How to make the perfect stuffing

Samosas come in many forms, but, in a country where 20%-40% of the population is vegetarian, the meat-free version is the most popular. Potato tends to form the bulk of the filling, usually pre-cooked and mashed, though Daley sautes raw cubes until “tender but still retaining some bite”. This keeps all the ingredients separate, but I rather like the contrast between the fluffiness of the mash and the crisp pastry.

Everyone uses onion in some form (although not always cooked) and Sodha and Daley stick in some garlic, too. Peas are also popular, with Simon Hopkinson suggesting that if fresh aren’t in season, “I would prefer marrowfat peas” to the frozen variety, although they’re too mushily similar to the potato for my liking. Smaller peas add sweetness, too, as does Daley’s carrot and Sodha’s beetroot, all of which are a great counterpoint to the spice.

Along with carrot, potato, peas and two sorts of onion, Daley sticks in some shredded cabbage, which gives his filling a surprising lightness, as well as a pleasing variety my testers prefer to the stodginess of Jaffrey’s overwhelmingly potatoey one. Feel free to use whatever ingredients you have to hand, while aiming for a variety of textures and flavours; something soft, something crunchy, something sweet and something savoury – which, in Sodha and Singh’s cases, means cheese.

Sodha uses salty, crumbly feta, and Singh the much milder, creamier paneer, which feels the more authentic choice, although I’d recommend salting it first to add flavour. The chef also adds rich, crunchy cashew nuts, which, though rarely unwelcome, feel like overkill with the cheese, although if you’d prefer a vegan recipe, they’re an excellent alternative.

Tore Wretman’s meatballs Köttbullar (Sweden)

The recipe for these mild and delicate meatballs comes from the grandfather of Swedish traditional cooking, Tore Wretman. I usually prepare them when I want meatballs to be part of the menu of a bigger meal, such as Swedish Christmas dinner, rather than serving them as a dish on their own.

(Serves 4)
Butter, for frying
1 onion, finely chopped
30g fresh white breadcrumbs
200ml cream
1 egg
200gminced beef
100g minced veal
100g minced pork
Salt and white pepper, to taste

Melt a knob of butter in a pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and fry until soft and golden. Tip onion out of the pan and leave to cool down.

Combine the breadcrumbs with the cream in a large mixing bowl and leave for a little while to swell. Add the cool onion and the egg, and mix everything together well.

In a separate bowl, mix the beef, veal and pork until they are thoroughly combined. Add them to the bread and cream, season well, then mix everything together. Shape the mixture into balls the size of a small walnut.

Melt a knob of butter in a large frying pan or skillet over a medium heat. Fry the meatballs until brown all over.

Nigel Slater’s pancetta, roots and celeriac mash recipe

The recipe

Peel and roughly chop 1 small celeriac into large pieces then steam over boiling water for about 15-20 minutes until tender, or boil.

Meanwhile cut a 250g piece of smoked pancetta into short slices about 3cm thick. Warm 2 tbsp of olive oil in a shallow pan over a moderate heat, then add the pancetta. Leave to cook until the fat is golden, about 5 or 6 minutes. Peel and roughly chop 2 large banana shallots or small onions. Warm 2 tbsp of oil in a shallow pan then add the onions and let them soften, stirring them occasionally, for about 10 minutes.

Scrub 2 large carrots, cut into 1cm cubes, add them to the onions and cook till tender. Season lightly with black pepper and a handful of roughly torn flat parsley leaves. Drain the celeriac when it is tender then mash using a food mixer with a beater attachment or a vegetable masher, with 40g of butter, to a smooth purée. Season and pile on to 2 plates, then spoon over the sautéed roots and pancetta.

The trick

I generally prefer to steam celeriac destined for mash, as it can produce a very wet mash when boiled. You can also prevent this by using a ratio of half potato to celeriac. The mash is fine when made with butter, but I like to include a little of the bacon fat in the pan instead. Tip the fat into the mashed celeriac when it is hot, holding back the roots and pancetta with a draining spoon.

The twist

I have successfully used mushrooms instead of pancetta in this recipe. You will need 250g of medium-sized chestnut mushrooms, cut in half and cooked in the oil till they start to turn golden, then add the onions and carry on as before. The sweet smokiness of the pancetta is good enough for me, but you might like to add 1 tsp of chopped thyme leaves or a light dusting of smoked paprika to the sizzling pancetta.


Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk

Smoky-roasted vegetables with whipped goat’s cheese and toasted nuts

This combination of roast leek, beetroot and carrot, made smoky with paprika and harissa, and dressed with a saba-spiked goat’s cheese dressing, makes a lovely light lunch, and also works well as a side dish for sausages or lamb chops. If you can’t find saba, use an aged balsamic vinegar instead; failing that, reduce some regular balsamic vinegar down until rich and syrupy. Serves four to six as a first course or side.

5 small or medium uncooked beetroots, cut into thin wedges
5 carrots, peeled and cut into 3cm chunks
3 medium leeks, tough outer leaves discarded, chopped into 2cm rounds
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp saba
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
A few handfuls fresh thyme branches
300g cherry tomatoes (ideally on the vine)
80g hazelnuts

For the goat’s cheese dressing
150g goat’s cheese
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large tbsp saba
Juice of ½ lime
3 tbsp harissa

Heat the oven to 220C/425F/gas mark 7. Put the beets, carrots and leeks in a large baking tray, keeping them well spread out (if your tray isn’t big enough, it’s better to use two smaller ones than to cram them all into one). Pour over the oil and saba, and season generously with salt, pepper and paprika. Strip the thyme from its branches and toss with the vegetables, using your hands to make sure they’re well coated in oil, saba and seasoning. Roast for 35-40 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally; add the tomatoes halfway through. The vegetables are done when they are browning and caramelising at the edges and tender all the way through.

While the vegetables are roasting, toast the hazelnuts in a small roasting pan in the same oven for five to eight minutes, until golden (keep a beady eye on them, because they burn easily). Leave to cool, then roughly chop.

Blitz the goat’s cheese in a food processor with the olive oil, saba and lime, then stir through the harissa until well mixed through.

To serve, spread the goat’s cheese mix over a large plate, top with the roast vegetables and scatter over the toasted nuts. Serve with wedges of lime and the remaining dressing.

The autumn salad: Lebanese seven-spice roasted duck with plum salad

This is one of our favourite spice mixes as it immediately gives your food an injection of warmth. Use it in any Middle-Eastern lamb or beef dishes. It’s especially good with kofte and rubbed into rich duck breasts.

Lebanese seven-spice roasted duck with plum salad. Photograph: Yuki Sugiura for The Guardian

Serves 4-6
For the spice mix
1 tbsp allspice seeds
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tsp cloves
1 nutmeg, ground
½ tbsp ground cinnamon

For the salad
2 heaped tsp spice mix (above)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
A large pinch of salt
2 duck breasts
3 raw plums, thinly sliced
6 roasted plum halves, sliced in half
1 small cucumber, thinly sliced
1 large handful parsley leaves, roughly chopped
1 large handful mint leaves, roughly chopped
1 large handful coriander leaves, roughly chopped
A large pinch of sumac, plus extra to serve
A squeeze of lemon

1 Make the seven-spice mix first. In a spice grinder or pestle and mortar, grind all the whole spices individually, then mix them in a bowl along with the cinnamon and ground nutmeg. You will make more than enough for this recipe so keep the remainder in an air-tight container for another day.

2 Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Combine the spice mix with 2 tbsp olive oil and a good pinch of salt, and rub well into the duck breasts, covering both the skin and the flesh.

3 Place the duck breasts skin-side down into a cold, ovenproof frying pan and place it over a medium-high heat. Leave to cook for a few minutes to allow the fat to render out of the skin.

4 Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, gently combine the raw and roasted plums, cucumber and herbs. Then dress with a pinch of sumac, the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. Season to taste, adding a little more the juice or oil if needed.

5 By now, the duck skin should be golden and should have rendered most of its fat. If not, leave to fry for a further minute or two until the desired colour is reached. Turn the duck over and place in the oven for 6 minutes.

6 Remove the duck from the oven and leave to rest for 6 minutes. Arrange the plum salad on a large platter or plates. Thickly slice the duck and sit it on top of the salad. Finish with a little pinch of seven-spice and sumac.

Dolcelatte and salami polenta pizza

I used coarse polenta for this, which requires a much longer cooking time than the “instant”. Either would be suitable for this recipe. I find stirring coarse polenta for half an hour or longer rather soothing.

Courgette, taleggio, polenta and basil pizza. Photograph: Jonathan Lovekin for The Observer

Serves 2
water 750ml
polenta bramata (coarse) 120g
butter or olive oil a little

For the topping:
mozzarella 125g
dolcelatte 125g
salami Milano 60g, finely sliced
thyme leaves 1 tsp

Pour the water into a deep pan and bring to the boil. Salt the water then rain in the polenta. Keep the heat moderately high and stir almost constantly for a good half hour. Make sure you protect your hands and arms – the molten polenta tends to erupt furiously. (If you can’t wait use the instant version below.) Let the polenta thicken to a porridge-like consistency.

Place a piece of baking parchment, measuring at least 24 x 32cm on a metal baking sheet then lightly butter or oil it. Pour the polenta on to the paper, pushing it into a rectangle about 28 x 18cm, and set aside until firm. Set the oven at 240C/gas mark 9. When the polenta is firm, brush lightly with melted butter or oil, then bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly crisp. Remove and set aside.

Break the mozzarella and dolcelatte into small pieces. Scatter the cheese over the surface of the cornmeal polenta, then tuck the slices of salami among them. Scatter with thyme leaves, season with coarse black pepper, then bake for 15 minutes or so, until the cheese has melted. Scoop up any cheese that oozes over the edges and serve.

Nigel Slater’s freekeh with avocado and chives salad recipe

Super freekeh: Nigel Slater’s freekeh with avocado and chives salad recipe. Photograph: Jonathan Lovekin for the Observer

The recipe

Put a pan of water on to boil. Rinse 150g of freekeh in cold water, then add to the boiling water and leave to cook for 40-45 minutes until tender but slightly chewy. Drain the cooked freekeh and set aside.

Peel 180g of cucumber, halve lengthways and remove the seeds, then cut the flesh into small dice. Finely chop eight chives (roughly 2 tbsp). Halve, stone and peel a ripe but firm avocado, then cut into small cubes.

Warm 2 tbsp of olive oil in a shallow pan, add 2 tsp of ras el hanout and let it warm through. (It is already roasted, so a minute or two over heat is long enough.) Add a 400ml can of chickpeas, drained, and the cooked and drained wheat to the pan, together with a little salt. When the chickpeas are hot stir in the chopped cucumber, chives and avocado. Stir only gently – you don’t want to crush the avocado. Trickle over a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and serve. Enough for 2.

The trick

Freekeh is whole roasted wheat. It can take a good 45 minutes to cook, but check it after 30. It should still be nutty and enjoyably chewy. I find it best to salt it after cooking rather than adding salt to the cooking water, which sometimes seems to toughen it.

The twist

All manner of grains can be substituted for the freekeh, such as barley or rye, but the cooking times will vary according to which grain you choose. Whole grains, such as pot barely, will take longer to come to tenderness than pearl barley. Use this salad as a base for adding other ingredients as you wish, such as chopped tomatoes, mint or spring onions. You can add feta or grated ricotta salata, the aged and salted sheep’s cheese, if you wish. I sometimes add lemon juice to the warm oil and vinegar dressing.

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