Jamie Oliver - A Modern Way to Eat - Over 200 satisfying, everyday vegetarian recipes

4 organic or free-range eggs

2 wholemeal or corn tortillas

Heat a splash of olive oil in a medium frying pan (one with a lid that fits) over a moderate heat. Add the spring onions and garlic and fry for 5 minutes, until soft and sweet. Add a good pinch of salt and pepper and the smoked paprika and cook for another couple of minutes.

Next, add the tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes, until they have broken down and the sauce has thickened.

In the meantime, mash the avocado with the lime juice (I use a potato masher) and the chopped coriander, season with salt and pepper and put to one side.

Once the tomatoes have broken down and thickened, turn the heat down to medium-low. Make 4 small holes in the sauce with the back of a wooden spoon by pushing the sauce out of the way. Crack an egg into each of the holes, season each egg with a little salt and pepper, then pop the lid on and leave to cook for exactly 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes the egg whites should be just set with a hint of a wobble, with the yolks runny in the middle. Remember, they will keep cooking as you take them to the table.

While the eggs are cooking, warm the tortillas – I do this by holding each one over a gas flame with a pair of tongs for a few seconds on each side to char, but 20–30 seconds on each side in a warm non-stick pan will work just as well.

Once the eggs are ready, pile them on to a plate with a decent helping of the spicy tomatoes and some mashed avocado, and scoop up with the charred tortillas.

Lemon ricotta cloud pancakes

Whenever I go out for breakfast I order pancakes. This is my version of the pancakes I had at Gjelina in LA, which were quite simply the best pancakes I have ever eaten.

Chestnut flour makes an appearance here – you can get it in most wholefood shops. It adds a depth and warmth to the flavour and is naturally gluten-free; however, the pancakes would work with just plain flour. Any leftover chestnut flour can be used in cakes and baking (I use a 50/50 mix of chestnut and plain flour) and works wonderfully in place of ground almonds for a deeper, almost caramelly taste. Try it in the chocolate cake hereand see herefor more information on it.

SERVES 4 (MAKES 8–10 PANCAKES)

250g ricotta cheese

75g plain white or light spelt flour

50g chestnut flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

a good pinch of salt

2 organic or free-range eggs, separated

2 tablespoons golden caster sugar

200ml milk (I use almond milk but normal milk works fine too)

grated zest of 2 unwaxed lemons

grated zest of ½ an unwaxed orange

butter or coconut oil, for frying

optional: lemon juice

SERVE WITH SEASONAL FRUIT

Spring • quick stewed rhubarb

Summer • raspberries mashed with lemon juice

Autumn • blueberries smashed up with a little maple syrup

Winter • quick sautéed apples and honey

First put the ricotta into a sieve and leave it over a bowl for 10 minutes or so to allow the liquid to drain off.

Meanwhile, mix the flours, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until frothy, then add the sugar and whisk until you have stiff meringue-like peaks. In a jug, whisk the egg yolks with the milk. Add to the flour mixture bit by bit and beat until smooth, then add the lemon and orange zest.

Using a spatula or metal spoon, gently fold half the egg whites into the flour and egg mixture. Now fold in the ricotta, then the rest of the egg whites – you should have a light and fluffy batter.

Heat a large non-stick frying pan on a low heat and add a tiny bit of butter or oil. Working in batches, and using about half a ladleful for each pancake, cook until the bottom is golden and the edges are cooked. Once bubbles have risen to the top, flip and cook on the other side for a minute – then keep warm while you cook the rest. Stack the pancakes high on your plate, with seasonal fruit spooned over and a squeeze of lemon juice, if you like.

Banana, blueberry and pecan pancakes

The reason I became an expert on banana pancakes is a bleak but ultimately happy story. During an enthusiastic surfing lesson on the first day of a holiday in Bali I got burnt to a crisp, and in order to stay out of the sun I spent the rest of the holiday swathed in sarongs perfecting banana pancakes.

This is the result, though they are some way from the honey-drenched Indonesian ones that we ate on holiday. These have something of a banana bread feel to them, and are vegan and gluten free, thanks to using pecans and oats instead of flour and mashed bananas in place of butter.

A note on coconut milk: most supermarkets sell a ready-to-drink coconut milk, which comes in a carton and lives next to the soya and rice milk. Look out for the KoKo brand. It works in most recipes instead of milk and lies somewhere between thick tinned coconut milk and cloudy coconut water. I have it on my morning cereal and in tea. This is the coconut milk I use in most of my cooking, as it is lighter in fat and calories than the heavier tinned version. If you can’t get your hands on it, dilute tinned coconut milk 50/50 with water or just use your normal milk.

MAKES 8 LITTLE PANCAKES

FOR THE BATTER

100g oats

a good handful of pecan nuts (about 50g), roughly chopped

1 teaspoon baking powder

a pinch of sea salt

1 ripe banana, peeled and mashed

150ml coconut milk or almond milk (see note above)

a 200g punnet of blueberries

TO SERVE

2 bananas, peeled and cut into thin slices

a little coconut oil or butter

a few pecan nuts, crumbled

lime wedges

honey or agave syrup

First turn the oven to 120°C/fan 100°C/gas ½ to keep everything warm.

Blitz the oats until you have a scruffy oat flour. Add to a bowl with the pecans and throw in the baking powder and salt.

Mix the mashed banana with the milk (you can do this by blitzing them together in the food processor, if you like). Beat the banana mixture into the flour and leave the batter to sit for a few minutes.

Heat a non-stick pan on a medium heat, then add the banana slices and fry on both sides in the dry pan until brown and caramelised. Keep warm in the oven.

Put the pan back on a medium heat and add a little coconut oil or butter. Drop in a healthy tablespoonful of batter for each pancake. Once the sides are cooked and bubbles have risen to the top, scatter over a handful of blueberries and flip the pancake over. Cook for another couple of minutes on the other side. The pancakes will stay a little moist in the middle because of the banana, so don’t worry. Keep them warm in the oven while you cook the rest.

Serve the pancakes piled with the banana slices. Add some crumbled pecans and a squeeze of lime, and, if you like, a little touch of honey, agave or maple syrup.

A scoop of coconut and banana ice cream turns these into a feel-good pudding too (see here).

Cherry poppy seed waffles

Like bottomless coffee and inch-deep maple syrup and waitresses with name badges, waffles are very American territory to me. I started making them at home last year – I bought a £20 waffle iron and I haven’t looked back, as there is something so good about their crispy chequered exterior. They are quick and easy to make and more consistent than pancakes, and the waffle iron stays squeaky clean, so no washing up. This is my poppy seed-flecked version. I make these waffles with a mixture of oats or quinoa, whizzed to a floury dust in the food processor, but straight up wholemeal flour works well too.

Cherries are hands down my favourite fruit. When British cherries start filling my basket they are all I eat for breakfast until they are gone again. They’re high in iron, so they are useful for people cutting back on iron-rich meats. I keep pitted cherries in the freezer to use all year round, and you can buy good frozen ones from most supermarkets too. These are equally good with raspberries mashed with a little rosewater in place of the cherries.