I’ve fallen into a deep cooking rut. I’ve found myself staring blankly at the fridge, flicking through a mental catalogue of the same dishes we’ve been eating on repeat, nothing getting me excited. It’s been too grey for salads, too muggy for roasts. This is annoying, since I’m usually thinking about what I’ll eat for lunch while stacking the dishwasher after breakfast. The pleasure I take in food is as much in the planning as the eating.
If, like me, you’ve ever felt pretty uninspired in the kitchen, I suggest making these smashed harissa potatoes. They’re golden, crunchy, spicy and good enough to make you fall back in love with cooking. Serve with steamed fish and veg, alongside roast chicken, or just eat straight off the tray.
Another dish that made the grade this week was stir-fried prawns, in a glossy, fiery sauce of butter and that funky Korean fermented chilli paste, gouchujang. It’s a staple in my ingredients arsenal, and if you haven’t yet tried it, I promise it will become a much-used weapon in your fight against dull dinners. Happy cooking.
Smashed harissa potatoes
Serves 4, as a side
1kg new potatoes
1 ½ tbsp harrisa (I used Belazu smoked chilli harissa)
2 tsp red wine vinegar
Preheat the oven to 190C fan. Boil the potatoes in a pan of salted water until tender. Drain and allow to steam-dry for 5 minutes before placing on a large baking sheet.
Gently crush each potato with a fork. Drizzle with oil (I used rapeseed) and season with salt and pepper. Roast for around 15 minutes, until starting to turn golden. Remove from the oven, turn each potato over, then return to the oven for a further 10 minutes or so, until brown and teeth-shatteringly crisp.
Meanwhile, combine the harissa and vinegar with a splash of olive oil. Toss the harissa dressing in the potatoes then return to the oven for another 5 minutes, until sticky and delicious.
Gouchujang butter prawns
Serves 2
1 cup brown rice
½ head broccoli, cut into florets
A handful of cavolo nero or kale, stalks removed, roughly chopped
A handful of frozen peas
1 tbsp gouchujang (Korean chilli paste)
300g mushrooms, roughly torn
A bunch of spring onions, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp minced ginger
150g raw king prawns
½ tbsp butter
Juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp sesame seeds
Cover the rice with cold water (around three times as much) and add salt. Bring to the boil, turn the heat down, pop a lid on then simmer over a low heat for around 15 minutes, until tender. Add the broccoli, cavolo nero and peas for the last five minutes of cooking, leaving the lid on.
Boil the kettle and combine the gouchujang with 1 tbsp boiling water in a bowl.
Heat a splash of oil in a large frying pan or wok over a high heat. Add the mushrooms and fry for 5 minutes or so, shaking the pan now and again, until deeply browned. Add the spring onions, garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 2 minutes, until fragrant. Add the prawns and stir-fry until cooked through. Add the gouchujang and butter and cook, tossing, until you have a glossy sauce. Finish with the lime juice and sesame seeds. Serve with the rice and steamed veg.
Switch it up
Swap the prawns for tofu to make a veggie version of the prawn dish. Add whatever veg you have to hand – try cubed aubergine instead of the mushrooms, or some finely shredded carrot.
Skip the harissa on the potatoes and make a dressing with finely chopped herbs, capers and lemon juice instead, to be spooned over just before serving.
Use it up
Combine around a cup of leftover rice in a bowl with 1 egg, 2 tbsp flour and a grated courgette, along with any soft herbs you have (I used mint and parsley). Meanwhile, sizzle cumin seeds in olive oil and add 2 finely diced shallots and a crushed clove of garlic. Sauté until soft and stir into the rice mix. Heat olive oil in a non-stick pan and fry tablespoonfuls of the mixture for a couple of minutes on each side. Serve the fritters with a tomato salad.
PS This week I’m loving…
A flick through a few favourite cookbooks always gets me excited about cooking. Even if I don’t end up following a specific recipe, they promise new flavour combinations and ingredients.
Madhur Jaffrey’s Curry Easy Vegetarian is a classic that’s stood the test of time – my go-to for easy meat-free Indian dishes.
Cook This Book by Molly Baz is bursting with delicious ideas (her brown butter banana cake is insanely good) and the links to how-to videos are handy to help hone your techniques.
I want to make and eat all of the deceptively simple Mediterranean dishes in Georgina Hayden’s Nistisima, which happen to be vegan.
Ixta Belfrage is an Ottolenghi alumni and her debut cookbook, Mexcla, is a riot of colours, flavours and textures.
For pasta, I always turn to Rachel Roddy – her A - Z of Pasta contains not just brilliant recipes but fascinating food stories alongside.
Meera Sodha’s East is one of the most sauce-splattered books in my collection – everything I’ve made from it has been a resounding success.