Credit: Issy Croker
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For The Love Of Food: 3 indulgent breakfast recipes that you can eat at any time of day
7 months ago
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7 min read
Michelin-starred chef Paul Ainsworth is sharing three elevated brunch recipes from his debut cookbook For The Love Of Food.
While on weekdays, breakfast may mean a rushed bowl of cereal before jumping on a Teams call or a coffee and croissant picked up on the way to the office, at the weekend, we’re able to luxuriate a little more and treat our first meal of the day as a much more important event.
Eggs, pancakes, French toast – whatever you’re craving can either be rustled up at home or found at a local cafe, but there’s no reason why the same dishes can’t be enjoyed throughout the day. After all, one of the few perks of being an adult is being allowed to eat breakfast for dinner whenever you fancy.
Credit: Pavilion
And here to offer us a range of accessible yet elevated recipes is Michelin-starred chef Paul Ainsworth and his debut book For The Love Of Food. Filled with timeless dishes for any occasion (and any time of day), from Italian-inspired meals to seafood-filled plates and comforting classics, you’ll be making them all on repeat.
Gypsy Eggs
Paul says: “Gypsy Eggs is a dish we had on the menu at Caffè Rojano as a starter, but it’s also brilliant served as a breakfast or brunch. For me, Gypsy Eggs really is the ultimate morning treat – from the comforting warmth you get from the roasted chorizo in tomato sauce, to the luxuriousness of the silky egg against the acidity from the feta cheese. Duck eggs also work beautifully with this dish. If you can’t get raw chorizo, cooked is fine; just cook the onions and tomatoes first, then add the cooked chorizo.”
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 100g raw chorizo, diced
- 40g onion, diced
- 8 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 200g tinned or cooked cannellini beans
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 420g Tomato Fondue (see below)
- 8 large basil leaves, torn
- 4 eggs
- 30g feta
- Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- Sea salt
- Cracked black pepper
- Toast, to serve
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan.
Take a large ovenproof frying pan and heat the oil over a high heat. Add the diced chorizo and cook for 2–3 minutes until all the lovely red fat comes out of the sausage. Now add the onion and cherry tomatoes, along with a pinch of sea salt. Turn down the heat to medium and stir occasionally until the onions and tomatoes are soft, then stir in the cannellini beans. Add the vinegar and cook until the mixture is sticky and the vinegar has evaporated.
Now add the tomato fondue and stir well. Add half the basil leaves, stir again and check the seasoning. Cook for a further 2 minutes, ensuring everything is hot and well mixed, with a stew-like consistency.
Crack one of the eggs and place in a quarter of the pan, on top of the mixture. Repeat with the remining eggs in each of the other quarters. Season with sea salt and black pepper and transfer the frying pan to the oven. Cook for around 1 minute until the whites of the eggs are set but the yolks are still runny. Remove from the oven and, once cooled, finish by crumbling the feta over the dish and sprinkling with the remaining basil.
Drizzle with a few teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil and serve in the pan, in the middle of the table, with some toast.
Tomato Fondue
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 white onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 sprigs of thyme
- 30 g dark soft brown sugar
- 30 ml white wine vinegar, plus 5 ml for finishing
- 600 g tinned chopped tomatoes
- Cornish sea salt
- Cracked black pepper
Method
Place a medium saucepan over a medium heat and add the olive oil. Once warm, add the onion, garlic, bay leaf, thyme and a pinch of sea salt. Cook the onion for 3–4 minutes until soft and translucent.
Add the brown sugar and stir until it starts to melt. Add 30 ml of the white wine vinegar and turn up the heat. Once the vinegar has reduced to nothing, add the tinned tomatoes. Turn down to a simmer and cook the sauce until it has thickened. Once thickened, remove from the heat. Check the seasoning and add the last 5 ml of white wine vinegar to taste. It will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Emma’s Frittata
Paul says: “My wife Emma will make this dish most weekends for breakfast or brunch. If I’ve been out for a bike ride, then coming back home to this mid-morning is just the best treat. Emma uses up whatever is in the fridge and it comes out absolutely delicious. Chopped, roast chicken thighs or breasts are also lovely instead of the chorizo. If you are working to a budget, then frozen cocktail prawns are a great option too.”
Serves 4 (gluten-free)
Ingredients
- 9 eggs, beaten
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 130g chorizo sausage, chopped
- 200g prawns, shelled and deveined
- 1 small onion, coarsely diced
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 red pepper, deseeded, cut into quarters, then sliced
- 1 yellow pepper, deseeded, cut into quarters, then sliced
- 150g mushrooms, quartered
- 13 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 120g spinach, cooked
- 100g mozzarella, diced
- 80g feta, crumbled
- 6 basil leaves, torn
- 4 sprigs of coriander, torn
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Sea salt
- Cracked black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan.
Take a large ovenproof frying pan and heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over a high heat. Add the chopped chorizo and cook all over for 2–3 minutes. Add the prawns and fry for a further minute, making sure the prawns are cooked and covered in the lovely red chorizo oil.
Remove the chorizo and prawns from the pan and transfer to a plate. Return the pan to the heat, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the onion and smoked paprika and cook for 2 minutes. Add the peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes and continue cooking for a further 3 minutes.
Now add the spinach and allow to soften. Check the seasoning, then add the chorizo and prawns. Pour in the beaten eggs and stir. Now place the mozzarella around the pan, pushing into the mixture. Transfer to the oven and bake for about 12 minutes until the eggs are set. They will continue to cook when they come out of the oven.
To serve, finish the top of the frittata with the crumbled feta, torn basil and coriander and a drizzle of the extra virgin olive oil. Place in the middle of the table and get stuck in. We love to eat this with things like guacamole (see page 42), a dollop of soured cream, sriracha or Frank’s Hot Sauce.
Scrambled Eggs and Roast Potatoes
Paul says: “I’ve been waiting over 20 years to immortalise this recipe in a book. Every Friday, when I was working at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Geraldine, the French pastry chef, used to make us beautifully silky scrambled eggs with sautéd potatoes folded through. It was a combination I’d never tried before, but the whole kitchen came to look forward to it every week. Here’s my nod to that dish and, trust me, you’re going to love it. Cook your potatoes as crisp as you can get them, so they don’t turn soggy when you add them to the scrambled eggs. Duck eggs make beautiful scrambled eggs, if you can get hold of them.”
Serves 4 (vegetarian, gluten-free)
Ingredients
- 4 potatoes (Maris Piper, Yukon Gold or good roasting potatoes), peeled and cut into quarters
- 60g duck fat
- 2 tsp English mustard powder
- 4 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked
- 8 eggs
- 65g chilled butter, diced
- 2 tbsp crème fraîche
- 2 spring onions, washed and sliced
- 10g fresh chives, chopped
- Cornish sea salt
- Cracked black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 210°C fan.
Place the cut potatoes in a medium saucepan and just cover with cold water. Season with some sea salt and bring to a simmer. Turn down the heat and cook the potatoes for 25 minutes until soft. Drain the potatoes using a colander and allow the potatoes to steam-dry. Gently shake the potatoes in the colander to really rough up the edges and, once the fat is hot, add the potatoes and season with the mustard powder and some sea salt.
Return the tray to the oven and roast the potatoes for about 45 minutes – checking and turning them every 20 minutes, until utterly crisp. Set aside and fold through the thyme leaves.
Crack the eggs into a bowl and add the butter but do not whisk. Place a medium saucepan over a low heat and add the eggs. With a spatula or wooden spoon, gently stir. The eggs will gradually break down, but this method creates wonderful texture. Once the eggs are creamy and scrambled, take off the heat. Remember, the eggs will carry on cooking, so don’t be afraid to take them off the heat a bit earlier for that lovely, creamy texture. Season with sea salt and black pepper.
Add the crisp roast potatoes to the creamy scrambled eggs and gently fold together. Top with dollops of crème fraîche, slices of spring onion and the chopped chives. Brunch of champions!
For The Love Of Food: Recipes for life’s delicious moments by Paul Ainsworth (£26, Pavilion Books) is out now
Photography: Issy Croker
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