Sweet potato, egg and Morcilla bake

Who knew that black pudding, one of the most divisive elements of the traditional fry up, has become the ‘healthy’ option reaching new heights as a ‘superfood’? Inspired to go in search of the black pudding, we settled on a variety we had for brunch at The Abbeville Kitchen (now called May the Fifteenth), a fantastic local restaurant on Abbeville road.

Morcilla, the Spanish version of black pudding, is spiced with cumin and often has a smoother texture compared to its English counterpart, leaving out the grain. Morcilla can be found in Moen and Sons on The Pavement in Clapham, a short stroll from Abbeville road and Clapham Common tube station, and you can buy it online quite cheaply.  If you can’t get your hands on Morcilla use regular black pudding but add another tsp of cumin to the recipe to compensate. Also equally good as a one-dish dinner.

Sweet potato, egg and Morcilla bake

Serves 4

Time 40 mins

Ingredients

3 sweet potatoes

2 green pepper sliced

6 eggs

400g Morcilla (Spanish black pudding)

2 tsp cumin seeds

olive oil

salt

black pepper

Serve with rocket

 

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Peel and cut the sweet potato into 1 cm chunks and toss in a baking tray with a splash of olive oil, salt & pepper and 2 tsp of lightly crushed cumin seeds then bake for 15 mins.

Meanwhile, slice the green peppers and cut the Morcilla in to 1cm rounds (don’t worry if it breaks apart – it will do this in the oven)

Remove the potato from the oven and add the peppers and Morcilla and return to the oven for a further 10 mins.

Once the sweet potato is cooked crack six eggs on top of the bake and return for 5 – 7 mins till the egg whites are set.

Serve immediately.

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Menemen

Menemen is a baked egg dish incorporating tomatoes and peppers, ideal for recovering from any heavy Saturday night or having a few friends over for a lazy Sunday. Despite baking, the dish should be quite moist and still have the same consistency as scrambled eggs. If you want to ‘go native’, try it with small cups of black tea – anyone who has seen the sunrise over Istanbul or ventured from their resort to sample true Turkish cuisine will become instantly nostalgic.

Menemen

Serves 4

Time 20 mins

Ingredients: 

8 eggs, beaten

4 tomatoes

2 red peppers or, if you can find them, 3 long thin green peppers

a teaspoon of pul biber (or alternatively 1/2 a teaspoon of dried chilli flakes)

sugar and salt to season

Fresh bread to serve

 

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees. Dice the tomatoes place in an oven suitable sauté pan with a swig of olive oil on a medium heat and cover to keep them moist. Once they have started to soften, season with a pinch of sugar and a pinch of salt.

While the tomatoes are softening in the pan, deseed the peppers and remove the pith. If you have managed to find the long thin sweet green peppers normally used in Turkey as supposed to the bright green bitter peppers we find in the supermarket, cut them lengthwise and then into half moon slices about a centimetre and half across. If you are using red peppers then dice into chunks of about 2 centimetres. Place in the sauté pan with the tomatoes, cover again and cook till soft.

Once the tomatoes and peppers are cooked, add the pul biber and mix in. Add the eggs and stir thoroughly so that the eggs, tomatoes and peppers are all combined. Season the eggs while they are still runny with salt and pepper and stir over a low heat.

As the eggs begin to start forming soft clumps, but are still very runny, place in the oven for 5 minutes making sure that it they are smooth on top. The eggs should not get too brown but only become lightly golden and should only be a lightly scrambled texture throughout.

Remove from the oven and place on a heatproof mat. Scatter any remaining pul biber on top of the menemen and serve with slices of fresh crusty white bread.

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Omlette soufflé with smoked salmon

Soufflé. Two syllables that still inspire fear in the heartiest of cooks. And before you run away, it is ludicrously easy. Adapted from a recipe by Rachel Khoo, Omlette soufflé is impressive (if that’s what you’re looking for) as well as simple, light and filling. Combined with smoked salmon, it is also a healthy option packed with protein to set you up for the day.

Omlette soufflé with smoked salmon

Serves 4

Time  20 mins

Ingredients: 

4 eggs

3 sprigs of dill

5g butter

salt and black pepper

smoked salmon to serve

 

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and put in a small oven dish to warm up. Chop the dill and put to one side.

Separate the eggs, putting the whites into a large mixing bowl and the yolks into a small mixing bowl. Put a pinch of salt into the bowl with the whites and whip to stiff peaks. Add the chopped dill and enough fresh ground black pepper to the yolk and beat for one minute till the yolks start to look thicker and slightly creamy. Add a third of the beaten whites to the yolks and fold in with a metal spoon. Fold in the combined yolk and whites into the remaining whites.

Remove the dish from the oven and melt the butter, rolling it around the sides of the dish and covering the base. Spoon the soufflé mix into the dish making sure the bottom is completely covered. Continue to spoon the mixture in until full.

Place in the oven for ten minutes. When set, remove from the oven and serve with smoked salmon, more freshly ground black pepper and a slice of lemon.

 

Enjoy

 

h&h