Neven Maguire - Food from the Sun

Holiday dining is always pleasurable–you get to enjoy the sun while someone else cooks your lunch! I enjoy the change for a while but honestly I am never happier than when I am cooking. To help you to revive those memories I have tried to keep the recipes in this book as straightforward as possible. A few require that extra bit of effort, but I think they are definitely worth it. Join me in these new tastes, flavours and combinations, all with the memory of holidays and that hint of the sun.

Happy Cooking!

Serves 4

900g (2lb) ripe tomatoes, peeled (see page 119), halved and seeded

1 small red chilli, halved and seeded

1 small onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1 red pepper, halved, seeded and roughly chopped

1 large garlic clove, peeled small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley and basil leaves

2 tbsp olive oil

100g (4oz) Serrano ham slices, finely shredded

25g (1oz) plain flour large pinch of sweet paprika

12 raw large Dublin Bay prawns (langoustines), shelled and left whole

Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, to garnish

1 lemon, cut into wedges crusty bread, to serve

This dish is a great example of Spanish cuisine – the unique flavours of the ingredients enhance but do not smother each other. I was inspired to make this by Gillian Bowler, when she was a contestant on RTE’s The Restaurant. King prawns would also work well instead of Dublin Bay prawns.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), gas mark 4. Place the tomatoes, chilli, onion, red pepper, garlic clove and herbs in a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a frying pan set over a medium heat, add the tomato mixture and season with salt and pepper to taste. Gently fry for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until reduced and thickened. Transfer to an ovenproof dish, then stir in the Serrano ham.

Mix the flour and paprika in a shallow bowl and lightly coat the prawns in the mixture. Heat the remaining oil in a very hot frying pan and quickly sear the prawns on both sides until golden brown. Place them in the ovenproof dish on top of the sauce and drizzle over any oil left in the frying pan. Roast for 6–8 minutes or until the prawns are just cooked through and slightly firm. Garnish with parsley and serve at once with lemon wedges and a separate basket of crusty bread to mop up all the delicious juices.

Serves 4-6| VEGETARIAN

1 large red pepper olive oil, for cooking

1 red chilli (mild)

400g can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

juice of 1 lemon

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

good pinch of ground cumin

100ml (3 1 2fl oz) tahini (sesame seed paste), optional

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil pinch of sweet or smoked paprika

Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, to garnish

4-6 soft flour tortillas olive oil, for brushing

This variation on traditional hummus has a fantastic, vibrant colour. Here it is served with home-cooked crispy tortilla chips, which are much lower in fat than the ones you buy. It’s also great spread on crackers or chunks of warm bread, or scooped up with toasted garlic bread.

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F), gas mark 6. To prepare the tortilla chips, place two baking trays in the oven for about 5 minutes until well heated. Meanwhile, brush both sides of the soft flour tortillas with olive oil, then cut in half. Cut each half into four triangles and arrange on the heated baking sheets. Place in the oven for 3–4 minutes until crisped up.

Place the whole red pepper in a roasting tin and drizzle with a little olive oil. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes, then add the whole chilli and drizzle over a little more olive oil. Continue to cook for another 15–20 minutes until both vegetables are completely tender and nicely charred. Transfer to a plastic food bag and leave to cool completely. This will help to steam the skins off. When cool enough to handle, peel both, cut in half and remove the cores and seeds. Roughly chop the flesh.

Place the red pepper and chilli flesh in a food processor with the chickpeas, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, tahini (if using) and 4 tablespoons of water. Blend to a creamy purée. Taste, then add more lemon juice, garlic, cumin or some salt if needed. Turn out into a wide serving bowl, and smooth the surface with the back of a spoon. Drizzle with the extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle over a little paprika and freshly ground black pepper. Garnish with the parsley. To serve, arrange the crispy tortilla chips on a platter next to the bowl of roasted red pepper and chilli hummus.

Instead of the red pepper and chilli, you will need one ripe avocado. Hass avocados are available all year round and have a lovely creamy texture, but other varieties are also fine to use. Cut the avocado in half, remove the stone and scoop out the flesh into the food processor with the rest of the ingredients. Proceed with the final stage of the recipe as described opposite.

Serves 4| VEGETARIAN

250g (9oz) halloumi cheese

1 tsp sweet or smoked paprika

1 tbsp olive oil

juice of 1/ 2lemon

4 white pitta bread

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed

finely grated rind and juice of 1/ 2lemon

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

400g can of haricot beans, drained and rinsed

12 vine cherry tomatoes, halved

1 small red onion, peeled and diced

12 pitted black olives

1 tsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 tsp chopped fresh mint Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

I first enjoyed halloumi while on holiday in Cyprus, where it has been produced for centuries. It is a semi-hard cheese prepared from the milk of sheep, cows or goats and then sometimes rolled in wild mint. It has a distinct and pleasant flavour and is versatile to cook with, as its soft springy texture always retains its shape even when fried or grilled.

To prepare the salad, place the garlic, lemon rind and juice and olive oil in a large pan set over a low heat, stirring to combine. Stir in the haricot beans with the tomatoes, red onion, olives and herbs, add salt and pepper to taste, then leave to warm gently for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and place in a bowl to marinate for 1 hour, which will allow the flavours to develop.

When ready to cook the halloumi, heat a griddle pan and a frying pan, until both are very hot. Cut the halloumi cheese into four thick slices and dip them in cold water, then dust all over with the paprika. Add the olive oil to the heated frying pan, then add the halloumi slices. Fry for 4 minutes, turning once, until golden. Remove the pan from the heat and squeeze the lemon juice over the cheese.