the heat so the water simmers. Leave for thirty minutes or until the rice is approaching tenderness. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to rest for ten minutes before removing the lid.
Warm the oil in a shallow pan. Toss the sprouts with the miso paste, then transfer to the hot oil, moving them round the pan as they become crisp and pale golden brown.
Remove the lid from the rice, run a fork through the grains to separate them, then divide between two or three bowls. Spoon the miso sprouts into the rice and add some of the Japanese pickles.
• Fried in a little oil, the miso paste forms a fine crust on the outside of the sprouts. Serve them as an accompaniment if you wish, but I like them as the star of the show, tucked into a bowl of sticky rice and scattered with salty Japanese pickles. I serve this as it is, but also as a side dish for slices of cold roast pork and its crackling. This is sticky rice, my favourite, but you don’t want it in lumps, so running the tines of a fork through the cooked grain is a good idea.
Milky snow-white cheese. Toasted beans. Peppery basil.
Serves 2
garlic 3 cloves
olive oil
cannellini beans 1 × 400g can
cherry tomatoes 250g
basil leaves a handful
burrata 2 × 250g balls
Flatten the garlic cloves with the blade of a kitchen knife, then peel away the skins. Warm four tablespoons of olive oil in a shallow pan and add the garlic, letting it cook briefly over a moderate heat. Drain the cannellini beans.
Cut the tomatoes in half, pour a little more oil into the pan, then add the tomatoes and the drained cannellini. Fry briefly, for four or five minutes, until the beans are starting to crisp a little.
Tear the basil leaves and add to the beans, stirring them in gently, until they start to wilt. Divide the beans and tomatoes between two plates, add the burrata and trickle with olive oil.
• The beans will crisp deliciously around the edges if you leave them to fry in the hot oil. Stirring them too often will cause them to break up as they develop their golden shell.
• Cannellini beans are my first choice here, but butter beans are worth considering too. Green flageolet don’t seem to work quite as well, though I am not entirely sure why.
• This is one of the lighter recipes in this volume, yet each time I make it, I am surprised by how satisfying it is.
BUTTERNUT, BREADCRUMBS, CURRY POWDER
Sweet golden squash. Warm, spicy curry. Crisp crumbs.
Serves 2
onions, medium 2
carrots, large 300g
groundnut oil 3 tablespoons
butternut squash 500g
curry powder 2 teaspoons
ground turmeric 1 teaspoon
vegetable stock 500ml
panko breadcrumbs 6 tablespoons
parsley, chopped 4 tablespoons
togarashi 1–2 teaspoons
Peel and roughly chop the onions and carrots, then put them in a large saucepan with the oil and place over a moderate heat. Let the vegetables cook for ten to fifteen minutes until the onions are pale gold.
Slice the butternut into 2cm-thick rounds, deseed and peel it if you wish. When the onions are nicely golden, stir in the curry powder, ground turmeric and a little salt and fry briefly, then pour in the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Tuck in the slices of squash and lower the heat to a simmer. Leave for fifteen minutes, then remove the squash and place half of the sauce in a blender. Process to a smooth purée, then return to the pan and keep at a low bubble for five minutes.
Toast the panko crumbs in a dry pan till golden, then toss with the chopped parsley and togarashi. Slide the squash back into the sauce for a couple of minutes, sprinkle with the parsley crumbs, then serve.
• The sauce is based on a classic katsu, which flatters the sweetness of the butternut. You can turn up the heat if you wish with a little more togarashi seasoning or even a splash of chilli sauce.
• The warmly spiced sauce is also worth trying with baked aubergine or roasted parsnips.
• Togarashi, the Japanese spice mix, can be found in major supermarkets, Japanese food shops and online.
Crisp, light, sweet, salty.
Makes 9 fritters. Serves 3
butternut squash 300g
garlic 2 cloves
groundnut oil
eggs 2
feta cheese 200g
plain flour 4 tablespoons
thyme leaves, chopped 1 tablespoon
parsley, chopped 3 heaped tablespoons
groundnut or vegetable oil, for deep frying
Peel and remove the seeds from the butternut squash. Push the squash through a spiraliser to give long, thin strings.
Peel the garlic and thinly slice it. Warm a little groundnut oil in a large, shallow pan, then add the garlic, let it sizzle for a couple of minutes then, as it starts to colour, drop in the squash and fry for five or six minutes till the colours are bright and the squash is tender but far from falling apart.
Separate the eggs. Make a batter by mixing together the egg yolks, crumbled feta cheese, plain flour, a grinding of black pepper and the chopped thyme leaves and parsley. Beat the egg whites till frothy, then fold into the batter. Toss the threads of butternut with the batter.
Warm enough groundnut oil in a deep, heavy pan to fry the fritters. When the oil is at 180°C, take a large spoonful of the batter-coated butternut and lower into the hot oil. Repeat with a further three or four, frying for three or four minutes till crisp and golden in colour. As each fritter is ready, remove with a draining spoon and rest on kitchen paper. Continue with spoonfuls of the batter until you have nine fritters. Serve hot.
• So good are these little fritters that I have tried them with other vegetables too, including shredded courgette (a success) and beetroot (less so). It is worth having something to dip them into, such as a cucumber, mint and yoghurt dip or a bowl of especially creamy hummus.