which means no overcooked, rubbery eggs, and that you can spoon them out when they are cooked just as you like, leaving some in the pan for people who like their eggs less runny.
You can use kale or any greens you have, and any other beans would work in place of the chickpeas – if they are home-cooked so much the better. A scattering of toasted almonds or hazelnuts or even dukkah would be welcome here too.
SERVES 4
1 head of cavolo nero (about 300g)
olive oil
1 x 400g tin of chickpeas, drained (or about 250g home-cooked – see here)
1 clove of garlic, thinly sliced
1 red chilli, finely chopped
the juice of 1 unwaxed lemon and the zest from half
a good grating of nutmeg
6 medium organic eggs
4 rounds of toast or toasted flatbreads, to serve
100g ricotta or thick Greek yoghurt
Strip the leaves from the cavolo nero, shredding any larger ones. Finely chop the stalks, discarding any really thick sinewy ones.
Heat a heavy, ideally cast-iron, medium frying pan (about 28cm) on a medium heat. Add a little olive oil, then the chickpeas, cook for a couple of minutes to crisp a little, then add the chopped cavolo nero stalks, garlic and chilli. Cook for another few minutes until the stalks are tender and the garlic has started to brown, then add the leaves. Add the lemon juice, zest, a good pinch of salt and pepper and the nutmeg, then cook for 4–5 minutes until the cavolo nero leaves have softened.
Next break each egg into a bowl and get your flatbreads or toast ready. Spoon the ricotta into the pan, dotting it around, then pour the eggs one by one gently on top of the cavolo nero mixture. Keep the pan on the heat and gently stir the eggs a couple of times, just to break them a little. You want the whites and yolks to stay separate, not to mix them together as you would with scrambled eggs. Quickly take the pan off the heat and carry it to the table along with a wooden spoon; the residual heat of the pan will continue to cook the eggs. Use the wooden spoon and continue to stir until the eggs are set to your liking, I like mine to be soft and curdy. Serve right away with charred flatbreads or hot toast.
Twice-baked potato skins with crispy buffalo chickpeas
These double-baked potato skins bring back childhood memories of American diners but, rather than the inch-deep cheese, these are piled high with spicy baked chickpeas, which pick up a pleasing crunch in the oven, and a grown-up ‘sour cream’ dip. I make the dip using cashews, which I blitz to a cream, but you can use yoghurt instead of the cashews if you’d prefer. I serve these with a salad for dinner but they would be great as a party snack if you used smaller potatoes. Kids love them if you go easy on the spice.
SERVES 4
4 medium baking potatoes
olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 stick of celery, finely chopped (reserving the inner leaves)
1 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
2 x 400g tins of chickpeas or other white beans, drained (or 500g home-cooked chickpeas, see here)
200ml passata or blitzed tinned tomatoes
a pinch of dried chilli flakes (I use a generous pinch of a mild Turkish variety called pul biber)
a small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked
FOR THE DIP
100g cashew nuts, soaked in cold water for about an hour or 150ml thick Greek yoghurt
the zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon
a small bunch of chives, chopped
Preheat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan/gas 6. Set up two oven racks in the middle of the oven. Wash and dry the potatoes, prick with a fork and rub with a little olive oil, then sprinkle over some salt and rub in with your hands. Place the potatoes directly on the top oven rack. Bake them until they feel tender and the skin is crisp, about 1–1½ hours.
While the potatoes are baking, get on with the chickpeas. Heat a pan on a medium heat. Pour in a little olive oil, add the onion and cook for 10 minutes, until soft, then add the celery, paprika, cumin and garlic and cook for another 10–15 minutes until soft and sticky.
Add the chickpeas, passata and chilli and stir again. Season with a little salt and pepper and cook for another 10 minutes, until the passata has thickened and it has all come together nicely. While the chickpeas are cooking, make the dip. If you are using the cashews, drain them and put them into a blender with 5 tablespoons of cold water and blitz until very smooth, then mix with the other ingredients. If using yoghurt, simply mix everything together.
Once the potatoes are baked and cool enough for you to handle them, cut them in half lengthwise. Lay the halves on a baking tray. Scoop out a couple of tablespoons of potato from each half, season the inside of the potato with salt and drizzle with olive oil.
Save the scooped out potato for another meal. Divide the chickpeas between the potatoes and bake in the oven for another 10 minutes so that the chickpeas crisp a little. Serve each potato topped with the parsley and celery leaves and the dip.
Caper, herb and egg flatbreads
This recipe is really quick to make and is one of the most flavourful fast lunches I know. Corn tortillas crisped and filled with egg, herbs and some punch from capers and cornichons; it’s a recipe that crosses continents, but that’s often how I cook. It’s as quick as making a sandwich, and while we eat this all year round it’s something I make most often in the winter, when I want food from the stovetop and warmth. It is loosely based on a much-cooked recipe from my friend Heidi Swanson.
This recipe serves two as a lunch or light dinner, but scale it up as you need. For the herbs I use dill and basil, but mint, tarragon, parsley and chives would all work too. I buy large corn tortillas online from a good Mexican supplier (the Cool Chile company: coolchile.co.uk); the standard ones in the shops just aren’t the same. Flour tortillas will work well here too.
SERVES 2 AS A LIGHT MEAL
200g thick Greek yoghurt
1 unwaxed lemon
2 avocados
2 organic eggs
olive oil
2 medium corn or flour tortillas or wraps (about 12cm)
a few sprigs of soft herbs (see note above), chopped
2 tablespoons small capers
a few cornichons, roughly chopped
25g freshly grated Parmesan (I use a vegetarian
