Lamb shakshuka with chargrilled aubergine and garlic yoghurt

Inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi

In my last post, I shared Dr Shakshuka’s traditional Israeli shakshuka, which he demonstrates to Ottolenghi in the last episode of Ottolenghi’s Mediterranean Feasts. In this programme, Ottolenghi also makes his own version of shakshuka with beef and smoked aubergine.

“I have a feeling that what I am doing is slightly sacrilegious” says Ottolenghi.

You can see from his amused expression that Dr Shakshuka agrees.

“If you want to call it a shakshuka, then it’s a shakshuka” he says.

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Dr Shakshuka

Shakshuka is my new favourite weekend brunch. I was introduced to it via Ottolenghi’s Mediterranean Feast on Channel 4. In the last episode, Ottolenghi visits Israel where he grew up. Everything looks so delicious that it made me want to book a holiday right there and then. Since I’m a poor student and can’t afford that any time soon, I’ve made do with cooking this at home. Frequently.

Shakshuka “was brought to Israel by Tunisian Jews. It is a rustic concoction of eggs poached in a fiery tomato sauce, a bit like a sort of spicy fry up” says Ottolenghi. “It’s great for brunch and a fantastic hangover cure.”

There are lots of other versions out there, for example, the Italians do uova in purgatorio (eggs in purgatory) and the Morrocans do it in a tagine with lamb. I think the traditional Israeli version is my favourite though, not in small part because it includes my favourite sausages, merguez. 

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Tapas no.5: Two tortillas

 

As you may have gathered, I am loving the Movida Rustica book, but one thing I have found is that it tends towards more obscure recipes using unusual or ‘fancy’ ingredients which, apart from being difficult to source, are not fully representative of the type of food one finds in a typical Spanish restaurant. I was surprised, for example, that there is no recipe for tortilla de patatas  or Spanish omelette, a dish that you would have to go very far out of your way to avoid when dining out in Spain, or at least in Andalucia. Fortunately, my host Mum in Seville taught me the tricks of the trade and, although I have still never made one as good as hers, I am getting closer with each try.

The first recipe below is for a traditional Spanish tortilla based on Carmen’s recipe. I asked Carmen why my tortilla was never as good, I talked her through my recipe and at the first step we discovered my main problem; I was cooking the garlic. Carmen puts her garlic in raw, or at least some of it, and WOW does it make a difference. In addition to parboiling her potatoes, Carmen also deep fries them. However, I don’t think this makes a significant difference to the flavour and given this is already a high calorie dish it seems a bit like overkill.

The second recipe is from Movida Rustica, a spinach and white bean tortilla in saffron sauce. I have made this several times now, sometimes substituting asparagus for spinach. I have to admit to being a bit of a traditionalist and still favouring tortilla de patatas, but this is great if you are hosting a tapas themed dinner party and want to impress with something more exotic. 

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Tapas no.4: Ensalada Campera from Movida Rustica

 

Next up is a dish that may seem a bit simple to some, but it is one of my favourite things to order on a hot day in Spain and I was so pleased when I was reminded of it. When talking potato salad in the UK or Oz, most people think mayonnaise. Of course, mayonnaise has its place – indeed in Spain Ensalada Rusa, a potato salad which has more mayonnaise than it does potato is very popular – but in the height of summer it is this light and fresh salad of potatoes dressed in vinegar and olive oil that win my heart and apparently Camorra’s too,

“Mum would always have a potato salad in the fridge over summer: roughly cut potatoes, ripe tomatoes, onions, olives and a little egg. A little plate of this makes a great lunch on a hot day.”

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Pam Corbin's Bramley lemon curd

How does it always end up getting so busy at this time of year? Two months ago I was starting to contemplate Christmas shopping and in an ideal world my next sentence would be: “A month later I decided to bite the bullet and get it done early this year”. No such luck. More important engagements have kept popping up and it has been sidelined, postponed, rescheduled and then put off again. As a result I have spent the past two nights on the high street in an effort to avoid the weekend crowds and am still going to have to spend at least two more nights there because, although I thought about the task a few months ago, I did not consider what I would actually buy.

I did have the foresight to save myself one trip though. Last weekend we had an early Christmas dinner with my Mums’s side of the family. There were quite a few people to buy for, some of whom I hadn’t seen in a long time, so rather than getting them all a generic present from the gift section at John Lewis, I decided to make something. I cannot draw, paint, knit or sew so that meant cooking.

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