Recipes "Olive oil"

Pizza in teglia is Italian pan pizza: a wet, airy dough pressed into a well-oiled baking tin, topped with tomato, garlic and oregano, and baked until the bottom is crisp and almost fried. One tin…

Pizza marinara is the plainest of the Neapolitan pizzas: tomato, sliced garlic, dried oregano and olive oil on a thin dough, with no cheese at all. It costs almost nothing, it is vegan as it stands…

Chili sin carne, "chili without meat", is a thick, spicy stew of beans, tomatoes and peppers. It feeds a crowd for very little money, freezes well, and goes with rice, tortillas, baked potatoes or…

Gazpacho is a cold, raw soup of tomatoes, cucumber, pepper, garlic, olive oil and vinegar, blended smooth. On a hot day it is the most refreshing thing you can eat, and it needs no cooking at all. It…

Hummus is a smooth purée of chickpeas, tahini (sesame paste), lemon and garlic. Spread it on bread, dip raw vegetables in it, or make it the centre of a meal with falafel, salad and pita. Homemade…

Mujaddara is a dish of lentils and rice cooked together and crowned with a big pile of deeply browned onions. It is cheap, filling and surprisingly rich in taste for such simple ingredients. Eat it…

Pasta al pomodoro is pasta in a simple tomato sauce with garlic, olive oil and basil. It is the base of Italian home cooking: once you can make this sauce, you can make dozens of others from it…

Pumpkin soup is a smooth, orange, slightly sweet soup that most children like. Make it in autumn and early winter, when pumpkins and squashes are everywhere and cheap. Butternut squash, Hokkaido (red…

Ratatouille is a slow stew of summer vegetables cooked in olive oil: aubergine, courgette, peppers, onions and tomatoes. Make it at the end of summer when these vegetables are cheap and ripe. Serve…

Spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino is pasta tossed with garlic gently fried in olive oil and a little chili. It is the dish to make when the cupboard is nearly empty, when you come home late, or…

Tabbouleh is a salad of finely chopped parsley with tomato, mint, spring onion and a little bulgur wheat, sharp with lemon juice. It is green, not beige: the parsley is the salad, and the bulgur is…

A calzone is a pizza folded in half before baking: a round of pizza dough filled with ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan and basil, sealed into a half-moon and baked until puffed and brown, with a…

Pizza margherita is a thin yeast dough topped with crushed tomatoes, mozzarella, fresh basil and a thread of olive oil. Make the dough in the morning or at lunchtime and the pizzas take ten minutes…

Pizza quattro formaggi, four-cheese pizza, is a white pizza covered with mozzarella, gorgonzola, fontina and Parmesan, with no tomato. It is rich, so one pizza goes a long way: cut it into slices for…

Insalata caprese is slices of tomato and fresh mozzarella with basil leaves and olive oil, nothing more. With so few ingredients, everything depends on their quality: ripe summer tomatoes, soft…

Greek salad is chunks of tomato, cucumber, pepper and onion with olives and a thick slice of feta, dressed with olive oil and oregano. It has no lettuce. Made with summer tomatoes and good feta, it…

Minestrone is a thick Italian vegetable soup with beans and a little pasta or rice. It is a meal in a bowl and a good way to use whatever vegetables are in season: there is no single correct recipe…

Risotto is rice cooked slowly in hot stock, stirred so its starch makes a creamy sauce, then finished with butter and cheese. With mushrooms, it is an autumn and winter favourite. It is not hard, but…

Pesto alla genovese is a raw green sauce of basil, pine nuts, garlic, cheese and olive oil. Tossed with pasta, it is a summer dish that needs no cooking apart from the pasta. In Genoa it is served…

Shakshuka is eggs poached in a thick, spiced sauce of tomatoes and peppers, brought to the table in the pan and eaten with bread. It works for a late breakfast, a lazy lunch or a fast dinner when the…

The Spanish tortilla, tortilla de patatas, is a thick omelette of potatoes and onions slowly cooked in olive oil. Served warm or at room temperature, it is a lunch, a picnic dish, or tapas cut into…

Tzatziki is a cool dip of thick yogurt, grated cucumber, garlic, olive oil and dill. It goes with grilled meat, fish and vegetables, in pita with falafel, or simply with bread. It is fresh, very…

Brandade de morue is salt cod beaten with warm olive oil, milk and garlic, then mixed with mashed potato into a soft, creamy purée. It is eaten warm on toast, or baked in a dish until golden on top…

Gambas al ajillo are prawns cooked in a few minutes in olive oil with plenty of garlic, a dried chili and parsley. They come to the table still sizzling, with bread to dip in the garlic oil. Made…

Grilled sardines are whole fresh sardines salted, grilled over high heat until the skin blisters, and eaten with lemon, bread and a salad. Sardines are one of the cheapest fresh fish at the counter…

Pasta al tonno is spaghetti in a quick tomato sauce with canned tuna, garlic, capers and parsley. Everything in it keeps in the cupboard, it costs very little, and the sauce is ready in the time the…

Pesce all'acqua pazza is white fish poached in a light broth of water, olive oil, garlic, cherry tomatoes and parsley. It cooks in one pan in about twenty minutes, and the broth that is left is…

Salade niçoise is a summer salad of ripe tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, tuna, anchovies and small black olives, dressed with olive oil. With canned tuna it is cheap and needs almost no cooking, and it…

Salmon en papillote is salmon baked in a sealed parcel of baking paper on a bed of thin courgette slices, with lemon and dill. The fish steams in its own juices, so it stays moist, and the whole dish…

Flammkuchen, tarte flambée in French, is a very thin, crisp dough spread with crème fraîche and topped with sliced onions and smoked lardons. It bakes in a few minutes and is cut into strips at the…

Ragù alla bolognese is a thick meat sauce, cooked slowly for hours, with only a little tomato. It is the real ancestor of what the world calls "spaghetti bolognese". In Bologna it is served with…

A whole chicken roasted in the oven with lemon, garlic and herbs, with potatoes cooking in its juices underneath, is one of the great family meals. It makes Sunday lunch, and the leftovers make…