your pasta is a little dry you can add a tiny bit more water, about 100ml. Remove the lid and simmer for another 2–3 minutes, until the water has been absorbed, then take the pan off the heat and stir through the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and half the Parmesan. Taste and add a little more salt if needed, then leave to sit for a minute or so before piling into bowls and topping with a good grating of the remaining Parmesan.
Turmeric and coconut baked aloo gobi
There is something grand and celebratory about roasting a vegetable whole. It becomes a centrepiece, which is something I think people look for in vegetable-centred cooking. The food I make most nights celebrates vegetables in some way, but cooking them whole like this takes a cauliflower one step further: golden and crackled, its colour intensified, in all its glory as nature intended.
Whole roasted cauliflower is something that has been finding its way on to restaurant menus the last couple of years, partly due to the cauliflower renaissance spearheaded by vegetable magician Yotam Ottolenghi. Burnished and browned, a whole cauliflower is such a pleasing thing to put in the middle of the table, with a sharp knife for everyone to cut brave wedges for themselves and uncover the buttery clean white inside, a sharp contrast to the crisp and highly flavoured outside.
This is my favourite way to eat cauliflower: the sweet note of coconut milk, the punch of ginger and green chilli, the earthiness of mustard seeds and the clean spiced note of turmeric are perfect sidekicks to the neutral-flavoured, buttery roasted cauliflower. I add some halved potatoes to the pan to absorb the coconut and lemon goodness. There are few things which are as friendly in the way they soak up flavour as a cauliflower.
SERVES 4
1 large cauliflower or 2 small ones
600g potatoes
4 tablespoons coconut oil
a thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled
4 green chillies
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon black mustard seeds
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 x 400ml tin of coconut milk
1 unwaxed lemon, cut in half
TO SERVE
thick Greek or coconut yoghurt
almonds
a small bunch of coriander, leaves picked
Preheat the oven to 220ºC/200ºC fan/gas 7. Fill and boil the kettle.
Using a pair of scissors cut the large leaves and stalks away from the cauliflower. You can leave the little leaves close to the florets – they will go nice and crispy when roasted. Turn the cauliflower upside down and, using a small paring knife, carefully cut a hollow in the middle of the stalk, so that it cooks evenly. Take a pan big enough to hold the cauliflower, half fill it with water from the kettle and bring it to the boil. Season the water with salt, then immerse the cauliflower and simmer for 6 minutes. Drain the water away, put the lid back on and leave the cauliflower to steam in the residual heat for a further 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the potatoes into 2cm pieces, leaving the skin on.
Take an ovenproof dish or pan (that can go on the hob as well) large enough to take the cauliflower. Spoon in the coconut oil, and grate the ginger into the oil. Finely chop the chillies, discarding the seeds if you wish, then add them to the pan. Add the garlic, then place over a medium heat and let the spices and aromatics cook for a few minutes, until fragrant. Stir in the mustard seeds and continue cooking until the garlic has softened, then add the turmeric and a big pinch of salt.
Pour the coconut milk into the spice mixture, stir well and season with a little black pepper. When the milk starts to bubble gently, turn off the heat, place the drained cauliflower in the dish, then baste it with the coconut-spice mixture. Throw the lemon halves into the side of the dish too, then scatter the potatoes around; they will sit in the coconut milk.
Bake the cauliflower, basting it occasionally with the spiced sauce in the dish, for 40–45 minutes. You want it to catch a little on top. To test if the cauliflower is cooked, insert a small sharp knife into the middle – it should be really tender and the potatoes and cauliflower should have soaked up most of the sauce. Once it’s perfect, take it out of the oven and transfer to a serving dish, then squeeze over the roasted lemons. Serve in the middle of the table, with little bowls of yoghurt, almonds and coriander for sprinkling on top.
Wholegrain spelt, date and molasses scones
These are not scones to keep in a tin but scones to eat warm, with salted butter and tea. These are everything I want from something baked on a cold day: rounded deep sweetness from molasses, caramel notes from the dates and maltiness from the spelt.
I have intentionally made them in quite a small batch; they are very quick to whip up and taste much more decadent than their ingredients might suggest. You can use whatever black tea you like here – I love the bergamot kick of Earl Grey, brewed strong, but I can imagine a smoky lapsang souchong might be amazing.
MAKES 6
125g pitted dates
150ml freshly brewed strong black or Earl Grey tea
125g wholegrain spelt flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon flaky sea salt
30g cold unsalted butter, cubed
1 tablespoon molasses
75g buttermilk or thin natural yoghurt
FOR THE GLAZE
1 organic or free-range egg
1 tablespoon milk
a handful of rolled oats
Preheat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan/gas 6. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Soak the dates in the hot tea for 15 minutes, until the tea has cooled a little. Mix together the flour, baking powder, allspice and salt with your fingertips, then add the butter until the mix looks like breadcrumbs. You could also do this by pulsing it in a food processor.
Drain, then roughly chop the dates and add them to the mix, along with the molasses and buttermilk. Mix slowly and lightly until the mixture forms a soft but not too sticky dough. Shape into a rough round ball, place on your prepared tray and use a knife to score across the top to mark out 6 portions, stopping before the knife reaches the tray; it should look a bit like a loaf of soda bread.
Mix the egg and milk for the glaze with a pinch of salt and brush it over the top, then sprinkle with the oats, pressing them into the dough lightly to stick them down.
Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the tray and reduce the heat to 180ºC/160ºC fan/gas 4 and continue to bake for about 10 more minutes, until the top is a dark golden brown and when you turn the scone over and tap it, it sounds hollow. Serve warm from the oven and break up as required. The scones are very good with the
