Ottolenghi says: “There’s something really reassuring about a rice traybake. Add the right amount of water, seal the dish well, pop it into the oven and forget about it. This is as comforting and delicious as you’d expect cheesy, briny, chilli-butter-doused rice to be. It’s the perfect side to something simple like a roast chicken, or else can be eaten as a main, with some wilted greens.”

Getting ahead: The rice wants to be eaten fresh out of the oven but can be taken up to the point just before the hot water and aromatics are added if you want to get ahead.

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 8 cloves
• 6 cardamom pods, bashed
• 1 lemon: shave the skin into strips, then juice to get 2 tbsp 
• 125g ricotta
• 150g feta, crumbled
• 125g hard mozzarella, grated 
• 25g Parmesan, grated
• 1 egg, beaten
• 400g basmati rice, rinsed and drained well
• 75g pitted green olives, cut in half 100g unsalted butter
• ½ tsp chilli flakes
• ¾ tsp Aleppo chilli flakes
• ½ tsp sumac
• 5 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal into 1cm pieces
• salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C fan.

Pour 750ml of water into a medium saucepan and add the cloves, cardamom pods, lemon strips and 1½ teaspoons of salt. Place on a medium-high heat, bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, put the four cheeses and the egg into a medium bowl and mix well. Using your hands, divide the mixture into 12 portions and roll them roughly into balls, approximately 40g each. They don’t need to be perfect, as they will spread once in the rice.

Scatter the rice on the bottom of a high-sided baking tray or dish, 24cm x 32cm (or a 28cm ovenproof sauté pan, for which you have a lid), and scatter over the olives. Pour over the hot water and aromatics. Shake the tray gently to spread the rice evenly, then deposit the cheese balls in the rice. Cover the tray tightly with foil (or lid), to keep the steam in, and bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to settle, covered, for 10 minutes.

While the rice is resting, melt the butter in a medium saucepan on a medium heat. Add the chilli flakes, Aleppo flakes and sumac and cook for 2–3 minutes. Add the spring onions and cook for a further 20 seconds. Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice and set aside.

Uncover the rice and spoon the chilli butter all over just before serving.

Ottolenghi says: “Growing up in Malaysia, nasi lemak was something Helen ate a lot of. Wrapped in banana leaves and day-old newspaper, the little packs of coconut rice, spicy sambal, egg and cucumber are sold on nearly every street corner. While this recipe is very much not nasi lemak, it is nevertheless inspired by it. The egg and tomato sauce mingling in the pan reminds us, at the same time, of the Middle Eastern shakshuka which Yotam grew up eating. Serve with rice, flatbread or any bread you like.”

Getting ahead: This can be made in advance, up to the point just before the eggs are cracked into the sambal. The sambal lasts well in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1½ tsp fennel seeds
• 2 whole cloves
• seeds from 2 cardamom pods
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1½ tbsp medium curry powder 60ml olive oil
• ½ tsp black mustard seeds
• 20 curry leaves
• 1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced (160g)
• 10g ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 5 garlic cloves, crushed
• 10g coriander, stalks finely chopped and leaves to serve 
• 150g datterini (or cherry) tomatoes 
• 2 tsp sambal oelek
• 1 x 400g tin of crushed tomatoes 
• 100ml tamarind concentrate 
• 300ml water
• 15g palm (or light soft brown) sugar 
• 5 eggs
• salt and black pepper

Method

Put the fennel seeds, cloves and cardamom seeds into a small dry frying pan and place on a medium-low heat. Toast lightly for about 2 minutes, until fragrant, then grind to a powder in a spice grinder or a pestle and mortar. Add the cinnamon and curry powder and set aside.

Put 3 tablespoons of the oil into a large sauté pan (for which you have a lid) – about 26cm wide – and place on a medium heat. Add the mustard seeds and 10 curry leaves and cook for 1 minute, until the seeds begin to pop. Add the onion and cook for about 7 minutes, stirring frequently, until they are starting to colour. Add the ginger, garlic, coriander stalks and fresh tomatoes, cook for another 5 minutes, then add the fennel spice mix. Cook for 2 minutes, until fragrant, then add the sambal oelek, tinned tomatoes, tamarind, water, sugar and 1¼ teaspoons of salt. Stir well and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 20–25 minutes, uncovered, until thickened.

Crack the eggs into the sambal and sprinkle a little salt and pepper over each egg. Cover the pan and cook for 7–8 minutes, until the egg whites are fully cooked and the yolks are soft.

Meanwhile, put the remaining tablespoon of oil into a small pan and place on a medium heat. Add the rest of the curry leaves, cook for about a minute, until very fragrant, then remove from the heat. When the eggs are ready, drizzle the oil and fried curry leaves over the eggs, scatter over the coriander leaves, and serve.

Ottolenghi says: “Pasta Bolognese: so many of us grow up on a particular version which then becomes the ‘normal’ against which all others are measured. Anyone whose default is an Italian or Anglophone take on the dish will be delighted by ‘Helen’s Bolognese’. Adapted from a noodle sauce in Carolyn Phillips’s book, All Under Heaven, it gets a lot of its depth and deliciousness from doubanjiang – a spicy bean paste made from fermented soya beans, broad beans and chillies. It is a key ingredient in a lot of Sichuanese food and readily available in Asian grocers or online.”

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 75ml peanut oil
• 1 onion, finely diced (180g)
• 1 large carrot, peeled and finely diced (125g)
• 1 celery stick, finely diced (75g)
• 2 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 bay leaves
• 1½ tsp Sichuan peppercorns, roughly crushed in a pestle and mortar
• 1 tsp fennel seeds, roughly crushed in a pestle and mortar
• 500g minced pork (or beef, or a mixture of both)
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 40g ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 100g doubanjiang (aka chilli bean paste)
• 50ml light soy sauce
• 310ml water
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 7 spring onions, finely sliced (75g) 
• 360g dried pappardelle

Dressed cucumbers:

• 1 large cucumber, cut into thin batons (310g)
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp runny honey
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• salt

To serve:

• 5g coriander leaves, roughly torn 
• 1½ tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Method

Put the oil into a medium saucepan, for which you have a lid, and place on a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the onion, carrot, celery, star anise, cinnamon stick and bay leaves. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, then add the Sichuan peppercorns and fennel seeds. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the vegetables take on some colour. Take the pan off the heat and, using a slotted spoon, transfer the vegetables to a plate, leaving behind the oil and any sediments.

Keep the pan on a medium-high heat and add the meat, garlic and ginger. Cook for 5–7 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the meat is lightly browned. Add the Shaoxing wine, cook for a minute, then add the doubanjiang, soy sauce and 250ml of water. Stir to combine, partially cover, and simmer on a medium-low heat for about 25 minutes, stirring from time to time.

While the meat sauce is simmering, mix the cornflour with the remaining 60ml of water and set aside.

Return the cooked vegetables to the sauce, along with the spring onions and the cornflour slurry. Simmer for 5 minutes, uncovered.

Meanwhile, place all the ingredients for the dressed cucumbers in a small bowl. Add ¼ teaspoon of salt, mix to combine and set aside.

Cook the pappardelle in salted boiling water until al dente, then divide between four bowls. Ladle over the meat sauce and top with some of the dressed cucumbers. Finish with the coriander and sesame seeds and serve, with the remaining cucumbers on the side.