Earlier this month, after taking a moment with Sophie Hansen, it got us thinking about our favourite recipes of hers. Her wonderful cookbooks are always on hand, particularly when we have a lot of people to entertain. We were torn on what to choose but landed on 3 simple but delicious winners.
Recipe 1 - ‘Chicken Harrira Soup’
Taken from ‘A Basket By the Door’
You know a recipe is good when you’ve made it multiple times. I’ve made this one so much there are splatters on the page in my book. This is just one of those soups – simple but oh-so-tasty. I’ve made it with chicken as it is here but I’ve also made it with lamb too. Another one that’s brilliant to make ahead and pull out when you need it.
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 brown onion, diced
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 600g chicken thigh fillets, chopped (has to be thighs – no light meat here)
- 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
- 400g tin chickpeas
- ½ cup red lentils
- 1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, plus extra to serve
- 1 cup coriander leaves, plus extra to serve
- 3 cups chicken stock
Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook the onion for 5 minutes or until soft and translucent. Add the spices and chopped chicken and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes.
Stir in the tomatoes, chickpeas, lentils, herbs and stock. Gently simmer for about 30 minutes. Serve the soup with some warm Turkish bread and a few extra parsley and coriander leaves. (I also love a dollop of Greek yoghurt on top – this is not in Sophie’s recipe but I think any times a good time for Greek yoghurt)
Recipe 2 - 'Parmesan and Garlic Bread'
Taken from ‘Local is Lovely’
I love this recipe. So simple but so good. I often make more than is needed and freeze them for when I need a quick side solution.
- 1 sourdough baguette (best you can get your hands on – you won’t regret it)
- 100g butter, softened (ditto)
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- ½ cup parmesan, finely grated
- 2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
- S&P to taste
Preheat the oven to 200°C and slice the bread into 2 cm wide pieces without cutting all the way through. Mix together the butter, garlic, parmesan, parsley and seasoning (a mortar and pestle is great for this.) Spread this mixture between each slice of bread and smear leftover butter over the top of the loaf. Wrap tightly in a couple of layers of foil and bake for 30 minutes. You can also stash the wrapped loaf in the fridge for a day or two, ready to be baked when needed.
Recipe 3 - ‘Swirly, Crunchy Rocky Road’
Taken from ‘A Basket By the Door’
I am not a baker. Hopeless at it. Just don’t have the patience. But I love having a little square of something sweet at the end of a meal and rocky road is perfect for that.
- 1 1/3 cups roughly chopped dark chocolate
- 1 1/3 cups roughly chopped white chocolate
- 1 cup marshmallows, cut into pieces with scissors
- ¾ cup salted peanuts
- ½ cup crystallised ginger
- (Swap in or out anything you prefer. Try adding broken shortbread biscuits or dried cranberries)
Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin with baking paper. Melt the dark chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Do the same with the white chocolate, in a separate bowl.
Stir the marshmallows, peanuts and ginger into the dark chocolate. Spoon the mixture into the tin and swirl in the white chocolate, using a knife to mix. The place in the fridge to set fo at least 2 hours.
Once hardened, cut the rocky road into pieces. If the weather’s warm, store it in the fridge.
