Ljs: Ottolenghi's spring onion recipes

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Ottolenghi's spring onion recipes

Two ideas for making the most out of the humble spring onion: a sharp soup with an Iranian twist, and a flavour-packed Tunisian street snack, brik

Spring onion soup

I recently started using a wonderful product from Iran called kashk. Kash, or kishk, signifies different things throughout the Middle East, Turkey and Greece, but is often used to name food stuffs produced by the process of fermentation and then drying of yoghurt or curdled milk, turning them into a powder that can later be reconstituted. Iranian kashk is used to bulk up soups and stews, and gives them a wonderfully deep and sharp aroma, a bit like feta but in runny form. I get my kashk from specialist Iranian shops, a few of which I'm lucky to have found dotted around London. But don't worry if you can't get hold of kashk ? a mixture of cr�me fra�che and grated parmesan (or other mature cheese) makes a perfectly good substitute. Serves four.

700g spring onions (a large variety with a thick bulb, if possible)
40g unsalted butter
50ml olive oil, plus extra to finish
2 whole medium garlic heads, cloves peeled and halved lengthways
3 bay leaves
300g frozen peas
1 medium courgette, diced
1.3 litres vegetable stock
80g parsley leaves, roughly chopped
60g kashk (or cr�me fra�che/parmesan mix)
20g mint leaves, roughly chopped
Grated zest of � lemon
Salt and black pepper

Cut the white of the spring onions into 1.5cm-long slices and the green into 2.5cm-long segments.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the oil, white spring onion slices, halved garlic cloves and some salt and pepper, and saut� on moderate heat for 10-15 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Add the green spring onion segments and the bay leaves, cook for about 10 minutes, add the peas and courgette, and cook for another five minutes.

Remove half the vegetables from the pan and set aside. Cover the remaining vegetables with the stock, bring to a boil and simmer for three minutes. Remove the bay leaves, add the parsley and blitz in a food processor or with a hand-held blender. Return the reserved vegetables to the pan and warm up gently. Stir in the kashk, taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

Transfer the soup into individual bowls, sprinkle with chopped mint and lemon zest, and finish with a drizzle of oil.

Brik

This very simple Tunisian recipe uses very few ingredients to make the most sumptuous snack. Thanks to the Delia effect, feuilles de brick pastry, as it's known in France, is now available in many independent shops and at Waitrose (spring roll wrappers make a good substitute). A teaspoon of harissa paste added with the egg will give a little heat, if you want it. Serve with a herb salad and a dollop of creamy yoghurt. Serves two.

About 250ml sunflower oil
2 circles feuilles de brick pastry, about 20cm in diameter
3 tbsp chopped parsley leaves
1� tbsp chopped spring onion, both green and white parts
2 free-range eggs
Salt and black pepper

Pour the oil into a medium saucepan so it comes 1cm up the sides, place on medium heat and leave until hot, but not too hot, otherwise the pastry will burn before the egg is cooked.

Trim one piece of pastry and lay in a shallow bowl. You will now need to work quickly, otherwise it will dry out. Put half the parsley in the centre of the round and half the onion, creating a little nest for an egg, then carefully crack one in. Season generously, then fold in the sides of the pastry to create a parcel ? the folds will overlap so the egg is sealed in. Gently place the pastry seal-side down in the hot oil and cook for a minute a side ? the pastry should be golden-brown and the egg semi-cooked, with the yolk still runny.

Lift out the pastry parcel and place between two sheets of kitchen paper to soak up excess oil, then set aside somewhere warm. Repeat the process, and serve hot.

? Yotam Ottolenghi is chef/patron of Ottolenghi and Nopi in London.