for 10 minutes, while stirring, until golden brown.
6) Stir in the chopped chard, and then add the cooked butternut squash and the chickpeas with about 5 tablespoons water. Mix together and cook for another 5 minutes or until hardly any juices are left. Add the lemon juice, taste and adjust the seasoning.
7) Make the yoghurt sauce by whisking together all of the ingredients. Taste for salt and pepper.
To serve, spoon the warm chickpeas on a serving dish, spoon over a bit of the yoghurt sauce and garnish with coriander leaves.
Totally agree on an Ottolenghi on every corner! They have some recipe books available for sale but most of them require too much effort for my beginner cooking skills. Luckily I live down the street! :-)
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