400g spaghetti.
a handful of black olives (we like Kalamata).
black pepper.
20g fresh basil leaves.
Large saucepan with a lid on a medium heat. Kettle boiled. Fine grater or Microplane.
First make the tomato sauce. Peel and thinly slice the red onion. Peel and grate the garlic. Pour the olive oil into the saucepan. Add the sliced onion and salt and fry for 5–7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the garlic to the pan, stir it in and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and stir them around for 2 minutes, until the skins start to split. Sprinkle over the chilli flakes and pour in the wine, stirring to coat the tomatoes.
Pour the boiling water into the pan. Add the spaghetti, let it soften and then move it around with tongs in the pan until it’s well submerged. Put the lid on the pan, turn up the heat and bring to the boil. Take off the lid and cook at a rolling boil for 10–12 minutes, moving the pasta in the water fairly often to ensure it cooks evenly (it’s easiest to do this with tongs)
When most of the starchy water has been absorbed by the pasta, taste to make sure it’s cooked to your liking. Quickly slice the olives and stir them through the pasta.
Divide among bowls, drizzle with olive oil and grind over some black pepper. Garnish with the basil leaves and serve.
A gorgeously spicy coconut soup straight from the streets of Bangkok. Try switching out herbs or flavours to make use of what you’ve got in the fridge. Swap the onions for shallots, green beans for beansprouts, coriander for Thai basil… Play around and see what works, just keep the base of spices and herbs consistent.
SERVES 4.
5cm piece fresh ginger.
2 lemongrass stalks.
4 eschalion (banana) shallots.
500g mixed exotic mushrooms.
1 red pepper.
350g cherry tomatoes.
5 bird’s-eye chillies.
100g green beans.
2 x 400ml tins full-fat coconut milk.
7 kaffir lime leaves.
200ml water.
3 tbsp soy sauce.
1 tsp coconut sugar.
20g fresh coriander.
2 spring onions.
2 limes.
Large saucepan.
First prep your veg and aromatics. Peel the ginger by scraping off the skin with a spoon, then thinly slice. Peel the hard outer bark of the lemongrass, roughly chop the tender stalk into three pieces and bash with the heel of a knife. Peel and thinly slice the shallots. If they’re big, roughly chop the mushrooms into bite-sized pieces, otherwise leave them as they are.
Cut the pepper in half, cut out the stems and seeds and cut the flesh into 2.5cm chunks. Halve the cherry tomatoes. Rip the stems from the chillies or, if you prefer a spicy soup, keep the stems and spilt the chilli down the middle to expose the seeds. Cut the ends off the green beans and slice them in half.
Put the saucepan over a medium heat. Pour in half the coconut milk and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the ginger, lemongrass, shallots and lime leaves and stir very gently for 3–4 minutes. Pour in the remaining coconut milk and the water and simmer for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and chillies and stir gently for 3–4 minutes.
Add the green beans to the pan and stir gently for 1 minute. Add the red pepper, cherry tomatoes, soy sauce and coconut sugar and stir gently to mix everything together. Reduce the heat and leave to simmer for 7–8 minutes. Take the pan off the heat.
To finish the soup. Rip the leaves from the coriander and chop roughly. Halve and shred the spring onions. Cut the limes in half and squeeze the juice into the soup. Stir two-thirds of the chopped coriander leaves into the soup, reserving the rest, and simmer for 1 minute. Taste and add more soy sauce for saltiness or lime juice for sourness, if needed. Serve, garnished with the reserved coriander leaves and spring onions.
This recipe is super-quick, packed full of flavour and answers the age-old question, ‘what should I do with tofu?’ It’s a great dinner option if you don’t have much time but want something absolutely delicious. Pressing the tofu is really important here as it needs to be the right, firm texture.
SERVES 2.
1 x 280g block firm tofu (smoked tofu works well too).
2.5cm piece fresh ginger.
1 garlic clove.
1 fresh red chilli.
4 spring onions.
30ml lime juice (about 1½–2 limes).
50g cornflour.
vegetable oil, for frying.
80g soft brown sugar.
4 tbsp soy sauce.
160ml coconut water.
250g cooked basmati rice, or use 1 x 250g bag microwavable rice, to serve.
2 heads pak choi.
2 tbsp sesame oil.
¼ tsp salt.
2 tsp sesame seeds.
Tofu press or 2 clean tea towels and a weight such as a heavy book. Fine grater or Microplane. Large frying pan. Line a plate with kitchen paper. Wok. Griddle pan.
Press the tofu using a tofu press or place it between two clean tea towels, lay it on a plate and put a weight on top. Leave for at least 30 minutes to drain and firm up before you start cooking.
Meanwhile, peel the ginger by scraping off the skin with a spoon and finely grate it. Peel and grate the garlic. Rip the stem from the chilli, cut it in half lengthways and remove the seeds if you prefer, then thinly slice. Finely chop two-thirds of the spring onions. Ribbon the remaining spring onions and keep to one side to garnish. Cut the limes in half.
Put the cornflour in a shallow bowl. Cut the drained tofu into 8 slices and roll them evenly in the cornflour to coat.
Place the frying pan on a medium-high heat. Pour enough vegetable oil into the pan to cover the base generously. Heat until a wooden spoon dipped into the oil sizzles around the edges. Lay the tofu in the pan and fry for 5–6 minutes, turning halfway. Drain on kitchen paper.
Pour 1 tablespoon oil into the wok and place over a high heat. Add the grated ginger and garlic, the chopped spring