Chickpeas baked with lemon and honey
Serves 4 as a side
This recipe is great for using up any leftover greens in your fridge. I use whatever I have – spinach, chard, sometimes beetroot leaves. Similarly, with the herbs, use a mix of whatever you have on hand.
- 1 bunch silverbeet
- 1 brown onion, sliced
- ¼ cup (60ml) olive oil, plus extra to season
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 2 x 400g cans chickpeas, drained
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 lemon
- ½ cup chopped dill, mint and spring onion
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Start off by preheating your oven to 180°C.
Wash the silverbeet – I finely chop it, then leave it to soak in a sink full of water before draining well.
Sauté the onion in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a saucepan for around 15 minutes until golden, then add the garlic and sauté until aromatic: 30 seconds.
Add the silverbeet and stir it through the oil, allowing it to wilt.
Add the chickpeas and sauté briefly.
Transfer everything to a baking dish and add the rest of the olive oil and the honey. Cut the lemon in half and add it to the baking dish.
Bake for around 40 minutes or until most of the liquid has been cooked out of the silverbeet.
Season with salt, pepper, extra olive oil and the pulp of the baked lemon. The lemon will be mellower than a fresh lemon, but taste as you go – it’ll still be quite acidic.
Stir in the mixed greens and serve warm or at room temperature.
Chicken Rice
Serves 6
This is my take on the chicken pilaf we’d buy from street vendors on our way home after nights out. It was the best part of going for a drink. The street food was my highlight of living in the city – buying roasted chestnuts in the snow; going to get a morning simit, a ring-shaped bread covered in sesame, served wrapped in newspaper – always such a treat, always such an event. This dish is best served on the day of making it.
TO POACH THE CHICKEN:
- 3 chicken quarters
- 6 cups (1.5 litres) water
- table salt
FOR THE PILAF:
- ¼ cup slivered almonds
- 4 tbsp butter
- 3 cups basmati rice
- 1 brown onion, diced
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 5 cups (1.25 litres) chicken stock, from the poaching
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- ¼ cup parsley, chopped
- salt to taste
Start by placing the chicken quarters in a pot and cover them with water. You want to use around 6 cups, so choose a pot that will allow them to be submerged with that volume of liquid.
Salt the water with 2 tablespoons of table salt, bring up to a boil, then turn down to a soft simmer.
Cook until just past pink, around 25-30 minutes, then take off the heat, leaving the chicken to continue cooking in the hot liquid.
Once the stock is cooled, put to one side and shred the chicken.
Fry off the almonds in 1 tablespoon of the butter over low heat until golden. Then drain on a paper towel to get rid of excess butter. Leave to one side.
Soak rice in cold water for 20 minutes, then drain well.
Put a large frying pan on medium heat and add 1 tablespoon butter. Once it’s melted, add the onion, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Cook until the onions are caramelised: 15-20 minutes.
Add the drained rice and fry off until well coated in butter. While you’re doing this, bring the stock up to the boil in another pot.
Slowly add 3 cups (750ml) of stock to the rice, bringing the liquid up to a soft simmer. Cover with a lid and cook until the stock is absorbed, checking every couple of minutes.
Add remaining stock in increments, checking rice as you go.
Once the rice is cooked through (this will take 15-20 minutes), take off the heat and leave to steam for 5 minutes, with the lid on.
Stir through the shredded chicken, the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, lemon juice and chopped parsley, and check for seasoning.
Serve immediately, garnished with almonds.
Cabbage Rolls
Serves 6
I make these cabbage rolls with the same meat sauce that I use for moussaka. The sauce freezes really well so when you are making moussaka, I would recommend making one and a half times the recipe and keeping half to make cabbage rolls later. These rolls are better in the days after they’ve been made. If you have leftover cabbage leaves and rice mix you can slice and sauté the cabbage in a little oil, add the rice mix and make a pilaf.
- 1 cabbage
- 2 cups (440g) arborio rice
- ½ cup currants
- 1 cup finely chopped mixed mint, parsley and dill
- 1 litre chicken stock
- 2 lemons, juiced
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
FOR THE MEAT SAUCE:
- 1 brown onion, diced
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced
- 350g lamb mince
- 2 tbsp tomato paste (concentrated purée)
- ½ cup dry red wine
- 1 x 400g can diced tomatoes
- 1 quill cinnamon
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 orange, zested
- flaked salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
TO SERVE:
- 300g Greek yoghurt
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
- flaked salt
For the meat sauce: start by sautéing the onions in the olive oil in a saucepan for about 15 minutes until golden, then add the garlic and sauté until aromatic, about 30 seconds.
Stir in the mince, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, and sauté. Once it’s all browned, add the tomato paste and fry off for around 1 minute.
Pour in the red wine to deglaze, and cook until evaporated.
Add the canned tomatoes, cinnamon, bay leaves and orange zest. Bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer. Cook out until most of the liquid has evaporated: around 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, to cook the cabbage, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cut out the core of the cabbage and place the rest in the boiling water. As the leaves become tender they should fall away from the cabbage. You want them to be cooked enough that they are able to be rolled without snapping.
Take the cabbage leaves out of the water as they become tender, and place to one side to cool.
Mix your rice, currants and fresh herbs into the meat mix. Season with salt and pepper.
Take the cabbage leaves and categorise them into size. Big leaves will need to be cut in half; it’s best if the vein of the leaf is removed as it’s so thick it tends to take a long time to cook. Use any left-over bits of cabbage to line a saucepan that is deep enough to fit all your rolls in.
Take each leaf and spread flat. Place a heaped tablespoon of the rice mix down the end of the leaf closest to you, fold in the sides of the leaves and roll up the cabbage leaf.
Place the rolls in the pan, seam-side down. Repeat the rolling process with the remaining cabbage and filling, making sure all the rolls fit snugly together in the pan. If there are gaps around the rolls, fill them with extra leaves to prevent the rolls from opening while they are cooking.
Once all the mix is finished, weigh down your cabbage rolls with an upside-down plate.
Mix up your stock with lemon juice, olive oil and salt, check for seasoning and then pour over the rolls. Put the pan on the stove over medium heat. The liquid should come up just over the plate; top it up with water if it doesn’t.
Bring to the boil then turn the heat down so they are cooking on a simmer. They should take around 40 minutes to an hour.
They should be very tender, the rice totally cooked through. Once they’re cooked, leave them to completely cool in the pan; this will help them keep their shape. Serve warm or at room temperature with garlic yoghurt.
An edited extract from Ela! Ela!, by Ella Mittas (Allen & Unwin, $45) is out now.
