Culinary Hotline - Chef Ollie
Chef Ollie loves food and when he’s not cooking, he’s thinking about what to cook next! He shares three of his favourite summer-inspired recipes with Expresso!
All recipes by Ollie Swart
Ingredients:
- 300g pappardelle pasta (or ready-made lasagne sheets)
- 3 pasture-reared chicken sausages, casings removed
- 1 red bell pepper, top and seeded and cut in quarters
- A handful of rosa tomatoes
- 4 cloves garlic cloves
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 150 ml of fresh cream
- 2 big black mushrooms, sliced
- Handful of fresh basil leaves, torn
- Grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish
- Cracked black pepper, to taste
- Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- Salt, to taste
How To Make Pappardelle with Chicken, Roasted Red Pepper Sauce & Mushrooms
- Preheat your oven to (200°C).
- Place the red bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, garlic cloves, and rosemary sprig on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
- Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the vegetables are soft and slightly charred.
- While the vegetables are roasting, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- In a large pan, heat a drizzle of olive oil over medium heat.
- Add the chicken sausage, breaking it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon.
- Cook until browned and fully cooked through, about 6-8 minutes.
- Add the sliced black mushrooms to the pan.
- Cook for 5-6 minutes until the mushrooms are tender and slightly browned. Remove from heat and set aside.
- By now, the roasted vegetables should be ready. Remove the charred skin from the red bell pepper and discard the seeds and stem.
- Place the roasted red bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, garlic (skin removed) and rosemary (without the stem) in a blender or food processor.
- Blend with fresh cream until smooth. Season with salt to taste.
- Return the pan to medium heat and add the roasted red pepper cream to the pan.
- Heat the sauce until warmed through.
- Cook pasta in boiling salted water (follow packet instructions for timing).
- Add the cooked pappardelle pasta to the pan and toss to coat the pasta with the sauce.
- If the sauce seems too thick, you can add some pasta cooking water to loosen it up. Add torn basil and toss.
- Serve the pappardelle with a sprinkle of torn basil leaves, grated Parmesan cheese, cracked black pepper, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Smash it! Pasta waits for no one
Ingredients:
- 4 thin ribeye steaks, pounded thin
- 4 bay leaves
- 4 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
- 1 Tbsp sweet paprika (Pimentón dulce)
- 1 Tbsp peri peri powder
- 1 chopped bird’s eye chili
- ¼ Cup white wine
- ¼ Cup red wine vinegar
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 Tbsp butter, to fry
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, to fry
- 4 big Portuguese bread rolls, sliced in half and lightly toasted with butter
- 4 free-range eggs
How To Make Prego Steak and Egg Rolls
- In a bowl, combine the steak, bay leaves, garlic, sweet paprika, peri peri powder, chopped bird’s eye chili, white wine, red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper.
- Mix well and set aside for a minimum of 1 hour, up to 3 hours for marinating.
- When you’re ready to make the rolls, heat a large frying pan on high heat with butter and olive oil.
- Fry the steaks for 30 seconds on each side. Make sure not to overcrowd the pan and fry in two batches if necessary.
- Feel free to add the bay leaves and all the garlic cloves from the marinade to the frying pan.
- Place two steaks in each roll, making sure to scoop up all the delicious garlic. Discard the bay leaves.
- Now, crack the 4 eggs directly into the frying pan, lower the heat, cover the pan, and let the steam gently cook the eggs for about 2 minutes.
- Finally, add one cooked egg to each roll and serve.
These are just naughty!
Ingredients:
- 1 kg cucumbers (Persian, Japanese, or English cucumbers work well)
- 5 radishes, quartered
- 1 Tbsp salt and 1 tablespoon sugar (for curing cucumbers)
- 2 ½ tsp sugar
- A few drops of sesame oil
- 3 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 ½ Tbsp rice vinegar
- ½ tsp white pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- ¼ Cup tahini
- 2 Tbsp honey
- Juice of 1 lime
- 2 Tbsp water (adjust for desired consistency)
- 1 tsp whole cumin seeds
- Pinch of salt (to taste)
- 1 tsp roasted sesame seeds
- 2 Spring onions, sliced
- Handful of mint, roughly chopped
- ½ tsp chili crisp oil (optional)
How To Make Bashed Cantonese Cucumber, Radish and Tahini salad
- Lay down a cucumber and smack with rolling pin .
- Separate the cucumber pieces and put them into a bowl. Repeat with the remaining cucumbers.
- Place the cucumbers in a colander over a bowl.
- Add one tablespoon of salt and 1 Tbsp of sugar and mix thoroughly with your fingers.
- Set it aside for about 15-20 minutes, allowing the water to be drawn out of the cucumbers.
- Rinse and dry the cucumbers after the time is up.
- In a bowl, prepare the dressing by combining 2 1/2 teaspoons sugar, rice vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, white pepper and grated garlic.
- Mix well until the sugar is dissolved.
- Place the cucumbers and radishes in the bowl with the dressing and toss to marinate.
- In another small bowl, whisk together tahini, honey, lime juice, water, ground toasted cumin, and a pinch of salt until well combined.
- Adjust the salt or sweetness according to your taste. If you prefer a thinner consistency, gradually add more water until desired thickness is reached.
- Serve the dressed cucumbers and radishes on top of the tahini sauce.
- Drizzle with chili oil and sprinkle roasted sesame seeds, mint and sliced spring onion on top.
This is super fresh.