Jamie Oliver was born in 1975 in Clavering in Essex, jumping straight into the kitchen of his parents’ pub. He swept through the River Cafe, was quickly spotted by TV crews and became an immediate celebrity with Naked Chef. He’s then used his celebrity status to increase the ranges of supermarkets, give disadvantaged youths a career in cooking, fights tooth and nail to improve school dinners and is passionate about everyone having at least one recipe up their sleeve. (Fun fact: I once fixed Jamie Oliver’s website over the phone.)
I am a sucker for a sandwich – not paper-thin ham or simpering coleslaw but gutsy, no-punches-pulled sandwiches that America in particular seems to get right. This Jamie Oliver sarnie is styled that way and is darn close to being great. Plump meatballs and creamy cheese, lovely fresh cabbage and salty bacon… but there’s something missing. I reckon a sharp, fruity tomato sauce would really top this off. I ran for a jar of salsa and it made all the difference – next time I’d simmer off some tinned tomatoes and balsamic with garlic for a real relish to top it off.
Jamie’s version is served with a chopped salad and finished with banana ice cream.
Meatball sandwich (serves 4):
500g minced beef
1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard
½ a lemon
1 egg
Handful fresh basil
5 slices smoked pancetta
2 ciabatta loaves
4 slices Jarlsberg ceese
½ red cabbage
1 red onion
Small bunch of mint
½ a lemon
Stick the oven on 150°C, and get a large frying pan on a medium heat.
Roughly chop the basil and put into a bowl with the beef, mustard, lemon and egg. Add a splash of olive oil and season, then scrunch together with your hands. Divide into 16 and roll into balls. Shake and cook the meatballs for about 15 minutes, until browned all over.
Bung the cabbage, red onion and mint into a food processor and grate together. Squeeze over some lemon and check for seasoning.
Lay the pancetta around the meatballs and pop into the oven, and on a different shelf put the split loaves to warm through.
After about 5 minutes get the bread out and lay the cheese on. Add a couple of meatballs, chuck some cabbage on top and top with a slice of pancetta.
When I first received 30 Minute Meals for Christmas I tore through it, merrily Post-It noting all the ones that looked interesting, like the beef hash, chicken pie, black forest affogato… one that didn’t get the magic yellow sticker was his 30 minute pizza. How on earth can you get a passable pizza in 30 minutes? I was very doubtful it could work.
When the series came round I watched this episode with great interest. He serves it with three salads, and I was amazed that he kicked off by making one of those! He’s only got 30 minutes, and he’s not even using the full half hour for the pizza! Then as per usual, it was a whirlwind of chuck-it-in-the-blender and spread it into the pan. The method reminded me of Heston Blumenthal’s perfect pizza, where he starts it on a hot pan, then transfers it to the grill to finish. And Jamie’s effort looked pretty good, so I relented and gave it a Post-It note.
Then by happy coincidence Domino’s Pizza contact me and ask if I want to try making something that rivals the Spanish Sizzler. The pizza offers chorizo, roast chicken, green peppers and roquito peppers. I’ve previously taken on their Double Decadence with my own pesto pizza to great effect, so rolled my sleeves up in anticipation of another showdown.
Jamie’s dough turned out surprisingly OK. I made it a touch too thick, so next time I would reduce the flour down and add a touch more salt. But jolly nice all the same! How could I doubt the Jamie technique? The toppings themselves were a well-worn combo: spicy, meaty chorizo; milky mozzarella and the pop of tangy fennel seeds. Great!
Whack the grill on high and put your largest, widest frying pan on a very high heat. Get another pan on a low heat. Stick the normal blade in the food processor.
Put the chorizo slices in the small pan and allow to brown. When crisp on one side turn off the heat while you get on with everything else.
Pop the flour and water in the food processor, along with a big splash of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Whizz until it forms a solid, clean ball – shake in a touch more flour if necessary. Remove from the food processor and roll out in a rough circle until approx 1cm thick. Transfer to the frying pan and push out into the edges of the pan.
Pop the tomatoes, paprika and basil in a liquidizer with a splash of extra virgin olive oil and some seasoning, then crush in the garlic. Whizz to a fine slush then spoon a thin layer on top of the pizza in the pan (leftovers make a great pasta sauce). Scatter over the fennel seeds, dot with mozzarella and place the chorizo crispy-side down on the pizza.
When the pizza is crusty and starting to blacken underneath, pop the pizza under the grill. Cook for a further 4 minutes or until done.
Sausage in a stew? I’m there. Whether it’s a pot au feu, a Sunday gravy, or a cumberland casserole, I love the instant seasoning hit you get from having a sausage do the leg work in a dinner.
This particular one is Jamie Oliver’s, from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals. It’s dense and tasty, and packed with flavours. Beans, breadcrumbs and bacon? What’s not to love?
He served it with broccoli, in a tomato sauce. Which I couldn’t see the point of. Instead I made loads of cassoulet and stuck some in the freezer. Perfect.
Kinda sausage cassoulet (serves 4):
4 rashers smoky bacon, sliced
2 red onions, halved, peeled and sliced
A few sprigs rosemary
Small bunch of sage
3 bay leaves
2 leeks, finely sliced
6 – 8 decent sausages
4 thick slices of bread
2 cloves of garlic
1 x 680g passata
1 x 390g tin of butter beans
1 x 390g tin of haricot beans
Pre-heat your grill to high.
Put the bacon into a sturdy roasting tray with a splash of olive oil and put on a high heat with the herbs – hold a few sage leaves back for the breadcrumbs. Add the onions and leeks too. Add a splash of water to loosen, stir and leave to soften.
Put your sausages in another roasting tray and pop under the grill.
Pop the bread, garlic and sage in a food processor and pulse to breadcrumbs.
Stir the passata and the beans (with their juices) into the tray of vegetables. Add half the breadcrumbs to the top.
The sausages are probably browned on one side now, so get them out from under the grill and pop raw-side-up on top of the tomatoey veg, then top with the rest of the breadcrumbs. Pop back under the grill until the sausages are cooked through and the breadcrumbs browned.
This recipe is adapted from one of Jamie’s 30-Minute Meals. If you’ve browsed around this blog in the last couple of months, you’ll have noticed that I’ve gone through quite a lot of them, and they’ve all been pretty fantastic. This is the first one that felt like a lot of fuss for okay results. I’m sure it could be simplified to a more straight-forward stir fry style recipe. I’ll be back with this one.
Chicken skewers, satay sauce and noodle salad (serves 2):
For the satay sauce:
½ a bunch of fresh coriander
A few slices of red chilli
1 clove garlic
3 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter
1 tablespoon tahini
Soy sauce
2cm ginger
Zest and juice of 1 lime
For the chicken:
2 chicken breasts, diced
Runny honey
For the noodles:
1 nest per person
50g unsalted cashews
½ red onion
½ bunch fresh coriander
Soy sauce
1 lime
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon fish suace
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
To serve:
More fresh coriander
2 little gem lettuces, shredded
Get a grill on screaming hot. Whizz together all the satay sauce ingredients in a food processor. Taste and check – more lime? More soy?
Skewer the chicken breasts and baste with half the satay sauce. Drizzle with olive oil and pop under the grill for 10 minutes on each side, or until golden and cooked through. When you stop to turn them over, drizzle over the honey.
Put the noodles in a bowl, pour boiling water over and cover for 5 minutes. Bash the cashew nuts to pieces and add to a frying pan and heat gently – make sure they don’t burn.
Peel the red onion and pulse with coriander. Mix with the soy, lime juice, sesame oil and fish sauce. Taste and check for seasoning. By this time the noodles are probably ready drain, wash them under cold water and toss with the red onion salad.
Back to the cashews, adding honey and sesame seeds to coat. Once golden, tip into the bowl with noodles and combine well.
Serve the skewers on top of the noodle salad with lettuce, more coriander and the remaining satay to dip.
