September 2023 - Puttanesca Bean Bake + Sticky Fish Sauce Aubergines
Welcome to the September edition of my newsletter! Here you will find two rather lovely mid week recipes. Both are incidentally fishy numbers, though still very affordable, which is a nice treat.
Puttanesca Bean Bake
Sometimes, I’m in the mood for something lasagna-esque, but I don’t have the time or the inclination to faff about with the multiple sauces and multiples hours that it usually involves. I wanted to create a dish that had all the ooze of a lasagne, but was slightly more suited to a midweek cook.
Those of you who are familiar with my food will know that I am a mega fan of a bean, and if you were to poke around my kitchen cupboards, you would find them stacked with many, many jars of Bold Bean beauties. They straddle the beautiful position of being both filling and comforting, and also really good for you, so I eat a hell of a lot of them. You can use them in lots of the ways you would use pasta, and here I pop them with one of my FAVOURITE sauces of all time - puttanesca. I first came across it when I read A Series of Unfortunate Events, when Violet Boudelaire cooks it up from what she finds in the cupboards for Count Olaf and his horrid friends, and even despite its scary origins, it always seemed super chic to me, and also very easy. Two of the best qualities of a midweek meal, I think.
Serves 4
1 banana shallot
1 fat clove of garlic
250g baby plum tomatoes
½ tsp chilli flakes
a little tin of anchovies
500g passata
1 x posh jar of white beans
100g pitted black olives
60g capers
20g butter
20g flour
300ml whole milk
40g parmesan
120g mozzarella
salt, pepper and olive oil
Heat your oven to 200°C fan.
Peel and finely slice your shallot. Peel and finely slice your garlic.
Pour a healthy glug of olive oil into a large saucepan or casserole dish, and pop it over a medium heat. Tip in your shallots, and cook them gently for 10 minutes until they are totally soft.
Whilst the shallot cooks, halve your tomatoes.
Get your garlic into the pan along with your chilli flakes and anchovies, then cook for another 2 minutes. Mash up the anchovies a little with the edge of your spoon to turn them into a paste.
Tip your plum tomatoes into the pan, and cook them for about 3 minutes, squishing them down with your spoon to break them up a bit. Tip in your passata, olives and capers, then simmer for 15 minutes.
Make your bechamel. Melt your butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat, then tip in your flour. Cook it out for 2 minutes, then gradually pour in your milk in small increments, whisking it all the while until the mixture is smooth before adding more. Once all the milk is added, bring the mixture to a boil. Let it cook until it thickens, about 2 minutes, then grate in your parmesan. Season it to taste with salt and pepper.
Drain and rinse your jar of beans in a colander, then tip these into the tomato sauce. Give it a mix to combine, then season it to taste with salt and pepper.
Tip your bean mixture into a large baking dish, then pour your bechamel over the top. Tear your mozzarella into little bits and sprinkle them all over the surface.
Bake it for about 20-25 minutes, until the surface is golden and bubbly.
Serve it up with some bread and salad, if you fancy it.
Sticky Fish Sauce Aubergines
The words “fish sauce” being so dominant in this title may freak some people out, but trust me. The chicken wings at Smoking Goat in Shoreditch are an iconic London dish that I eat as often as possible, and they also happen to be very fish sauce-y things. They are enormous, crispy dudes tossed in a sweet and sticky sauce made from reduced down fish sauce, sugar and other aromatics, and I love them very much. I wanted to make a dish that had a similar vibe, but incorporating soft and squishy roasted aubergines for a midweek dinner. And so, this dish was born.
Sophie Godwin is recipe writer whose work I admire very much, and in her new book Sundays, there is a recipe for an enormous pile of Sichuan sticky aubergines that really caught my eye. I thought it was a fabulous way of presenting aubergines, topped with lots of crispy things and herbs, so I’ve gone down a similar path. I’m in a long term love affair with those tubs of crispy onions you get in the supermarket, and am yet to find a meal that they aren’t improved by, so have got those involved here too. Who can be bothered to deep fry onions midweek anyway??
I like eating this with some jasmine rice, and with possibly a jammy boiled egg on there too (I have a real aversion to eggs that randomly strikes mid meal from time to time, but I would risk it in this situation).
Serves 4
3 aubergines
2 cloves of garlic
100ml fish sauce
50ml sriracha
25ml light soy sauce
75g light brown soft sugar
50g salted peanuts
½ a small bunch of mint
1 lime
30g crispy onions
1 red chilli
salt and vegetable oil
Heat your oven to 200°C fan.
Cut your aubergines in half lengthways, then into 6 long wedges. Cut all of these in half horizontally.
Toss your aubergines into a large baking tray lined with parchment, and pour over 3 tbsp of vegetable oil, as well as a generous pinch of salt. Place these in the oven to bake for 40 minutes, tossing halfway through to ensure they cook evenly.
Meanwhile, make your glaze. Peel and finely chop your garlic, then add it to a small saucepan along with your fish sauce, sriracha, soy sauce and sugar. Bring this mixture to a boil over a high heat, then reduce the heat to medium and let is simmer and reduce down for about 5 minutes, until it is thick and syrupy.
Pour your peanuts into a pestle and mortar and bash them to a fine crumb. Pick the leaves off your mint. Finely slice your red chilli. Cut your lime into wedges.
Get your aubergines out of the oven, and pour ¾ of your glaze over the top. Toss the aubergines so that they are totally coated.
Spoon your aubergines onto a plate, and top them with your remaining glaze, crispy onions, crushed peanuts, mint leaves and sliced chilli. Serve with the wedges of lime to squeeze over the top.