Treat Dad this Father’s Day to these viral TikTok recipes

If the saying ‘the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach’ is true, there’s no better way to celebrate than by cooking up a seriously scrumptious meal, says Margie Nomura

(Margie Nomura)

Father’s Day (18 June) is just around the corner, which is a great opportunity to get together as a family and show the dad figures in your life some love, and if the saying “the way to a man's heart is through his stomach” is true, there’s no better way to celebrate than by cooking up a seriously scrumptious meal.

Luckily, we’ve sat down with professional chef and host of foodie favourite the Desert Island Dishes podcast Margie Nomura, who has shared her ultimate Father’s Day Menu, including a seriously delicious cauliflower starter, TikTok favourite burrata pasta and oozy double chocolate muffins.

All these recipes are family-friendly and simple to make.

Whole roasted cauliflower with tahini and chimichurri

Not only does this starter require minimal effort, if your dad is a veggie or aiming to eat less meat, this can also make a great main course (Margie Nomura)

This dish is a perfect substantial starter to kick off any Father’s Day feast. It’s a great substitute for a cut of meat and is easy to make when you’re feeling lazy.

When you roast a cauliflower whole it takes on this buttery, sweet but salty crust in the oven so make sure you roast it until it is soft enough for a knife to cut through.

For the chimichurri, you won’t use all of this for the cauliflower but it keeps beautifully in the fridge for up to 2 weeks and is amazing served as a salad dressing or on vegetable kebabs.

Serves: 4 as a starter and 2 as a main

Prep time: 15 minutes | Cook time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

1 medium-sized cauliflower (remove thick ugly outer leaves but leave any smaller more delicate ones)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp Maldon sea salt

For the chimichurri, mix together:

1 finely diced shallot

1 diced red chilli pepper

3-4 diced garlic cloves

½ cup red wine vinegar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp red pepper flakes

½ cup finely chopped coriander

2 cups finely parsley

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (more oil as needed to get the right consistency – it should be runnier than a pesto, more like a heavily flavoured chunky oil)

For the garlic yoghurt:

4 heaped tbsp Greek yoghurt

1 clove garlic crushed

Juice of ¼ lemon

2 tbsp tahini to serve

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 200C.

Fill a large pot of water and season well with salt and bring to a boil.

Place the cauliflower in, cover and let cook for 6-8 minutes, depending on the size. Check to see if ready by poking the stem with a knife, and then remove the cauliflower and place it on a sheet tray to steam dry for around 10 minutes.

Cover with extra virgin olive oil and season well with sea salt. Return to the oven and let roast for 45 minutes until charred and golden all over.

Remove from the oven

Spoon some garlicky yoghurt onto a serving plate and pop the cauliflower on top. Drizzle with tahini and chimichurri.

Cut into wedges and enjoy!

Spaghetti with garlic tomatoes and burrata

This pasta dish has gone absolutely viral on TikTok with users commenting, ‘this is sooo good’ and ‘this looks INSANE’ (Margie Nomura)

This pasta dish is one of my favourite go-to recipes, especially in the summer when you want something light and no fuss but still seriously delicious.

This is a recipe that anyone at home can make, which means it’s a perfect dish for Father’s Day as everyone can pitch in and present a beautiful dish be proud of.

Serves: 2

Prep time: 5 minutes | Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

300g cherry tomatoes

½ tsp caster sugar

Maldon salt and pepper

250g spaghetti or linguine

Handful of chopped fresh basil, plus more for sprinkling

1 large ball of burrata cheese, torn

Parmesan cheese, for topping

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-low heat.

Add in the garlic, and red pepper flakes, cooking for 1 to 2 minutes.

Add in the tomatoes with a big pinch of salt and pepper and toss them in the oil. Let the tomatoes cook until they begin to burst.

Add the sugar. Smoosh the tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon gently to encourage them to burst.

While the tomatoes do their thing, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta.

Once the pasta is done, drain it (save a cup of cooking water) and add it directly to the tomatoes. Toss the mixture a few times so all the pasta is coated. Add a splash of pasta water as needed. Turn off the heat and toss in the fresh basil. Taste and check for seasoning.

Top with burrata cheese.

Serve immediately, top with parmesan cheese, more fresh basil and red pepper flakes and a drizzle of olive oil.

Double chocolate muffins

Everybody loves chocolate, but perhaps dad’s love it the most (Margie Nomura)

These muffins are soft, pillowy and rich. Complete with chopped dark chocolate, they are the best sweet treat to end a Father’s Day feast. Plus, if you eat them whilst warm you can expect melty chocolate in the middle.

This recipe has only 4 steps, and can be made earlier in the day so they work well when you’re doing a three course meal. If your dad has a sweet tooth, I would recommend serving with some vanilla ice cream on the side!

Makes: 6 muffins

Prep time: 20 minutes | Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

250ml buttermilk

120ml vegetable oil

2 eggs

splash of vanilla

300g plain flour

180g sugar

65g cocoa powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp instant coffee (even if you don’t like coffee, you should add it as you can’t taste the coffee taste but it enhances everything else!)

Pinch of salt

200g dark chocolate, chopped into chunks

Method:

In a bowl combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt

And then in a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients together

Pour the two together and then add the chopped chocolate

Scoop into a lined muffin tray and bake at 180 c for 20 mins.

Enjoy!