Simple baked salmon with dill yoghurt

DELICIOUS SERVED WITH MY ITALIAN FARRO SALAD

This simple veggie salad really brings out the lovely nutty flavour of the farro – delicious!

Ingredients

• 3 kg whole salmon , from sustainable sources, ask your fishmonger, scaled, filleted and pin-boned, or use 2x1.2kg sides of salmon fillet
• 8 sprigs fresh rosemary
• extra virgin olive oil
• FOR THE DILL YOGHURT
• 500 g fat free natural yoghurt
• 1 bunch fresh dill , chopped
• 1 lemon , juice and zest of

  Method

  This is an easy way of cooking whole salmon fillets. It’s simple to serve and just as good cold as it is hot. If you’re not sure how to prepare the fish, get your fishmonger to do it for you.
  
  I’ve cooked it on a wooden plank in my outdoor wood-fired oven, but you can cook it in a large roasting tray in the oven.
  
  Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6. Place the salmon fillets skin-side down in a large clean roasting tray – cut each in half if they don’t fit. Lay the rosemary on top and drizzle with olive oil. Gently rub the oil and rosemary all over the fish, and season. Bake for 20 minutes or until just cooked. (Alternatively, place on a clean smooth wooden plank and cook in an outdoor wood-fired oven for 20 minutes.) 
  
  Meanwhile, mix the yoghurt and dill with the grated zest of the lemon, a few drops of juice and season. Cut portions of salmon off the skin and serve with the Italian farro salad.

Mexican refried beans

Ingredients

• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 fresh red chilli
• 1 bunch of fresh coriander
• 1 small jar of roasted peppers
• olive oil
• 3 x 400 g tins of beans , such as cannellini, kidney
• 4 large free-range eggs
• 1 lime

  Method

  Peel and finely slice the garlic, deseed and finely slice the chilli and pick the coriander leaves and finely slice the stalks. Drain and finely chop the peppers.
  
  In a large frying pan, heat a splash of oil and fry the garlic, chilli and coriander stalks for 1 to 2 minutes, or until golden. 
  
  Drain the beans, then add along with the peppers, then season to taste. Fry for 15 to 20 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally, until crispy. 
  
  Poach the eggs. Finely chop the reserved coriander leaves, and cut the lime into wedges.
  
  Serve a spoonful of beans topped with a poached egg, chopped coriander leaves and a wedge of lime for squeezing over.

Asparagus frittata

Use wild or thin asparagus such as sprue – the spears from the first picking.

Ingredients

• 6 large free-range eggs
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 knob of unsalted butter
• 1 bunch of small asparagus

  Method

  Preheat the oven to 180ºC/gas 4. 
  
  Beat the eggs with a little sea salt and black pepper. 
  
  Heat the oil and butter in a 19cm ovenproof frying pan or cast-iron dish over a medium heat. Trim and add the asparagus for 5 minutes. 
  
  Add the eggs, cook for 3 minutes then bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden and fluffy. 
  
  Serve hot or cold, with a drizzle of hot sauce, such as harissa, if you like.

Breakfast couscous

Couscous lends itself perfectly to being eaten for breakfast. It can be steamed in a couscoussière or simply left to soak in boiling water for 10 minutes, then fluffed up with a fork

Ingredients

• 200 g couscous
• 30 g raisins
• 30 g flaked almonds
• 30 g pine nuts
• 30 g shelled unsalted pistachios
• 2-3 pinches of ground cinnamon , (more or less to taste)
• 2-4 tablespoons icing sugar , (more or less to taste)
• 1 teaspoon rose water , optional
• 1 orange , optional
• 200 ml skimmed milk

  Method

  Prepare the couscous by placing it in a bowl and covering it with 500ml boiling water. Let it stand for 10 minutes until the water is absorbed, then fluff up with a fork.
  
  Soak the raisins in lukewarm water for 15 minutes until softened, then drain. 
  
  Toast the almonds and pine nuts by placing them in a dry frying pan over a medium heat and stirring for 2 to 3 minutes, until golden brown. 
  
  Roughly chop the pistachios and add to the couscous. Add the raisins, almonds, pine nuts, cinnamon, sugar and rosewater (if using) and gently toss together.
  
  Serve warm or at room temperature with a few gratings of orange zest (if using) to garnish. Warm and serve the milk on the side for pouring over.

Omelette aux fines herbes

The original, and best, simple Sunday supper for one. 

Ingredients

• 2 large free-range eggs , at room temperature
• a few sprigs of mixed herbs, such as chives, tarragon, chervil and parsley
• 1 large knob of butter

Method

Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk lightly with a fork. Chop and add the herbs and season with sea salt and black pepper.

Heat the butter in a 23cm non-stick or cast-iron pan over a medium-high heat until foaming. 

Once the foam dies down, pour in the egg mixture and gently shake the pan to distribute. Cook for 20 seconds or so, until it begins to bubble, then draw it into the centre with a wooden spoon and shake the pan again to redistribute the uncooked egg.

Cook the omelette until the base is set, but it is still slightly runny in the middle (unless you don’t like that). 

Remove the pan from the heat and fold 2 sides into the middle. Shake the pan so the edges roll together then turn the omelette onto a plate, folding it over in the process. Serve with crusty bread.