Southern View: November 14, 2024

8
Thursday November 14 2024
Add some spice to your life, then chill out
Fiery meatballs and a
cooling salad for can
add some fun flavour
to sunnier days, writes
Nigel Slater
Pork and chorizo cakes
with tomato sauce
Tiny, spicy cakes, hot from
the oven, with a simple tomato
sauce. You can play with the
spice level to suit your taste
by using different flavoured
sausages.
To skin the sausages, slit the
skin down the length of the
sausage with a sharp knife, then
peel it back, pulling the meat
away.
Ingredients
Makes 20 cakes. Serves 4.
Ready in 1 hour
For the tomato sauce:
2, medium-sized onions
2tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
2tsp tomato purée
500g tomatoes
250ml water
For the cakes:
3 spring onions
2tbsp olive oil
250g spicy sausages, such as
chorizo
500g minced pork
1-2tsp chilli paste
10g parsley, chopped
60g breadcrumbs, white and
fresh
Method
• Peel and roughly chop
the onions. Warm the oil in
a medium-sized, deep-sided
saucepan, then stir in the onions
and leave them to cook over a
moderate heat for about 15-20
minutes. Stir them every now
and again, until they have
coloured a little and are starting
to soften.
• Peel and finely slice the
garlic, then stir into the onions.
Continue cooking, then
introduce the tomato purée, stir
well and leave for 5 minutes, then
roughly chop the tomatoes and
add to the onions.
• Pour in the water, then season
generously with salt and black
pepper, partially cover with a
lid and leave to simmer for 15
minutes or so.
• Make the pork cakes: finely
slice the spring onions into tiny
rounds, discarding the roots and
the darkest tips of the leaves.
Warm the oil in a shallow pan,
then add the onions and cook for
a few minutes until soft, stirring
regularly.
• Add the sausage meat to the
minced pork to the bowl, the
chilli paste, chopped parsley and
breadcrumbs, season, stir in the
softened spring onions, then mix
thoroughly. This is done most
easily with your hands.
• Break off lumps of the
mixture, about 45-50g in weight,
and shape them into rough balls
and set them aside on a tray. You
should have about 20.
• Preheat the oven to 200C.
• Warm a little more oil in
the pan, then add some of the
meatballs, letting them fry until
golden on the underside before
turning them over.
• Transfer the tomato sauce to
a baking dish. Let the other side
of the meatballs colour to a nice
golden brown, then place them
in the sauce, and continue with
the remaining cakes.
• Bake for about 20 minutes
until the cakes are cooked
through.
Chilled spicy cucumber
and tomato salad
Refreshing, spicy, salty and
crisp, this is one of those salads
for a laid-back lunch on a
scorching afternoon.
Ingredients
Serves 3-4. Ready in 30 minutes
1 red chilli, medium-hot
1 large pepper, red or orange
half a large cucumber
100g mangetout or sweet peas
200g cherry tomatoes
coriander, a small bunch
6 sprigs mint
70g cashews, salted and roasted
For the dressing:
3tbsp lime juice
3tbsp fish sauce
1tsp caster sugar
2tsp chilli sauce
Method
• Slice the chilli in half
lengthways, remove the seeds,
then cut into very fine shreds
and put into a mixing bowl.
• Halve the pepper, pull out the
core and seeds, then shred into
long, fine strips. Add this to the
chillies, then peel the cucumber,
cut in half lengthways and
remove the core with a teaspoon.
Cut into thin slices and mix with
the pepper and chilli.
• Cut the mangetout into
thin shreds, halve the cherry
tomatoes and add both to the
peppers.
• Remove the coriander and
mint leaves from their stems,
then tear or roughly chop and
scatter in the salad.
• Make the dressing: put the
lime juice, fish sauce and sugar
in a small bowl or jam jar and
stir or shake until the sugar has
dissolved. Stir in the chilli sauce.
• In a dry, shallow pan, toast
the cashews, just enough to
warm them. Dress the salad with
the lime and fish sauce tossing
gently to coat, then transfer to a
large serving plate.
• Scatter the toasted nuts over
the salad and serve.
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