Ripped pasta with roasted tomatoes, pecorino & chilli. Photo / Babiche Martens
Good From Scratch showcases well-known chef and television presenter Michael Van de Elzen’s favourite recipes. Full of classic recipes with a twist, the book also focuses on seasonality. Here are four dishes you’ll want to put in high rotation now and for sunny days ahead.
Serves: 6
2 cups sorghum
Pinch fine sea salt
¼ cup pine nuts
½ cup pumpkin seeds
½ cup sunflower seeds
Flaky sea salt, to taste
200g green beans
2 cups fresh broad beans in their shells
3 Tbsp capers
1 cup fresh basil
3 Tbsp grapeseed oil
½ cup finely grated parmesan
1 lemon, shredded zest and juice of
Cracked pepper, to taste
2 spring onions, finely sliced
2 cups pea tendrils
100g sheep’s feta, crumbled
1. Place the sorghum and fine sea salt in a medium pot and cover with water to 3cm above the sorghum. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally and topping up with water if required. Once tender, drain and set aside.
2. Preheat your oven to 180C fan bake. Place the pine nuts and the pumpkin and sunflower seeds separately on an oven tray and roast until golden. Set the pine nuts aside for the pesto. Lightly season the pumpkin and sunflower seeds with flaky sea salt and set aside.
3. Bring a medium pot of water to the boil. Drop in the beans and count to 10 before removing them and dropping them into a bowl of iced water to halt the cooking. Repeat with the broad beans. Drain both, then roughly chop the beans and shell the broad beans.
4. To make the caper pesto, place the pine nuts in a food processor with the capers and basil and blitz quickly. Add the oil, parmesan and lemon juice and blitz again. Season to taste with flaky sea salt and pepper.
5. Place the sorghum in a large bowl and add the green beans, broad beans, caper pesto, spring onions and half the pumpkin and sunflower seeds. Mix well before spreading out on to a platter. Top with the pea tendrils, feta, lemon zest and the remaining pumpkin and sunflower seeds.
Serves 4
12 tomatoes in a variety of colours and sizes
¼ cup olive oil
1 cup roughly chopped fresh thyme, rosemary or other hard herbs
Flaky sea salt and cracked pepper, to taste
400g dried lasagne sheets
6 cloves garlic, crushed
2 red chillies, finely sliced
1 cup shaved pecorino
Fresh basil, to garnish
1. Preheat your oven to 200C fan bake. Line an oven tray with baking paper.
2. Halve the large tomatoes, keeping the small ones whole, and arrange in a single layer on the prepared tray. Drizzle with 2 Tbsp of oil and sprinkle with the herbs, salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes or until they just begin to collapse (you want them to still hold their shape). Set aside.
3. While the tomatoes are cooking, snap the dried lasagne sheets in half.
4. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook pasta until al dente. Drain well, reserving a little pasta water in case you need it later.
5. Heat the remaining 2 Tbsp of oil in a large pot over a low heat. Gently fry the garlic and chillies without allowing the garlic to colour. Once fragrant, add the drained pasta. You now want to constantly be flipping and moving your pasta in the pot. Add a touch of the reserved pasta water if it starts to stick. The oil and water should come together into an emulsion, clinging to your pasta.
6. To serve, loosely layer the pasta and roasted tomatoes in a large bowl and garnish with pecorino and basil.
Serves 6–8
2kg chicken wings
500ml sweet apple cider or unsweetened apple or pineapple juice
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
¼ cup Dijon mustard
¼ cup honey
3 Tbsp smoked paprika
3 Tbsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp fish sauce
2 Tbsp onion powder
2 Tbsp chilli flakes
2 Tbsp cracked pepper
1 Tbsp fine sea salt
Finely sliced red chilli and fresh coriander leaves, to garnish
Quick sweet chilli sauce
Makes 1 cup
400g can chopped tomatoes
3 Tbsp cider vinegar
2 Tbsp honey
1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
¼ tsp allspice
Pinch flaky sea salt
1. To make the quick sweet chilli sauce, place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Season with salt to taste. Can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 month.
2. To make the jerk chicken wings, place the chicken wings in a plastic bag with all the ingredients except the garnishes and turn to coat. Marinate overnight in the fridge.
3. Preheat your oven to 160C fan bake. Line 2 roasting dishes with baking paper.
4. Lay the chicken wings out in a single layer and roast for 40 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. Serve topped with quick sweet chilli sauce, fresh chilli and coriander.
Serves 6
400ml almond milk
3 tsp gelatine
500g cream cheese
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 lemon, juice only
2 oranges
½ cup pistachios, roasted then lightly crushed
Edible flower petals, for garnish
Cheesecake base
140g plain flour
125g butter
½ cup brown sugar
50g dates
Orange syrup
250ml orange juice
½ cup sugar
¼ cup water
1. Preheat your oven to 180C fan bake.
2. To make the cheesecake base, place the flour, butter and sugar in a food processor and blitz until crumbly. Add the dates and blitz again until just combined. Press into a 25cm x 10cm rectangular mould or 25cm round mould and bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool.
3. To make the filling, warm the almond milk in a pot over a medium heat. Sprinkle the gelatine over the top and allow it to dissolve. Remove from the heat.
4. Put the cream cheese and brown sugar in a food processor and blitz to combine. Mix in the lemon juice, then slowly add the almond milk mixture with the motor running. Pour the filling over the cheesecake base and chill overnight or until set.
5. To make the orange syrup, place the orange juice, sugar and water in a small pot and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the mixture has reduced by half. Allow to cool.
6. To make the garnish, use a sharp knife to peel the oranges, removing all the white pith. Cut the flesh into little wedges down the natural segments of the orange. Squeeze any remaining juice into the orange syrup.
7. To serve, transfer the cheesecake to a platter and top with orange segments, pistachios and petals and drizzle with orange syrup.
Edited extract from Good From Scratch by Michael Van de Elzen, photography by Babiche Martens. Published by Allen & Unwin NZ. RRP $49.99.
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