Sweetcorn Fritters

Can you spot the pattern here? At certain times of the year, we seem to be inundated with the vegetable du jour, so after I've made my usual recipe, I'm forced to consult my cookery shelf for inspiration. Don't get me wrong, this is why I love my veg box, it forces me to constantly try new recipes.

At the moment, it's sweetcorn and tomatoes and rocket from our garden (well, plant pots). Last weeks salsa was definitely a success, but I wanted something new. I found this recipe in Bill's Sydney Food by Bill Granger. While he is almost unbearably smug on TV, I love the sunny, bright styling of his book and the simplicity of his recipes.

These are fairly simple to make and are bound to impress, sweet and crisy sweetcorn in a batter full of coriander and chilli. I had them for a simple lunch with avocado, rocket and tomatoes and a the obligatory dollop of yoghurt. But, I have a sneaky feeling that they'd work perfectly with a fried egg and beans for brunch. Bill suggests serving them with roasted tomatoes and bacon. If you're making these for a lots of people, you can cook them in advance and just warm through in the oven.


Ingredients

Serves 4

2 corn cobs, kernals removed
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 small bunch coriander, chopped
1 small bunch spring onions, sliced
250g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2tsp paprika
1tbsp sugar
2 eggs
250ml milk

• Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and mix with the paprika. Whisk in the egg and milk with plenty of salt and pepper until you have a smooth batter.
• Mix the sweetcorn, chilli, coriander and spring onions in a bowl and stir in the batter until combined.
• Heat a large frying with a large glug of oil. Once hot, place a tablespoon of mixture into the pan and press on it lightly to spread it out into a fritter.
• Cook for a few mins on both sides until golden and remove to a plate lined with kitchen paper while you cook the rest of the fritters.

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Easy Flatbread Pizza

These pizzas are a great last minute dinner. So easy to make and a great (healthier) alternative to takeout pizza. You need to start with flatbreads rather than tortillas (try a turkish corner shop for the best) as they are sturdier and will hold up to the toppings better.


I often make an absurdly quick tomato by sizzling some garlic and chilli in olive oil, pouring in a can of chopped tomatoes and simmering for 15mins or so until thick and seaoning well. But you could just as easily use halved cherry tomatoes.

Top with whatever you like and bake for 10-15mins until the cheese is bubbling and golden. The key here is restraint - keep it simple and don't pile on the toppings if you want to keep your pizza crisp otherwise, and I'm speaking form experience here, you end up with a soggy mess.

Some ideas for toppings:

• A thin layer of tomato, a little mozzarella and some pine nuts. Top with shredded basil when cooked.
• Top with rocket and avocado
• Goats cheese, walnuts and a few dollops of onion marmalade
  
• Chargrilled aubergine and pine nuts (a little oregano would be good here)
  
• Any combination of anchovies, capers and olives
• Thinly sliced pear, gorgonzola and pine nuts, topped with some rocket or watercress.
  

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Rocket Pesto

I'll never understand why people buy those horrid, bland ready made pasta sauces from the supermarket, full of who knows what and expensive! Pasta is the quickest, easiest thing to cook, you can often assemble a sauce in the time it takes to cook the pasta. Like this rocket pesto, and if you make lots, you can keep leftovers in the fridge for future quick pasta dinners. Below we had it as a quick lunch with some cherry tomatoes and bit of goats cheese that was languishing in the back of the fridge


This is a recipe from Cranks Bible, one of my favourite recipe books. I remember discovering this at university when rocket was the trendy new thing, what a revelation, rocket pesto is completely different to a classic pesto with the sweet creaminess of pine nuts and basil, this is altogether different; peppery, garlicky, it really packs a culinary punch.


Rocket, parmesan, looots of garlic, lemon juice and almonds all blended into a knobbly paste. You can then keep it in a jar in the fridge for at least a month. Eat this with linguine, some oily black olives, and a few sunblush tomatoes for a pleasing colour contrast as much as anything. Cranky also suggests stirring into a risotto, half way through cooking the rice for rocket and parmesan risotto.

Ingredients

Makes about 6 portions

3 cloves garlic
50g parmesan or strong cheddar, grated finely
50g blanched almonds
150ml olive oil
a few basil leaves (optional)
½tsp grain mustard
juice ½ lemon
1 red chilli

Throw everything into a small blender with a generous amount of seasoning and whizz until smooth. Simple as that! Adjust the amount of seasoning and lemon juice according to taste and decant into a clean dry jar. Read more...