5 Ingredients Mediterranean Dishes Out Flavour Without the Fuss
Chef Jamie Oliver is back with the follow-up to his most popular cookbook to date — this time inspired by the food from his travels — 5 Ingredients Mediterranean. This eagerly awaited new cookbook follows the tremendous success of its predecessor, 5 Ingredients, which has sold over 3.3 million copies worldwide, across 24 territories.
With over 125 utterly delicious, easy-to-follow recipes, 5 Ingredients Mediterranean is all about bringing cuisine from your travels home with you by making everyday cooking super exciting, with minimal fuss. You’ll find recipes to empower you to make incredibly delicious food without copious amounts of ingredients, long shopping lists or loads of washing up, such as Winter Greens Gnocchi, Quick Crispy Duck, Chestnut Carbonara, Apple Tart, and Baked Cheesecake, among many others. Over half of the recipes are meat-free or meat-reduced, and all offer big, bold flavours.
This book is a celebration of nutritious Mediterranean-inspired dishes for everyday eating and occasional show-stopping dishes for weekends and special occasions. Plus, the deliciously vibrant pages of 5 Ingredients Mediterranean will transport you to the diverse countries, cities, and islands that inspired the book, including photos from Jamie’s travels.
ROASTED CAULIFLOWER WITHCHEAT’ S ROMESCO SAUCE & CRUSHED ROASTED ALMONDS
Life is better with romesco sauce in it! Whether you’re using it to celebrate beautiful vegetables, like this cauliflower, or eating it with fish, poultry or lamb, it’s a joy to make and a pleasure to eat.
SERVES 4 – TOTAL 45 MINUTES
1 head of cauliflower (1¾ lbs.)
4 cloves of garlic
3½ oz sourdough bread
1¾ oz blanched almonds
16 oz jarred roasted red peppers
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Trim away just the tatty outer leaves and the end of the stalk from the cauliflower, then halve, slice into 1¼-inch wedges and sit them in a roasting pan. Toss with a little olive oil, red wine vinegar, sea salt and black pepper, and roast for 35 minutes, or until beautifully golden and tender. Meanwhile, peel the garlic, tear the bread into small chunks, and place it on a roasting pan with the almonds. Place in the oven when the cauliflower has just 15 minutes to go.
When the time’s up, remove the pans from the oven. Reserve a handful of almonds, then place the rest in a blender with the garlic and toasted bread, drain and add the peppers, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a swig of red wine vinegar, and whiz until silky-smooth. Loosen with a splash of water, if needed, then taste and season to perfection. Pour onto a serving plate, sit the cauliflower on top, then bash or chop the reserved almonds and sprinkle over, to serve.
QUICK CRISPY DUCK – CREAMY WHITE BEANS, CHARRED BROCCOLINI, ORANGE & SAGE
Celebrating some classic French ingredients, this exciting dish is about big flavour and texture, but minimum work. Plus, it’s on the table in only 20 minutes, making it a perfect midweek dinner for two.
SERVES 2 – TOTAL 22 MINUTES
2 x 5-oz duck breast fillets, skin on
2 sprigs of sage
½ lb purple broccolini 1 large juicy orange
1 x 15-oz jar of cannellini beans or
15 oz canned cannellini beans
Score the duck skin, rub it all over with sea salt and black pepper, then place the fillets skin-side down in a cold non-stick frying pan and turn the heat on to medium. Cook for 8 minutes without moving the duck, until the fat is well rendered, and the skin is golden and crisp. Turn the duck over and cook for a further 4 minutes, basting with the fat. Meanwhile, pick the sage leaves. Trim the broccolini stalks, halving the stems lengthways. Top and tail the orange, trim off the skin, slice into rounds or segments and toss with 1 teaspoon of red wine vinegar and a small pinch of salt and pepper.
When the time’s up, remove the duck to a plate to rest, leaving the pan on the heat. Add the sage leaves for 1 minute, or until crispy, jiggling the pan occasionally and transferring them to the duck plate as you go. Cook the broccolini in the pan for 4 minutes, or until lightly charred. Pour in the beans (juices and all), then cover and cook for 3 minutes. Season to perfection, divide between plates and drizzle over any resting juices. Slice the duck arrange it on top, and scatter over the crispy sage and orange.
APPLE TART – STICKY APRICOT GLAZE, FLAKED ALMONDS & ICE CREAM
Inspired by the classic French tartlets you can find in patisseries; I’m using store-bought pastry for convenience. Topped with vanilla ice cream, this is a lovely little number to have up your sleeve.
SERVES 8 – TOTAL 50 MINUTES
1 x sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry (about 11 oz) (cold)
7 oz apricot jam
4 eating apples
1 tablespoon flaked almonds vanilla ice cream, to serve
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Unroll the pastry sheet on its paper and place on a baking sheet, then score a 1/2-inch border around the edge (don’t cut all the way through). Heat the jam in a pan over a low heat for 30 seconds, just to loosen, stirring occasionally. Very finely slice the apples into rounds, discarding any seeds (use a mandoline, with a guard, if you have one). Toss the apple with the apricot jam and arrange nicely, in layers, inside the border, hiding any smaller tattier bits of apple underneath. Cook at the bottom of the oven for 30 minutes, or until beautifully golden and cooked through, scattering over the almonds for the last 5 minutes. Slice up and serve topped with balls of vanilla ice cream.
