Cooking Made Simple
by Alexandra Dudley
(Ebury Press, £28)
Photography by Ola O. Smit
Three Simple Spring Recipes for Dinner
Fresh salads, hearty dinners and moreish desserts - this is seasonal cooking at its finest
Cooking Made Simple by celebrated food writer Alexandra Dudley is curated for home cooks who seek effortless recipes with minimal fuss, built around familiar techniques and straightforward, winning flavours. Here, she shares three of her favourites.
Asparagus and Green Bean Mimosa Salad
I love this salad. Crunchy and satisfying, it is one that I often make for lunch. The eggs are pleasingly filling, while perky blanched greens and toasted pine nuts deliver on crunch. All you need is a fork and perhaps a wedge of good bread to mop up the last of the dressing. The classic mimosa salad is something you’ll often see on a French menu, and is traditionally made with hard-boiled eggs that are then usually finely grated or traditionally pushed through a sieve. I prefer my eggs on the jammy side and so keep them halved or quartered. I love the addition of green beans for a bit more bite and often make it with green beans alone when asparagus is not in season. Tarragon is wonderful here, but feel free to switch things up with parsley, chives or dill. Toasted almonds, walnuts or sunflower seeds are lovely in the place of pine nuts, too.
Serves
4
Time:
20 minutes
Ingredients
- 30g pine nuts
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 bunches of asparagus
- 300g green beans
- 2 tbsp capers, rinsed and drained
- Small bunch of tarragon (about 20g), leaves roughly chopped (about 2 tbsp)
- For the dressing
- 1 heaped tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
- Olive oil
Method
Toast the pine nuts first by cooking them in a dry frying pan over a gentle heat until golden brown. Allow to cool. Bring a pan of water to the boil. Lower in the eggs and boil for seven minutes. After seven minutes, scoop the eggs out of the pan and immediately plunge them into a bowl of ice-cold water. Let them cool for five minutes.
Meanwhile, trim away any woody ends from the asparagus and pinch off the top stalks from the beans. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, then blanch the asparagus with the green beans for two to three minutes. Drain the vegetables while they are still crisp, then plunge them into ice-cold water to stop them cooking further. Drain again and pat dry with a clean tea towel.
In a large bowl, whisk together the mustard and vinegar along with enough olive oil to create a glossy, emulsified dressing. Using the flat of your knife, run the blade over the capers to roughly smoosh them. Add the capers and the chopped tarragon to the dressing bowl.
Toss the asparagus and beans into the bowl, then add the toasted pine nuts. Transfer everything to a serving plate. When cool enough to handle, peel the boiled eggs. Halve or quarter the eggs and arrange them over the salad. Finish with more chopped tarragon, if you like.
Do Aheads
Every ingredient in this salad benefits from being cool, so you can blanch the asparagus and beans ahead of time and keep in the fridge. Toss everything with the dressing just before serving. The dressing can be made ahead of time – there is no need to refrigerate it.
Herby Meatballs with Green Tahini
If you are thinking of classic Italian meatballs in a slow-cooked tomato sauce, these are not that. They are light, zesty and full of herbs and are what I make when I am in need of a speedy supper as they require little preparation. I tend to make them on a whim, picking up the meat and herbs on my way home. The spices are ones always found in my cupboard, and hopefully in yours, too. The za’atar is not essential but it is a lovely addition and can be found in most supermarkets these days. My husband loves these meatballs folded into a wrap or flatbread, while I love them with a zippy salad or crunchy slaw. The green tahini is a must and can be whizzed up in no time
Serves
4
Time:
30 minutes
Ingredients
- For the meatballs
- 500g lean beef mince
- 1 red onion, grated using the coarse side of a box grater
- 2 fat garlic cloves, finely grated
- Grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1⁄2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1⁄2 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp za’atar (or increase the ground coriander to 2 tsp)
- 1 heaped tsp coarse sea salt flakes
- Small bunch of dill (approx. 25g), finely chopped, plus an extra handful to serve
- Handful of mint leaves (approx. 15g), finely chopped, plus an extra handful to serve
- Handful of parsley (approx. 15g), roughly chopped, plus an extra handful to serve
- Olive oil
- To serve
- Green tahini
- Freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus extra wedges
Method
To make the meatballs, place all the ingredients, except the olive oil, in a large bowl. Using your hands, mix everything together well, breaking down the mince and ensuring all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Divide the mixture into four, then divide each quarter further into four evenly-sized meatballs. Compress each one a few times in your hands before shaping them into an even round. You will end up with 16 meatballs.
Heat two to three tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium-low heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the meatballs to the pan. You may need to cook them in batches. Cook the meatballs for about four minutes, turning them regularly so they cook evenly. You are looking for the meatballs to brown but not char. Once they are seared all over, reduce the heat to the lowest level and cook for a further four minutes, gently shaking the pan every so often.
Spoon most of the green tahini onto a serving plate, then top with the meatballs. Squeeze over some fresh lemon juice, add a drizzle of olive oil and scatter over the extra herbs. Serve with fresh lemon wedges for squeezing over and any remaining green tahini on the side.
Do Aheads
The meatballs can be prepared up to a day ahead and kept refrigerated.
Pistachio Tiramisu
Growing up, tiramisu was my favourite pudding. In fact, it still is. However, by some cruel twist of fate, I have married a man who does not like tiramisu. While that is fine in a restaurant (more for me), it does mean that I usually only make it at home when we have people coming over. I made this version in an attempt to sway my husband as he loves pistachio anything. It sort of worked. His response was ‘I don’t hate it’. Just the sort of thing you want to hear when you’ve lovingly made pudding. But don’t take his word for it, take mine instead – it is delicious.
Serves
12
Time
25 minutes, plus at least 4 hours chilling
Ingredients
- 2 eggs, separated, plus 1 egg white
- 100g caster sugar
- 450g mascarpone
- 175g pistachio paste or pistachio cream
- 150ml strong brewed coffee, cooled
- 75ml coffee liqueur (I use Kahlúa)
- 75ml almond liqueur, such as Amaretto (or you can use Frangelico for a hazelnut flavour or Cointreau for an orange flavour)
- About 30 savoiardi (ladyfinger) biscuits
- 75g pistachios, roughly chopped
Method
You will also need a deep bowl or serving dish. I use a round glass trifle bowl which is 28-cm wide and seven centimetres deep.
In a large bowl using an electric whisk, beat the two egg yolks with 50g of the caster sugar until pale and fluffy. Then, switching to a handheld whisk so as not to over-beat them, beat in the mascarpone and pistachio paste/cream until smooth.
In a separate large, grease-free bowl, whisk the three egg whites until frothy. Add the remaining 50g of caster sugar and beat to firm peaks. Fold half the beaten egg whites into the pistachio-mascarpone mixture to loosen it, then gently fold in the rest until you have a light, fluffy mix.
Combine the coffee, coffee liqueur and almond liqueur in a small bowl or measuring jug. One by one, briefly dunk each savoiardi biscuit in the liquid, turning once to ensure it is moistened evenly.
Arrange a layer of the coffee-dipped savoiardi biscuits over the base of your serving dish. Spoon in half of the pistachio-mascarpone mixture and gently spread to cover the biscuits. Arrange another layer of the remaining coffee-dipped savoiardi biscuits over the top, then gently spread over the remaining pistachio-mascarpone mixture. To finish, scatter over the chopped pistachios.
Allow the tiramisu to rest in the fridge for at least four hours or ideally overnight, before serving.
