TASTE OF HOME
These dishes from Home Foods by Elizabeth Hewson prove great cooking doesn’t need to be complicated. A few honest ingredients and you’re away.
These dishes from Home Foods by Elizabeth Hewson prove great cooking doesn’t need to be complicated. A few honest ingredients and you’re away.
CRISPY SAUSAGE, TOMATOES AND GARLIC GREENS ON POLENTA
This is a very ‘me’ bowl of food: garlic, chilli, lemon, greens, sweet, blistered cherry tomatoes and gnarly, crispy pork sausages, all piled onto a bed of buttery, cheesy polenta. I know purists may baulk at the idea of instant polenta, but for a midweek meal, cooked with plenty of butter and cheese, I’m all for it. If polenta isn’t your thing, toss this through pasta or stir in a can of drained beans when you add the greens.
SERVES 2
INGREDIENTS
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
4 good-quality Italian pork and fennel sausages 200g cherry tomatoes
1 tsp fennel seeds
½ tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp rosemary leaves, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
½ cup dry white wine
½ cup chicken stock
80g kale, leaves stripped and roughly chopped
1 lemon
Quick polenta
1 cup full-cream milk
450ml chicken stock or water (or a combination of both)
100g instant polenta
1 tbsp butter
½ cup Parmigiano Reggiano or Parmesan, grated, plus extra to serve
METHOD
Heat a deep, heavy-based frying pan with a lid over medium-high heat. Once hot, pour in the olive oil.
Cut the ends off the sausages and squeeze out nuggets of meat into the pan. Fry for 5 minutes, using a wooden spoon to break up the meat into small nuggets, until they're golden and crisp.
Throw in the tomatoes and leave to cook undisturbed for 2 minutes, to get some colour on the tomatoes.
Add the fennel seeds, chilli flakes, rosemary and garlic, and give everything a good toss.
Cook for 30 seconds, then pour in the white wine to deglaze the pan. Using a wooden spoon, scrape all that sticky goodness off the base of the pan. Let the wine simmer for 2 minutes, then pour in the chicken stock and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for another 5 minutes for the flavours to mingle.
Meanwhile, to prepare your polenta, bring the milk, stock and water to a simmer. Add the polenta in a steady stream, whisking as you go. Continue to whisk the polenta for 3–5 minutes, until thickened. Once it’s thick and oozy, stir in the butter and cheese. Season.
Now, back to your sausage. Add the chopped greens to the pan, toss through, then put on the lid. Give it a minute or two to wilt, then toss and turn off the heat.
Zest the lemon over the top and add a squeeze of juice to brighten everything up. Spoon the sausage mixture over the creamy polenta with extra Parmigiano Reggiano showered over the top, and a little kiss of olive oil.
Leftovers: This will keep for 3 days, but it’s best to keep the polenta and sausage mixture separate.
FISH PUTTANESCA WITH
GARLIC AND CHIVE BREAD
This is a one-pot fish dish with all the punchy, briny flavours of a puttanesca – anchovies, olives, capers, chilli and a good hit of garlic – only here, they’re wrapped around fillets of fish instead of pasta. Like puttanesca, which was famously thrown together from pantry staples, this comes together with little effort but delivers big on flavour. A side of garlic bread to mop up the sauce is non-negotiable for me.
SERVES 4
INGREDIENTS
3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 anchovy fillets
Pinch of dried chilli flakes (optional), plus extra to serve
⅓ cup dry white wine
1 × 400g can cherry tomatoes
200g whole cherry tomatoes
½ cup Italian black or green olives, pitted
2 tbsp capers in vinegar, drained
½ cup basil leaves, plus extra to serve
½ tsp caster sugar
4 × centre-cut fillets of firm white or pink-fleshed (trout or salmon) fish
1 lemon, for zesting
Garlic and chive bread
60g salted butter, at room temperature
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 tbsp chives, finely chopped
1 small loaf ciabatta or baguette
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350˚F) fan-forced. In a large frying pan with a lid, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, anchovies and chilli flakes, if using. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring to help the anchovies melt into the oil. Pour in the white wine and let it bubble, simmering for about 2 minutes until it starts to reduce. Add the canned cherry tomatoes, then rinse out the can with about ¼ cup water and pour that in too. Stir in the whole cherry tomatoes, olives, capers, half the basil, and the sugar. Taste, and add a pinch of salt if needed. Cover and let it simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens slightly.
Meanwhile, for the garlic and chive bread, mash the butter, garlic and chives together in a bowl. Slice into the baguette at 1 cm intervals, stopping just before the base so it stays intact. Using a teaspoon, smear the garlic butter between the slices. Wrap the bread in foil and bake for 15 minutes, until the butter has melted. Open up the foil slightly so the top of the bread is exposed and cook for a further 5 minutes, until golden and toasted.
Once the sauce has had its 10 minutes, nestle in the fish. Season each piece with salt, pepper and a lick of the remaining olive oil, then lay the remaining basil leaves over the top. Reduce the heat to low, put the lid back on, and poach the fish gently for 6–8 minutes, until it’s opaque and flakes easily with a fork.
When the fish is ready, zest some lemon over the top and serve, spooning the sauce over the fish. Scatter with basil leaves, a pinch of dried chilli and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve with the warm garlic and chive bread to mop up every bit.
Leftovers: This will keep in the fridge for 2 days.
INSTANT CHOCOLATE MASCARPONE CREAMS
Although I mostly prefer to serve dessert in the centre of the table to allow guests to help themselves, I will admit there’s a certain elegance about individual servings. These billowy creams look beautiful in little glasses, but don’t let your eyes get the better of you – they’re rich, so a little goes a long way. They do need to be made in the moment and served straight away, but considering the effortlessness of them, this shouldn’t be cause for concern. Berries make the perfect partner, especially big, fat strawberries that can be dipped and twirled in the chocolate cream.
SERVES 4
INGREDIENTS
120g dark chocolate (70%), roughly chopped
1 egg
250g mascarpone
1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
¼ cup full-cream milk
To serve
Salt flakes
Fruit of your choice, such as berries or cherries
METHOD
Fill a medium-sized saucepan with roughly 4cm water. Place over medium heat and bring to a gentle simmer. Suspend a heatproof bowl on top of the pan, ensuring it fits snugly but doesn’t touch the water. Reduce the heat if needed to maintain the gentle simmer, then add the chocolate and slowly let it melt, giving it a stir to encourage it. Once melted, take it off the heat and immediately whisk in the egg. The mixture will become very thick and shiny. Add the mascarpone and vanilla and continue to whisk until combined. Pour in the milk to loosen things up. You should have lovely, billowy cream. Spoon into small glasses or bowls and sprinkle with salt flakes, then serve immediately with the fruit.
OLIVE OIL CAKE WITH LEMON AND THYME GLAZE
This olive oil cake is hard to beat. Irresistibly moist with a golden crust, it’s rich, flavourful and achingly simple. In fact, it’s about as straightforward as a cake gets. It suits any occasion, equally happy served for morning tea or rolled out for dessert (with the help of a little cream). It’s a cake that takes me through the seasons, as I serve it with the best fruit of the moment. Sometimes I’ll poach the fruit, other times I’ll serve it fresh – always with a dollop of crème fraîche or thick Greek yoghurt.
SERVES 8
INGREDIENTS
2 cups plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1½ cups caster sugar
½ tsp salt flakes
3 eggs, whisked
1 cup full-cream milk
1 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
Zest of 1 lemon
¼ cup lemon juice
Lemon and thyme glaze
45ml lemon juice
115g caster sugar
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
To serve
Sliced peaches (or your favourite fruit)
Crème fraîche or Greek yoghurt (optional)
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 170˚C fan-forced. Oil a 20cm round cake tin with high sides, then line the base and sides with baking paper. I like to have a 5-10cm overhang of baking paper to encourage the cake to rise evenly. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt. In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, olive oil, vanilla paste, and lemon zest and juice. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until combined.
Pour the mixture into your prepared cake tin and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is a beautiful golden colour and a skewer comes out clean. The cake sides will also be coming away from the tin. Leave the cake in the tin for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and turn it out onto a cooling rack.
While the cake is cooling in the tin, mix the glaze together by combining all of the ingredients. Once you’ve turned the cake out, flip it right-side up onto a cooling rack and drizzle the glaze over the top.
Leave to cool completely (for at least 1 hour) before slicing.
Serve with fruit and crème fraîche or thick Greek yoghurt, drizzled with olive oil. Leftovers: This cake will keep quite happily for 3 days in a sealed container at room temperature.