Three recipes from James Martin's ‘Slow Cooking’ book

Chick peas and chorizo are an unlikely but brill complement to halibut fillet

Braised halibut with chickpeas and chorizo

Spain has some of the best ingredients in the world. Of all the amazing produce you can find in the markets there, the pork products have to be the best of the bunch. Chorizo sausage is made from pork, salt and pimentón peppers, which give it a fantastic smoky flavour and rich colour. Look out for the picante (spicy) version, and try to buy soft-cooking chorizo, rather than the dry-cured version, which is better for slicing.

Serves 4

250g cooking chorizo
2 banana shallots
2 garlic cloves
2 fresh thyme sprigs
6 tomatoes
400g tinned chick peas, drained and rinsed
200ml white wine
500ml chicken stock
4 x 200g thick fillets halibut on the bone
2 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 170C. Slice the chorizo, thinly slice the shallots and crush the garlic cloves. Heat a flameproof casserole dish until medium hot, then add the chorizo and fry for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the oil is released. Roughly chop the tomatoes. Add the shallots, garlic, thyme and tomatoes cook for a further 3-4 minutes.

Add the chick peas and stir well, then add the white wine and chicken stock and bring to the boil. Cover with the lid and bake in the oven for 1 hour, then remove and place the halibut on top of the chick peas. Cover again and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 5 minutes before removing the lid. Roughly chop the parsley.

Carefully lift out the fish using a fish slice and place on a serving dish. Stir the parsley into the chick peas, season with salt and pepper, and serve them alongside the fish.

It’s best to use lard for flavour in these things (Tara Fisher)

Butternut filo whirl

Ensaimadas, or traditional coiled pastries, are popular all over the Balearics, and this recipe is a twist on one I discovered in Ibiza. It was called ensaimadas con cabello de angel, and was filled with a pumpkin jam made by mixing cooked pumpkin with sugar, which changes the texture of the jam to a stringy mixture, hence the reference to angel’s hair. It is made using lard or olive oil, but lard is the best thing to use in terms of flavour, although I know it seems strange. You can use butter if you prefer.

Serves 4-6

500g butternut squash
350g caster sugar
Juice of ½ lemon
A pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
100g melted lard
250g filo pastry
Icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 170C. Line a large baking tray with baking paper. Peel and cut the butternut squash into rough dice. Heat a saucepan until medium hot, add 300g of the caster sugar and 50ml water and cook until the sugar has melted. Add the squash and stir well, then cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for another 15 minutes, until the liquid has thickened and the squash has softened.

Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice and nutmeg. Beat well until smooth, then allow to cool. Place the filo pastry onto a clean work surface and cut it into a 50cmx30cm rectangle, and brush it with the melted lard. Spoon the squash mixture in a line about 7.5cm below the long top edge, covering the top third of the pastry. Carefully fold the top long edge over the squash to cover it.

Sprinkle the remaining caster sugar over the rest of the pastry. Roll the pastry towards you to make a loose Swiss-roll shape. Transfer to a the prepared baking tray and curve it around to form a horseshoe shape. Bake in the oven for 1 hour, until golden, crispy and cooked through. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before dusting with icing sugar. Cut into thick slices to serve.

Whisk well to stop lumps forming (Tara Fisher ) (Tara Fisher)

Chicory and ham gratin

I learnt this in a little French bistro in Paris, the kind of place with cheap, tasty food and lots of locals. I go there every time I’m in town and eat this dish with grilled chicken or beef, I love it. Following a quick tour around the kitchen and a masterclass from the French grandmother who cooks it, here it is:

Serves 4

75g butter
50g plain flour
500ml milk
1 tsp Dijon mustard
200g Gruyère or Emmental cheese, grated
4 large heads chicory
8 slices cooked ham
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Melt 50g of the butter in a heavy-based pan. Once it’s bubbling slightly, add the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Then, change the spoon for a whisk and add the milk a little at a time, whisking well to stop lumps forming, until you have a smooth sauce. Simmer the sauce gently for 4 minutes, then add the mustard and half the cheese, and season well with salt and pepper. Cover and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 170C. Cut the chicory in half lengthways and season it with salt and pepper. Heat a frying pan until hot and add the remaining butter. When it bubbles, add the chicory cut-side down and fry for 1 minute, until just coloured. Remove from the pan and wrap each chicory half in a slice of ham, then place them in an ovenproof dish. Pour over the cheese sauce, cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes.

Remove the foil, sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese and return to the oven for 20 minutes until golden brown. Serve hot and bubbling.

Make a meal out of it with some rice (Tara Fisher ) (Tara Fisher)

Mulligatawny soup with chutney and poppadoms

“Pepper water” is the another name for this Indian dish (the anglicised version of which you can buy in tins). It was traditionally thickened with rice, but I’ve used potatoes because I think the flavour is better. This is real comfort food, and a meal in its own right if you serve some rice on the side.

Serves 4

½ onion
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves
A 5cm piece of fresh ginger
200g potatoes
1 medium carrot
3 tomatoes
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp Madras curry powder
1 litre chicken stock
200ml coconut milk
Juice of 1 lime
100g cooked basmati rice
75g cooked mini poppadoms
4-6 tbsp mango chutney
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Finely dice the onion. Heat a large saucepan or sautée pan until hot, add the oil and onions and cook over a medium-low heat for 15 minutes, stirring, until very soft and lightly coloured.

Crush the garlic and grate the ginger, and roughly chop the potato, carrot and tomatoes. Add the garlic and ginger to the pan and cook for 2 minutes, then add the cinnamon and curry powder and cook for 1 minute.

Add the potato, carrot and tomatoes and stir well. Add the chicken stock and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a very low simmer, cover and cook for 1 hour.

Using a blender, process the soup in batches until very smooth, then return to the pan. Add the coconut milk and lime juice and return to the heat. Taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary. Spoon the cooked rice into a soup plate, then pour the soup around it. Place the popadoms and mango chutney on top of the rice.

‘Slow Cooking’ by James Martin, published by Quadrille is out now. Photography © Tara Fisher