Sides are the best accompaniments to the main event so here are some recipes to get you inspired
Butter beans with roasted cherry tomatoes
Butter beans with roasted cherry tomatoes. Photography by Jonathan Lovekin
Serves: 4
What you’ll need
500g cherry tomatoes
85ml olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp thyme leaves, roughly chopped, plus a few whole thyme leaves to garnish
1 tsp fennel seeds, toasted and lightly
crushed
1 fresh bay leaf
80ml dry white wine
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 x 700g jar of good-quality butter beans, drained and rinsed
Salt and black pepper
To serve
75g thick Greek-style yoghurt
Thick slices of sourdough (or any crusty) bread, toasted (optional)
Method
Toss the tomatoes with two teaspoons of the oil and spread them on a parchment-lined baking tray.
Roast for 20 minutes, until the skins have loosened and the tomatoes are soft and have shrunk a little.
Remove from the oven and transfer the tomatoes, along with all their juices, to a shallow bowl to cool.
Re-line the baking tray with a fresh sheet of baking parchment and reduce the oven temperature to 120°C/100°C fan.
Once cool enough to handle, pinch the skins off the tomatoes and place the skins on the lined baking tray.
Return the tray to the oven for about 45 minutes, until the skins are dry and crisp, giving them a good stir a couple of times during baking.
Set the skinless tomatoes aside.
Put the remaining 75 millilitres of oil into a medium saucepan and place on a medium heat.
Add the onion, garlic, oregano, thyme, fennel seeds and bay leaf and cook for 10–12 minutes, until the onion has softened, but has not taken on too much colour.
Add the wine, simmer for two minutes to reduce, then add the paprika.
Cook for another minute, then add the reserved tomato flesh, along with one teaspoon of salt.
Simmer gently for about 15 minutes, stirring often so that the tomatoes break down.
Add the beans and a good grind of pepper and stir to combine.
Cook for a couple of minutes, just to warm through, then remove from the heat.
Spread the yoghurt over a serving plate and then pile the beans on top.
Crumble over the dried tomato skins, finish with a sprinkling of thyme leaves and serve.
Ottolenghi COMFORT by Yotam Ottolenghi, Helen Goh, Verena Lochmuller and Tara Wigley
Ottolenghi COMFORT by Yotam Ottolenghi, Helen Goh, Verena Lochmuller and Tara Wigley (Ebury Press, £30)
Roast potatoes
Roast potatoes. Photography by Haarala Hamilton
Serves: 2-4
What you’ll need
4 Maris Piper, russet or red skin potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
2tbsp vegetable oil
1tsp fine salt
Method
Heat the air fryer to 160°C/325°F.
In a mixing bowl, toss the potatoes in the oil and salt, and tip them into the air-fryer basket.
Cook for 30 minutes, giving them a proper aggressive toss every 10 minutes, and even poke them with a fork if you want to fluff up the insides further.
Increase the heat to 200°C/400°F and cook for a further six minutes, until golden and crispy.
Poppy Cooks: The Actually Delicious Air Fryer Cookbook
Poppy Cooks: The Actually Delicious Air Fryer Cookbook (Bloomsbury Publishing, £20)
Smoky hispi cabbage with chilli oil. Photography by Phoebe Pearson
Serves: 4
What you’ll need
1 hispi cabbage or sweetheart cabbage
2tbsp olive oil
Large pinch of salt
2 tbsp butter or plant-based butter
½t tbsp lemon juice
6 tbsp mascarpone, softened
1 tbsp shop-bought chilli oil
½ bunch chives, chopped
2 tbsp crispy shallots
Method
Peel away the outer leaves and quarter the cabbage.
Heat a large frying pan (preferably cast iron) with olive oil and sprinkle salt over the cut side of the cabbage.
Sear the cabbage on the cut sides until all the surface is charred.
Flip so the cut side is face up and add enough water to just cover half of the cabbage, as well as the butter.
Allow to poach until all the water is evaporated, turning the cabbage gently with tongs every five minutes. The cabbage should be completely tender.
When the water has nearly evaporated, turn off the heat and coat the cabbage in the melted butter from the pan using a spoon.
Finish with the lemon juice.
Whisk the mascarpone with a fork and smear it onto a plate using the back of a spoon.
Add the cabbage and drizzle with the remaining butter and chilli oil, then top with chopped chives and crispy shallots.
Taste everything all together and adjust; if you want more spice, add chilli oil or if it’s too hot, add more mascarpone.
Taste Kitchen: Asia: Six Flavours To Suit Every Taste by Philli Armitage-Mattin
Taste Kitchen: Asia: Six Flavours To Suit Every Taste by Philli Armitage-Mattin (Robinson, £26)
Ricky Robinson’s festive loaded potato skins
Ricky Robinson’s Festive Loaded Potato Skins
Serves: 4
What you’ll need
4 medium baking potatoes
8 pigs in blankets (already cooked, you could use leftovers)
50g sour cream
50g butter
4 spring onions (chopped)
150g mature cheddar cheese (grated)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Cranberry sauce for serving
Method
Preheat oven to 200°C.
Put the baking potatoes on a tray and bake in the oven for 60 to 90 minutes until crisp and cooked all the way through.
Once you can handle the potatoes (allow them to cool for 10 to 15 minutes), cut them in half and carefully scoop the insides into a large bowl, putting the empty skins back on a baking sheet.
Add the sour cream and butter to the scooped-out potato, along with most of the spring onions (leave some for garnish), 100g of grated mature cheddar cheese and the Worcestershire sauce.
Mix everything together then season well with salt and pepper.
Carefully spoon the potato filling back into the skins and nestle a pig in blanket into each loaded potato.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and bake in the oven for 15- 20 minutes until the tops are golden and crispy.
Boil the kettle and pour the water into a heatproof bowl to cover the sprouts.
Leave to steep for 5 minutes — there’s no need to parboil them, just let them ever so slightly soften before putting them in the air fryer.
Add the sprouts to the air fryer with all the other ingredients, except the sesame seeds, spray with the oil spray and air-fry for 8–10 minutes at 200°C, shaking halfway through cooking.
Once cooked, toss through the sesame seeds and serve.
Bored of Lunch Healthy Air Fryer: 30 Minute Meals by Nathan Antony
Bored of Lunch Healthy Air Fryer: 30 Minute Meals by Nathan Antony (Ebury Press, £20)
