Addictive sweet potato burritos

Original recipe makes 12 burritos 

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 cups canned kidney beans, drained
• 2 cups water
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin

• 4 teaspoons prepared mustard
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 4 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
• 12 (10 inch) flour tortillas, warmed
• 8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Heat oil in a medium skillet, and saute onion and garlic until soft. Stir in beans, and mash. Gradually stir in water, and heat until warm. Remove from heat, and stir in the chili powder, cumin, mustard, cayenne pepper and soy sauce.
3. Divide bean mixture and mashed sweet potatoes evenly between the warm flour tortillas. Top with cheese. Fold up tortillas burrito style, and place on a baking sheet.
4. Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven (or grill in a frying pan), and serve.

Veggie black bean burgers

Make sure you alter the amounts if you are cooking for a larger number of people. Original recipe makes 4 patties 

• 1 (16 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 1/2 onion, cut into wedges
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
  half a jalepeno chopped finely 
• 1 egg

• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce or hot sauce
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
  
  

  Directions

  1. If grilling, preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil. If baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and lightly oil a baking sheet.
  2. In a medium bowl, mash black beans with a fork until thick and pasty.
  3. finely chop bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Then stir into mashed beans.
  4. In a small bowl, stir together egg, chili powder, cumin, and chili sauce.
  5. Stir the egg mixture into the mashed beans. Mix in bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and holds together. Divide mixture into four patties.
  6. If grilling, place patties on foil, and grill about 8 minutes on each side. If baking, place patties on baking sheet, and bake about 10 minutes on each side. I fried mine in a little oil.

  Serve in buns with avocado, tomato and cilantro.

  Best served with Beer.
  
  

traditional meat lasagna

• Ingredients

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1  onion, halved, finely chopped
•  4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 lb of beef mince
• 6 diced tomatoes
• 125ml (1/2 cup) dry red wine
• 55g (1/4 cup) tomato paste
• 1 cup of veggie/meat stock
• Salt & freshly ground black pepper
• Olive oil, extra, to grease
• 4 fresh lasagne sheets
• 55g (1/2 cup) coarsely grated mozzarella

cheese sauce

• tablespoon of butter
• 50g (1/4 cup) plain flour
• cup or so of milk
• 70g (1/2 cup) grated cheddar
• Pinch ground nutmeg
• Salt & ground white pepper

parmesan for the top

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• Method

1. Step 1
   Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until onion softens. Add the mince and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up any lumps, for 5 minutes or until mince changes colour. Add the tomato, wine and tomato paste, and enough stock to cover the meat, bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes or until sauce thickens slightly. Remove from heat. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
2. Preheat oven to 180°C. 
3. Meanwhile, to make the cheese sauce, Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until foaming. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes or until mixture bubbles and begins to come away from the side of the pan. Remove from heat.
4. Gradually pour in half the milk, whisking constantly with a balloon whisk, until mixture is smooth. Gradually add the remaining milk, whisking until smooth and combined.
5. Place saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to the boil, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 5 minutes or until sauce thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Remove from heat. Add the cheddar and a little parmesan and stir until cheese melts. Taste and season with nutmeg, salt and white pepper.
6. Step 7
   Brush a rectangular 3L (12 cup) capacity ovenproof dish with oil to lightly grease. Spread one-quarter of the bechamel sauce over the base of the prepared dish. Arrange 1 lasagne sheet over the sauce. Top with one-third of the mince mixture and one-third of the remaining bechamel sauce. Continue layering with the remaining lasagne sheets, mince mixture and bechamel, finishing with a layer of bechamel. Sprinkle with mozzarella and parmesan. Place on a baking tray. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes or until cheese melts, is golden brown, and the edges are bubbling. Remove from oven and set aside for 10 minutes to set.

Chickpea Salad with Capers and Roasted Red Peppers

2 large red peppers, roasted and skinned 

3 cups of cooked chickpeas, rinsed if canned (about 2 15-ounce cans)
1/4 cup of parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons of chopped mint
3 tablespoons of capers, rinsed
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice or red wine or sherry vinegar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 cloves of garlic, minced
4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Cut the peppers into half-inch wide strips and put them in a large bowl together with the chickpeas, herbs and the capers. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, salt, garlic and oil. Pour over the chickpea mixture and combine.Serve immediately, or refrigerate it for a day to get the flavors to mingle fantastically.

homemade mushy peas

This is a fantastic recipe that is so quick and so simple and uses our reliable friends the frozen peas, which work really well here. Great with fish, meat or even as a vegetarian dish with a big dollop of butter on top.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 bunch spring onions, chopped
• 1 large handful fresh mint, leaves picked
• 1 pound (500 grams) frozen peas
• 2 large knobs butter
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Heat the oil in a pan and add the chopped onions, mint, and peas. Cover and leave for a few minutes to steam. Mash with a potatomasher. You can do this with a food processor as well, just pulse it until smooth. Whether mashing or pulsing, when it's done add the butter and season very carefully, to taste. If the mixture appears too think, add more water

Ottolenghi's fritter roulette recipe

Makes eight fritters, to serve four.

3 free-range eggs
120ml coconut milk
75g self-raising flour
30g cornflour
¾ tsp ground cumin
1½ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground turmeric
3 tbsp coriander seeds
1¼ tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
225g peeled butternut squash (about a third of a butternut), grated
300g corn kernels (frozen or fresh)
3 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced
15g chopped coriander
½ red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (or more, to taste)
Sunflower oil, for frying
3 limes, cut into wedges

Put the first 10 ingredients in a large mixing bowl and whisk to a homogeneous batter. Add the squash, sweetcorn, spring onions, coriander and chilli, and stir to combine. If the batter is too liquidy, just add more flour.

Pour enough sunflower oil into a medium frying pan to come 1cm up the sides. Place the pan over a medium-high heat for a few minutes, until the oil is hot. Scoop a heaped tablespoon of batter into the oil and cook for a few minutes on each side until golden-brown all over. Transfer to a plate covered with kitchen towel and keep warm.

Repeat with the remaining batter. Once all the fritters are cooked, serve hot, with lime wedges on the side to squeeze over. The dish goes well with a chutney like mango, bread and salad.

black pepper tofu

If you prefer meat, you can replace the tofu with chicken. I added brocoli, peas and green beans and that worked well too. The recipe says 8 chillies and 12 garlic, I would put one chilli and prehaps 4 garlic cloves but that's just me :-)

800g firm, fresh tofu
Cornflour, to dust the tofu
Vegetable oil, for frying
150g butter
12 small shallots (350g), peeled and thinly sliced
8 red chillies, thinly sliced
12 garlic cloves, crushed
3 tbsp chopped ginger
5 tbsp crushed black peppercorns 
3 tbsp sweet soy sauce
3 tbsp light soy sauce
4 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
16 small, thin spring onions, cut into segments 3cm long

Cut the tofu into 3cm x 2cm blocks and toss them in cornflour, shaking off the excess. Pour in enough oil to come 0.5cm up the sides of a large frying pan, and bring up to frying heat. Fry the tofu in batches in the oil, turning the pieces as you go. Once they are golden all around, and have a thin crust, transfer to a paper towel.

Remove the oil and any sediment from the pan and throw in the butter. Once it has melted, add the shallots, chillies, garlic and ginger, and sauté for about 15 minutes on low-medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the contents of the pan are shiny and totally soft. While you wait, crush the peppercorns, using a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder. They should be quite coarse.

When the shallots and chillies are soft, add the soy sauces and the sugar, stir, then stir in the crushed pepper. Warm the tofu in the sauce for about a minute, then add the spring onion and stir through. Serve hot with steamed rice.

• Yotam Ottolenghi is chef/patron of Ottolenghi in London.