flavour. I always find that home cooks do not roast it for long enough, thus missing out on the best flavour from it. This recipe combines a roasted cauliflower purée to create the sauce, with roasted florets and crunchy, toasted walnuts.
SERVES: 4 | PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES | COOKING TIME: ABOUT 50 MINUTES
1 large cauliflower, leaves removed, broken into florets
50g butter, cubed
100g walnut pieces
1 tbsp vegetable oil
150ml milk
150ml good-quality vegetable stock
350g tagliatelle
200g cavolo nero, roughly chopped
¼ bunch of flat-leaf parsley, leaves chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Preheat the oven to 230°C/210°C fan/gas 8.
2 Place the cauliflower florets in a roasting dish with the cubed butter. Season well with salt and pepper and bake in the oven for 6 minutes. Stir well, to coat the cauliflower in the butter, and cook for a further 20 minutes, stirring again after 10 minutes. The cauliflower should be a dark golden brown by this point. If it’s not, return it to the oven for a further 5 minutes.
3 While the cauliflower is roasting, put the walnut pieces in another roasting dish with the vegetable oil. Season well with salt, toss to coat in the oil and toast in the oven for 5–7 minutes until a deep golden colour. Remove from the oven, leave to cool then roughly chop.
4 Pour the milk and stock into a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Add a third of the toasted walnuts and simmer for 5 minutes, then add a third of the roasted cauliflower florets and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, transfer to a blender or food processor and blitz until silky smooth. Taste, and add more salt if necessary.
5 Bring a medium-large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Cook the tagliatelle according to the packet instructions, adding the cavolo nero for the last minute of cooking. Drain, reserving a little of the pasta water.
6 Mix the tagliatelle and cavolo nero with the roasted cauliflower and walnut sauce. Add a little pasta water to your sauce to loosen it a little if desired. Stir through the remaining roasted cauliflower and toasted nuts and parsley and serve.
Chargrilled Mackerel, Pickled Onions and Salsa Verde
There is not much that beats freshly caught mackerel that has been lightly chargrilled on the barbecue or on a griddle pan. The quick pickled onions are a great, speedy, addition to the dish, giving it extra texture and acidity, and will keep happily in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. I like to serve the mackerel with some steamed new potatoes and a peppery rocket salad.
SERVES: 4 | PREP TIME: ABOUT 15 MINUTES, PLUS SOAKING AND PICKLING | COOKING TIME: 5–10 MINUTES
1 tbsp vegetable oil
8 mackerel fillets, pin-boned, skin scored
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE QUICK PICKLED ONIONS
2 small red onions, sliced into 3mm-thick rings
100ml pickled gherkin liquid
2 tbsp caper brine
100ml white wine vinegar
4 tbsp honey
1 tbsp onion seeds
FOR THE SALSA VERDE
2 heaped tbsp finely chopped tarragon leaves
¼ bunch of flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked
20g drained capers in brine
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
125ml extra virgin olive oil
1 To make the pickled onions, separate the onion rings from each other and place them in a bowl of cold water. Leave to soak for 10 minutes, then drain and transfer to a shallow heatproof dish. Place all other ingredients for the pickled onions in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Pour the hot pickle mix over the onions and cover the dish with clingfilm. Set aside.
2 To make the salsa verde, put all the ingredients in a mini food processor or blender and pulse until you have a chunky sauce. Add salt to taste and set aside.
3 If using a barbecue, preheat it until hot. If using a griddle pan, place it over high heat until almost smoking. Brush the vegetable oil onto the mackerel fillets, on both sides. Season the skin side with salt and pepper and place on the hot barbecue or griddle, skin-side down, for 2 minutes (in batches if you’re using a griddle pan). Season the flesh side then carefully turn the fillets over and cook for a further 2–3 minutes.
4 Serve immediately, with a good dollop of the salsa verde and the pickled onions.
MARCUS’ TIP:
Salsa verde literally translates as ‘green sauce’. This is the traditional Italian version, but you can use the same quantities of different herbs, such as coriander, mint or lemon balm, to create delicious sauces depending upon what’s in your fridge or herb pots.
Green Chilli Salsa Cod with Roast Potato and Almond Salad
Weekday suppers are all about meals that are delicious, but time friendly. In some ways, these ingredients shouldn’t go together – cod is classically English, roast potatoes too, but then the salsa and the almond salad hail from somewhere quite different – but it’s my job to be daring. Cod is a meaty fish and can carry all of those elements brilliantly, working a treat with the salsa, which brings a lovely, spicy freshness to this rich dish, balancing it well.
SERVES: 4 | PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES | COOKING TIME: 35 MINUTES
2 tbsp olive oil
4 skinless cod fillets (about 150g each)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE GREEN CHILLI SALSA
grated zest and juice of 1 lime
1 garlic clove, finely grated
1 small green chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves, plus 2 tbsp for the potato salad
2 tbsp chopped mint leaves
60ml olive oil
FOR THE ROAST POTATO AND ALMOND SALAD
500g small potatoes, scrubbed
4 tbsp olive oil
100g almonds
75g good-quality mayonnaise
1 Preheat the oven to 210°C/190°C fan/gas 7.
2 First, cook the potatoes. Toss them in the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place in a large roasting tray and bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Add the almonds and bake for a further 8–10 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked and the almonds are toasted.
3 To make the salsa, blend all the ingredients together in a small food processor, or in a jug or bowl with a stick blender, until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4 Heat