Looking for an easy dinner recipe that’s sure to impress? Well, here’s TWO! A one-pot deelish pasta and a traybake lemon dal. Oh, and they’re both vegetarian!
Yip – gulp – the weather is definitely starting to turn, so if you’re looking for something warming (and delicious) for dinner, look no further! Anna Jones’ new cookbook Easy Wins is out now and full to the brim with gorgeous, meat-free options. Anna takes 12 hero ingredients to create 125 dishes to make food taste great. A trusted voice of modern vegetarian cooking, Anna distils her 20 years’ experience in the kitchen to inspire us how to layer more flavour and texture!
If you’re after an easy dinner recipe, here are two of our faves from the book – perfect for a cool autumn evening!
One-pot pasta al limone
SERVES 4
- 400g spaghetti or linguine 2 large unwaxed lemons
- 1 clove of garlic, peeled and bashed but kept whole
- 100ml olive oil
- 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt
- 50g salted butter or vegan butter 40g Parmesan or vegan
- Parmesan-style cheese (I use a vegetarian one), grated
- ½ a bunch of basil (15g), leaves picked and torn (optional)
Pasta al limone. I can’t think of a plate of food that shines a light on lemon flavour in quire the same way. Pasta, lemon and Parmesan come together in alchemy to create something worthy of any table.
I tested out a lot of pasta al limone recipes before I landed here. Some had cream, some had finely chopped lemon but none came close to the creaminess of this one and none was as easy. The one-pan method (where you cook the pasta and sauce in one pan) was made for pasta al limone. The starchy water it creates is exactly what is needed to thicken the lemony sauce and coat the pasta. I like to keep this pretty simple. I have suggested some basil as an option at the end, but these simple lemony noodles are enough on their own and a true pantry pasta. If you like, you could add some greens or even stir though some warmed cannellini beans.
Fill the pasta pan
Put 400g spaghetti or linguine into a large lidded saucepan. Grate in the zest of 2 large unwaxed lemons and add 1 clove of garlic, peeled and bashed but kept whole, 100ml olive oil and 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt.
Add water and cook
Add 1 litre boiling water, cover with a lid and bring to the boil. As soon as it boils, remove the lid and simmer for 8 minutes, using a pair of tongs to turn the pasta in the thickening pasta water every 30 seconds or so as it cooks.
Add the lemon juice
Once the pasta has had 8 minutes, squeeze in the juice of one of the zested lemons and simmer for a final 2 minutes with the lid off.
Finish the pasta
Once almost all the water has evaporated, take the pan off the heat, stir in 50g salted butter or vegan butter and 20g grated Parmesan or vegan Parmesan-style cheese and leave to sit for a minute or two, so the pasta can absorb most of the remaining water and form a lemony sauce. Taste and add more salt, lemon juice and butter or olive oil as needed. Tangle into 4 bowls and finish with the rest of the Parmesan and ½ a bunch of torn basil leaves, if you like.
Traybake lemon dal with pickled green chillies
SERVES 4
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 2 × 400g tins plum tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons ghee or other cooking oil
- 2 unwaxed lemons
- a thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled
- 8 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
- 2 green chillies, sliced
- 2 teaspoons golden caster sugar
- 50ml white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- a bunch of coriander (30g), chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- a cinnamon stick
- 1 tablespoon Kashmiri chilli powder (or ½ teaspoon if using other chilli powders)
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
- 300g split red lentils
- 1 × 400M tin coconut milk
- 800ml hot vegetable stock
- 250g paneer or firm tofu
- warm rice, parathas or roti, yoghurt and chutney to serve
Dal is a staple of our weeknight cooking. Its the dinner I never get bored of. I have a few favourites I make on rotation: coconut, lemon and now this traybaked tomato one. This dal is made in the oven, so it’s very hands-off. The tinned tomatoes are roasted first to give a deeper hit of tomato flavour. Serve this with a pot of rice, some parathas, some salted yoghurt and chutney.
Crush the tomatoes
Preheat the Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan. Add 1 tablespoon coriander seeds and 2 teaspoons cumin seeds to a high-sided baking tray and toast in the oven for 2-4 minutes until fragrant, then remove and tip into a pestle and mortar and crush before returning to the tray. Drain 2 x 400g tins of tomatoes and add to the tray. Use a potato masher or the back of a large spoon/fork to crush the tomatoes to release their juice and flatten them a little, and spread them evenly over the tray.
Add the flavourings and roast
Add 2 tablespoons ghee or oil, then grate in the zest of 1 unwaxed lemon and 1 thumb of ginger and add 8 thinly sliced cloves of garlic. Toss the tomatoes in the spices and roast for 30 minutes until sticky and intensified in flavour.
Make the quick pickle
Put 2 sliced green chillies, 2 teaspoons golden caster sugar, 50ml white wine vinegar and a teaspoon of salt into a small bowl and mix well. Add the zest of a second unwaxed lemon. Stir through a bunch of chopped coriander, stems and all. Put in the fridge to keep cool.
Add the spices and lentils
Once the tomatoes have had their time, removed them from the oven and stir in 1 teaspoon ground turmeric, a cinnamon stick, 1 tablespoon Kashmiri chilli powder and 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds. Add 300g split red lentils and pour over a 400ml tin of coconut milk and 800ml hot vegetable stock. Cover tightly with foil and return to the oven for another 40 minutes.
Add the paneer
After 40 minutes, carefully take the tray out of the oven and remove the foil. Stir the dal, then season well with sea salt. Tear 250g paneer or firm tofu over the top of the dal and squeeze over the juice of 2 zested lemons. Return to the oven for a further 15 minutes or until the edges of the paneer are beginning to turn golden, the dal is creamy and the lentils are soft.
Finish with the chilli and serve
Serve with rice, parathas, yoghurt and chutney and the pickled chilli and coriander mixture. Will keep in the fridge for up to 7 days.
Extracted with permission from Easy Wins: 12 flavour hits by Anna Jones, RRP $60, 4th Estate.
