Notes about Recipes in this book

• Tomato, date & chickpea tagine

  • Emily Hope on April 25, 2019

    This was totally delicious! A delightful surprise--it would never have occurred to me to blend dates into tomato sauce, but it worked. I scaled back slightly (maybe by 20%) on the dates, and it was still pretty sweet, so if you don't like sweet mixed with savory this may not be for you. With salted lemon yogurt and Indian lime pickle on the side, the balance worked for us. My only other change was to blend all the tomatoes rather than set some aside (I'm not a big fan of the texture of diced canned tomatoes). Served with couscous that had been tossed with some salted butter, toasted chopped almonds, parsley, and cilantro. Fast enough for weeknights. Will definitely be a repeat for us!

• Tomato, courgette & tarragon galette

  • Astrid5555 on June 29, 2021

    Using store-bought shortcrust pastry, this is a perfect no-fuss, summer weeknight dinner. Liked the fact that this galette is without the usual egg-custard, ricotta cheese, etc. addition, using only grated cheese (in my case Emmenthal) as a base.

• Quinoa fritters with green goddess sauce

  • eeeve on February 17, 2021

    Made only the fritters from this recipe, which we thought were really nice. The lemon zest gave them a nice fresh taste. Subbed spinach for spring onions and dill for parsley and mint. Served with a leftover tomato/harissa sauce with a green salad on the side.

• Leek, artichoke & feta filo pie

  • eeeve on June 05, 2019

    First recipe I made from this book; the pie (I would rather say it's a quiche/tart) tastes okay but I don't think it's great enough to be doing this specific recipe again. (Though the husband loved it!) I used ricotta instead of cottage cheese and a can of artichoke hearts in brine as opposed to the jarred oiled version. Which was fine I think - the oil type ones might impart a bit more flavour though. The filo surprisingly held the filling together nicely; it looks different from your regular tart.

• Sri Lankan potato & aubergine curry

  • eeeve on March 03, 2021

    Halfway through cooking I realised I didn't have any coconut milk in, therefore used a can of tomatoes. And added a can of chickpeas for some protein. The curry came out okay, but I don't think I like the texture of aubergines in curries. Probably won't repeat, but that's really just personal preference.

• Tomato fritters with butter beans & feta

  • sarahj22 on May 14, 2020

    My husband and I both really enjoyed these. I like how some ingredients do double duty in seasoning both the fritters and the beans. My first batch were slightly bland, but after adding more salt to the mixture the next batch was much tastier. So season generously.

• Spiced Persian chicken skewers

  • lou_weez on January 17, 2021

    Tasty, simple dish. I didn't have saffron so my marinade was quite pink, which was a bit weird. I also marinated the chicken for longer than suggested (8 hours) and I don't think there were any adverse effects. Would definitely make these again.

• Chocolate, rye & banana pancakes

  • lou_weez on January 08, 2021

    My teenagers loved these. They feel so decadent, but are somewhat healthier than a regular pancake. Made 6 12cm diameter pancakes, using 2 huge bananas.

• Lamb ragù with green olives, peas & ‘nduja

  • Pamsy on November 21, 2021

    This was very good, albeit with a few omissions. No fresh herbs, 'nduja or peas. Subbed Waitrose black Moroccan olives for green. Otherwise made as written, served with fusilli. The next evening, the ragu was layered up with sliced potatoes and topped with a bechamel sprinkled with parmesan. A sort of aubergineless moussaka! This was also very tasty. Both dishes will definitely be repeated.

• Greens, pancetta, garlic & chilli [pasta]

  • Pamsy on November 26, 2020

    We really enjoyed this, much more than the sum of its parts. Used chipotle chilli flakes, serrano ham and the last of our home grown cherry tomatoes along with half a sweetheart cabbage. We both thought you could add black olives for colour and flavour. Would never have thought of combining these ingredients but as ever EYB came up trumps!

• Prawn fideua

  • Pamsy on November 01, 2020

    We enjoyed this although it looked nothing like the photo in the book and I'm not sure why. Linguine was the thinnest pasta in the cupboard which admittedly is a lot thicker than vermicelli. I seemed to have more sauce in my dish and didn't get the crunchy effect the author mentions. I will make again after ordering fideos noodles from Brindisa.

• Prawn & courgette [pasta]

  • Pamsy on October 29, 2021

    This was good and easy for a weeknight. One medium courgette and a dozen cherry tomatoes and a pack of large ready cooked prawns were the basis. Worth repeating.