This Middle Eastern-inspired sweet and sour recipe from Shelf Love, the new cookbook from the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen, is a bit labour-intensive but the results are worth it. Roast onion, garlic and potatoes until softened. Add plums, rosemary and sausages and a sauce made of cider vinegar, pomegranate molasses, sugar, water, oil, sumac, salt and pepper. Roast for about 50 minutes until the plums have broken down and everything is bubbling and sticky. Serve topped with a mixture of parsley, sumac and oil. Sumac is a tangy spice made from the dried and ground berries of the wild sumac flower. Cook’s note: I added some halloumi 15 minutes before the dish was ready to serve.
Avoiding Additives and Preservatives
I used Free From hot Italian sausages, Allen’s apple cider vinegar and President’s Choice sumac. I used Tamam pomegranate juice concentrate molasses, which is additive-free.
This recipe uses fresh plums and rosemary
Make the vinegar-pomegranate molasses sauce
After the onions and potatoes have cooked for about 35 minutes, add the plums, rosemary and sausages and top with the sauce
Bake until cooked and bubbling
Serve topped with a mixture of parsley, oil and sumac
Ingredients:
5 red onions, peeled and cut into 6 wedges each
2 heads garlic, cut in half widthways
3 baking potatoes, skin-on, cut into quarters lengthways
½ cup (125 ml) olive oil
Salt and black pepper
1 lb, 10 oz (737 g) plums (about 10), halved and stoned (1 lb, 5 oz/595g net weight)
3 rosemary stalks, leaves picked and stems discarded
8 pork sausages
3 tbsp (45 ml) apple cider vinegar
¼ cup (60 ml) pomegranate molasses
¼ cup (60 ml) soft brown sugar
2 tbsp (30 ml) sumac
2½ tbsp (37.5 ml) parsley, picked leaves with soft stalks attached
Preparation:
Heat the oven to 400 F (204 C). Put the onions, garlic, potatoes, five tablespoons (75 ml) of oil, 7 tbsp (105 ml) water, a teaspoon and a half (7.5 ml) of salt and a good grind of pepper in a large roasting tin (roughly 16 x 12 inches/40 x 30 cm). Toss together, then bake for 35 minutes, stirring once halfway, until the vegetables have softened and started to take on some colour and the water has evaporated.
Lay the plums cut side up in the tray, add the rosemary leaves, then nestle in the sausages. In a medium bowl, whisk the vinegar, molasses, sugar, two tablespoons (30 ml) of water, a tablespoon and a half (22.5 ml) of sumac, two tablespoons (30 ml) of oil, half a teaspoon (2.5 ml) of salt and a good grind of pepper, pour this all over the contents of the tray, then return to the oven for 40 minutes, turning the sausages once halfway, so they cook and colour evenly.
Turn up the oven to 425 F (218 C) and roast for 10 minutes more, until everything is nicely browned, the plums have broken down and the sauce is bubbling and sticky.
Toss the parsley with the remaining teaspoon and a half (7.5 ml) of sumac and remaining tablespoon (15 ml) of oil, dot all over the sausage mixture, then serve warm straight from the tray. Serves 4.
From Shelf Love by the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen
Shelf Love, the new cookbook from the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen, focuses on comfort food made from pantry staples, along with Yotam Ottolenghi’s signature additions, such as tasty spice blends and novel flavour pairings. This recipe uses berbere — an Ethiopian spice blend — as the basis of a paste that coats chicken pieces, carrots and chickpeas. Bake the dish for about 70 minutes and top with an orange-cilantro salsa.
Avoiding Additives and Preservatives
Make sure the spices don’t contain colour or anti-caking agents. I used No Name tomato paste, Blue Menu chickpeas, Allen’s apple cider vinegar and pure honey.
Berbere is an Ethiopian spice blend
Place chicken, carrots and chickpeas in pan and cover with spice paste
Roast until chicken is done and carrots are tender
Serve the chicken with an orange-cilantro salsa
Berbere-spiced chicken, carrots and chickpeas
Ingredients:
Berbere spice mix
8 teaspoons (40 ml) pure chile powder (ground dried red hot peppers) or 2 tablespoons (30 ml) cayenne pepper
5 teaspoons (25 ml) sweet paprika
1 tablespoon (15 ml) salt
1 teaspoon (5 ml) ground coriander
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) ground ginger
3/8 teaspoon (1.9 ml) ground cardamom
3/8 teaspoon (1.9 ml) ground fenugreek
¼ teaspoon (1.25) ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml) ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon (0.63 ml) ground cloves
Chicken, carrots and chickpeas
1 onion large, peeled and roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic peeled and roughly chopped
1.5 oz (45 g) coriander stalks (0.9 oz/25g) and leaves (0.6 oz/20g) separated, and both roughly chopped
2.5 tbsp (22.5 ml) berbere spice
2.5 tbsp (22.5 ml) tomato paste
2.5 tbsp (22.5 ml) honey
3 tbsp (45 ml) apple cider vinegar
6 tbsp (90 ml) olive oil
1.75 lb (800 g) carrots cut into 1.5-2-inch (4-5 cm) lengths
2 15-oz (425 g) canned chickpeas, drained
12 chicken thighs and drumsticks (6 of each)
3 oranges – 1 left whole, the others juiced, to get ½ cup/125 ml
Preparation:
Berbere spice mix
Mix all ingredients together. Store in airtight container. Makes 1/3 cup (82.5 ml).
Chicken, carrots and chickpeas
Heat the oven to 425 F (220 C). Put the onion, garlic, coriander stalks, berbere spice, tomato paste, honey, a tablespoon (15 ml) of vinegar, four tablespoons (60 ml) of oil, 1.75 tsp (8.75 ml) salt and a good grind of pepper in a food processor and blitz to a smooth paste.
Scrape this into a large, roughly 13-inch x 10-inch (34-cm x 26-cm) roasting pan and add the carrots, chickpeas, chicken, orange juice and 6 oz (150 ml) water. Toss everything together to coat and combine, then arrange the thighs skin side up on top, so they’re just nestled in the mix.
Tightly cover the tray with foil, bake for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for 40 minutes more, rotating the pan once halfway, until everything is cooked through and nicely coloured. Remove from the oven and leave to settle slightly for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, segment the whole orange and roughly chop the flesh. Put this in a medium bowl with the coriander leaves, the last two tablespoons (30 ml) each of vinegar and oil, 1/8 teaspoon (0.63 ml) of salt and a good grind of pepper and mix to combine.To serve, spoon the coriander salsa all over the top of the chicken and serve directly from the pan. Serves 6.
From Shelf Love by the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen
