I am rolling meatballs between my palms and on a whim I decide to change the recipe to something altogether spicier. To the mix of minced pork, spring onions and parsley I decide to introduce a few chilli-spiked sausages, stripped of their skins, the brick-red, paprika-seasoned meat inside mashed into the existing ingredients. The result is spicy, dumpy little cakes that you could serve hot with a tomato sauce or at room temperature with a lemony mayonnaise.
Flattened a little and fried until their sides were golden, they were more like chubby cakes than meatballs which, as their name suggests, should probably be round. The recipe made quite a batch, so there are some left for a packed lunch.
Also on the spicy side is a salad of ripe, tart tomatoes and shredded mangetout. I’m not fond of the pea-less pods cooked, but raw, cut into long shreds and crisped up in iced water, they are rather refreshing dressed with lime juice, nam pla and a dab of chilli sauce.
Pork and chorizo cakes with tomato sauce
Tiny, spicy cakes, hot from the oven, with a simple tomato sauce. You can play with the spice level to suit your taste by using different sausages. I often use the spiced fennel seed sausages from the deli, but you could use others, too, provided they have a soft texture and a hot and spicy element. To skin the sausages, slit the skin down the length of the sausage with a sharp knife, then peel it back, pulling the meat away. Makes 20 cakes. Serves 4. Ready in 1 hour
For the tomato sauce:
onions 2, medium-sized
olive oil 2 tbsp
garlic 2 cloves
tomato purée 2 tsp
tomatoes 500g
water 250ml
For the cakes:
spring onions 3
olive oil 2 tbsp
spicy sausages 250g, such as chorizo
minced pork 500g
chilli paste 1-2 tsp
parsley 10g, chopped
breadcrumbs 60g, white and fresh
Peel and roughly chop the onions. Warm the oil in a medium-sized, deep-sided saucepan, then stir in the onions and leave them to cook over a moderate heat for about 15-20 minutes. Stir them every now and again, until they have coloured a little and are starting to soften.
Peel and finely slice the garlic, then stir into the onions. Continue cooking, then introduce the tomato purée, stir well and leave for 5 minutes, then roughly chop the tomatoes and add to the onions.
Pour in the water, then season generously with salt and black pepper, partially cover with a lid and leave to simmer for 15 minutes or so.
Make the pork cakes: finely slice the spring onions into tiny rounds, discarding the roots and the darkest tips of the leaves. Warm the oil in a shallow pan, then add the onions and cook for a few minutes until soft, stirring regularly.
Add the sausage meat to the minced pork to the bowl, the chilli paste, chopped parsley and breadcrumbs, season, stir in the softened spring onions, then mix thoroughly. This is done most easily with your hands. Break off lumps of the mixture, about 45-50g in weight, and shape them into rough balls and set them aside on a tray. You should have about 20.
Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6.
Warm a little more oil in the pan, then add some of the meatballs, letting them fry until golden on the underside before turning them over. Transfer the tomato sauce to a baking dish. Let the other side of the meatballs colour to a nice golden brown, then place them in the sauce, and continue with the remaining cakes. Bake for about 20 minutes until the little cakes are cooked through.
Chilled spicy cucumber and tomato salad
Refreshing, spicy, salty and crisp, this is one of those salads for a laid-back lunch on a scorching afternoon. I chill the peppers, cherry tomatoes and cucumber thoroughly, either in the fridge or a bowl of iced water. It doesn’t keep well, so toss everything together at the last minute. If you have some crisp beanshoots, do add those too or perhaps some raw pak choi. Serves 3-4. Ready in 30 minutes
red chilli 1, medium-hot
pepper 1, large red or orange
cucumber half a large one
mangetout 100g
cherry tomatoes 200g
coriander a small bunch
mint 6 sprigs
cashews 70g, salted and roasted
For the dressing:
lime juice 3 tbsp
fish sauce 3 tbsp
caster sugar 1 tsp
chilli sauce 2 tsp
Slice the chilli in half lengthways, remove the seeds, then cut into very, very fine shreds and put into a mixing bowl. Halve the pepper, pull out the core and seeds, then shred into long, fine strips. Add this to the chillies, then peel the cucumber, cut in half lengthways and remove the core with a teaspoon. Cut into thin slices and mix with the pepper and chilli.
Cut the mangetout into thin shreds, halve the cherry tomatoes and add both to the peppers. Remove the coriander and mint leaves from their stems, then tear or roughly chop and scatter in the salad.
Make the dressing: put the lime juice, fish sauce and sugar in a small bowl or jam jar and stir or shake until the sugar has dissolved. Stir in the chilli sauce.
In a dry, shallow pan, toast the cashews, just enough to warm them. Dress the salad with the lime and fish sauce tossing gently to coat, then transfer to a large serving plate. Scatter the toasted nuts over the salad and serve.
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