Yotam Ottolenghi's warm halloumi and chicory with pomegranate and walnut recipe

(Serves two to four)

Ingredients

75g pomegranate seeds (ie, what you'll get from 1 pomegranate)
25g walnuts, lightly toasted and roughly chopped
1 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1,5 tbsp red-wine vinegar
1/2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to finish
1 tsp caster sugar
Salt and black pepper
10g fresh coriander
125g halloumi, cut into 1cm slices
2 heads of chicory

Method

1. Start by making the dressing. In a small bowl, mix together the pomegranate seeds, walnuts, garlic, vinegar, pomegranate molasses, half the olive oil, half the sugar and some salt and pepper. Pick a few coriander leaves and set them aside to use as a garnish later, finely chop the remaining leaves and stems, and stir into the dressing. Taste for seasoning, and adjust as necessary.
2. Heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan and fry the halloumi slices for a minute on each side, until they're a nice golden-brown colour. Remove from the pan and keep warm.
3. Cut each chicory into quarters lengthways, so the stem holds the leaves together. Fry the chicory in two batches in the same pan as the halloumi, adding the remaining sugar and plenty of salt and pepper. Toss as you cook each batch for about a minute, just to colour a little on the outside. You may need to add a little bit of oil. Arrange the warm halloumi and chicory on a serving plate and spoon over the dressing.
4. Shred the reserved coriander leaves and sprinkle on top.

Chillies/bell peppers stuffed with beans

I use fat, mildly piquant poblano chillies for this (buy them from peppersbypost.biz). If you can't get large, stuffable chillies, use small red or yellow bell peppers. Serves six as a starter, two to three as a main course.

6 large, fresh poblano, Beaver Dam or Hungarian hot wax chillies

1 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil

2-3 shallots (or 1 medium onion), peeled and finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

150g-200g tomatoes

400g tin beans (butter, borlotti or pinto), drained and rinsed

1 small bunch coriander, leaves picked and chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp hot smoked paprika

Sea salt and ground black pepper

For the garlicky yoghurt (optional)

6 tbsp full-fat plain yoghurt, or soured cream

½ clove garlic, crushed

Heat the grill to high. Put the chillies on a baking tray and grill, turning from time to time, until the skin begins to char. Leave until cool enough to handle, then peel off the skin, taking care to keep the chillies whole. Cut around and remove the stalks and a flap of flesh to form a "lid". Scrape out the seeds and membranes from inside the chillies and lids, and tip out any juice.

Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium-low heat, then gently sauté the shallots and garlic until soft – about 10 minutes. Cut the tomatoes in half and grate their flesh straight into the pan, holding back the skin. Simmer for a minute or two to reduce slightly, then remove from the heat.

Add the drained beans to the pan and roughly mash some of them with a fork so they break up a little – don't overdo it, you want plenty of them to stay whole. Add coriander, cumin and paprika, mix and season. Stuff the mixture carefully into the chillies and top with the "lids". Place in a lightly oiled oven dish and bake for 20 minutes.

While the chillies are baking, combine the yoghurt with the crushed garlic, season and set aside.

Serve hot, with garlicky yoghurt and some crisp, green salad.

Chickpea stew with harissa and preserved lemons

Serves 4 generously, as a main course

tomatoes, stalks removed 800g

red peppers approximately 250g

olive oil 110ml

red wine vinegar 3 tbsp

cumin seeds 1 tsp

chickpeas 2 x 400g cans

preserved lemons 60g

harissa paste 1 tsp

a handful of basil leaves

To serve:

soft, Middle Eastern-style bread

1. Set the oven at 200C.
2. Cut each tomato into six and put into a baking dish.
3. Cut the peppers in half, tear out their stalks and seeds, cut the flesh into short chunks then add to the tomatoes.
4. Add 75ml of the oil, plus the vinegar, cumin and a grinding of black pepper and sea salt. Roast for 50 minutes to an hour until the pepper is soft and the tomatoes are soft and juicy.
5. Transfer the tomatoes and peppers from the roasting tin to a saucepan.
6. Drain the chickpeas of their canning liquid and rinse them under the cold tap. Mix the drained chickpeas with the tomatoes and peppers.
7. Chop the preserved lemon, discarding the soft inner pulp. Stir the harissa, chopped lemon and remaining olive oil into the chickpeas, place the pan over a moderate heat and leave to simmer for 10 minutes or till it is thoroughly hot and juicy.
8. Season with salt and coarse black pepper.
9. Fold the basil leaves into the tomatoes, letting them wilt in the heat. When the chickpeas are hot, transfer to a serving dish and serve with warm bread.

Mediterranean couscous salad

Ingredients

(serves 4)

250 g couscous
250 ml vegetable stock , boiling
400g can chickpeas , drained and rinsed
1-2 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
300 g courgettes , sliced on the slant
300 g small vine-ripened tomatoes , halved
250 g pack halloumi cheese , thickly sliced and then halved lengthways

Dressing

125 ml olive oil
3 tbsp lime juice
2 large garlic cloves , finely chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
½ tsp sugar

Method

1. Tip the couscous into a bowl, pour the boiling stock over and mix well with a fork. Cover with a plate and leave for 4 minutes. Meanwhile, tip all the dressing ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Fluff up the couscous with a fork, stir in the chickpeas and follow with half the dressing. Mix well and pile on to a large serving dish.

2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large frying pan and fry the courgette slices over a high heat for 2-3 minutes until dark golden brown. Lift out on to kitchen paper. Now put the tomatoes cut-side down into the pan, and cook for another couple of minutes until tinged brown on the underside. Top the couscous with the courgettes and then the tomatoes.

3. If the pan is dry, pour in a little more oil and heat it up, then add the halloumi strips and fry for 2-3 minutes, turning them over from time to time, until crisp and sizzled brown. Pile on top of the tomatoes, and drizzle with the remaining dressing. Serve as soon as possible.

Warm chicken and French bean salad with sun-blushed tomatoes and feta cheese

Ingredients

For the chicken
4 Chicken breast
1 pinch black pepper
1 small bunch of fresh Rosemary, chopped
3 tbsp Olive oil

For the salad
400g French beans
100 g Greek Feta cheese
70g sun-blushed tomatoes, in olive oil
2 tbsp extra virgin Italian Olive oil
1 tbsp Balsamic vinegar

Method
1. Butterfly the chicken breasts and season them to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Scatter them with rosemary and drizzle with a little olive oil. Griddle for about two minutes on each side, until cooked.

2. Cook the French beans in salted boiling water for approximately five minutes and drain.

3. In the meantime, crumble the feta cheese in a large bowl and mix with the sun blushed tomatoes.

4. Add the beans, the extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper and mix well. Serve immediately with the warmed chicken breasts

Kisir

(Serves four)

ingredients
2 large onions, peeled and finely chopped
90ml olive oil, plus more to finish
2 tbsp tomato paste
4 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
90ml water
400g coarse bulgur wheat
1½ tsp pomegranate molasses
1 tbsp lemon juice
6 tbsp chopped parsley
3 spring onions, finely shredded, plus an extra one to garnish
2 green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
Salt and black pepper
Seeds from 1 pomegranate
1 handful mint leaves, some whole, some roughly shredded

method
In a large saucepan, sauté the onions in the oil until they turn translucent - about five minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook over medium heat for two minutes, stirring all the while with a wooden spoon. Add the chopped fresh tomatoes, leave them to simmer on a low heat for four minutes, then add the water. Bring to a boil, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the bulgur.

Add the molasses, lemon juice, parsley, chopped spring onion, chilli, garlic and cumin. Season, stir, then set aside until the salad has cooled to room temperature or is just lukewarm.

Taste, adjust the seasoning as necessary - it will probably need plenty of salt - and spoon on to a serving dish. Roughly flatten out the salad with a palette knife, creating a wave-like pattern on the surface, then scatter pomegranate seeds over and about. Drizzle olive oil over the top and finish with the mint and the extra spring onion.