Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipes for light and easy post-Christmas relief | Main course (2024)

So, no festive recipes this week. Instead I offer meals to provide light and easy relief from the main event. These are dishes you may well be able to put together largely from what you’ve already got in the cupboard or fridge; though quick to make, they are confident enough to hold their own against the bird and all the rest. Not only that, but they are as good as light standalone meals as they are as support acts for the Christmas leftovers: pair the little gem and anchovy mayonnaise salad with cold roast turkey or chicken, for example, and you might just wish you’d put the two together for the main event itself. And if that gives you one more idea of what you could make on Monday, I’m (sort of, but not really) sorry. Happy Christmas!

Roast aubergine with curried yoghurt, caramelised onions and pomegranate

A breath of fresh air for tired, jaded tastebuds. Serves four, generously.

3 large (or 4 regular) aubergines
100ml groundnut oil
200g Greek-style yoghurt
2 tsp medium curry powder
¼ tsp ground turmeric
1 lime – finely grate the zest to get 1 tsp and juice to get 2 tsp
Salt and black pepper
1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced
30g flaked almonds
½ tsp cumin seeds, toasted and lightly crushed
½ tsp coriander seeds, toasted and lightly crushed
40g pomegranate seeds

In a small bowl, mix the yoghurt with a teaspoon of curry powder, the turmeric, lime juice, a generous pinch of salt and a good grind of pepper, then put it in the fridge until later.

Heat the remaining two tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan on a medium-high flame. Once hot, fry the onion for eight minutes, stirring frequently, until soft and dark golden brown. Add the remaining teaspoon of curry powder, the almonds and a pinch of salt, and fry for two minutes, until the almonds are lightly browned.

To serve, lay the aubergine slices on a platter, overlapping them slightly. Spoon the yoghurt sauce over the top, then scatter on the fried onion mix. Sprinkle over the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, pomegranate seeds and lime zest, and serve.

Gem lettuce with anchovy mayonnaise

This take on the caesar salad was inspired by a meal I had earlier this year at Olympia Provisions in Portland, Oregon. With some good crusty bread, it makes a lovely light lunch in its own right, but it’s also fabulous alongside grilled tuna steak or leftover Christmas turkey. Serves four as a light main course or six as a side dish.

Put half the anchovies in the small bowl of a food processor, add the egg yolk, garlic, mustard and two teaspoons of lemon juice, and blitz to a smooth paste. With the motor still running, very slowly add the sunflower oil in a thin stream, until the mixture emulsifies and comes together into a thick mayonnaise. Thin with a tablespoon or two of water and pulse until the mayonnaise is pourable. Stir in the remaining anchovies and set aside.

Half-fill a small saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to medium-high, gently lower in the eggs, boil for six minutes, then drain. Put the eggs under cold running water for a few minutes, to stop them cooking any more, then peel.

In a large bowl, mix the lettuce quarters with the olive oil, the remaining two teaspoons of lemon juice, half the tarragon and a quarter-teaspoon of salt. Arrange the lettuce cut side up on a large plate, then spoon the mayo on top. Sprinkle on first the remaining tarragon, then the olives and red onion slices. Tear open the eggs, put them on top of the lettuce, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and serve.

Rice, yoghurt and cheese fritters

If you’ve made more rice than you need, as I so often do, this is a great way to use it up. That said, these fritters are so good, they’re worth making from scratch, too. If you do so, you’ll need to start by cooking 150g uncooked rice. Serve with a simple salad as a snack or first course. Makes 12 fritters, to serve four to six.

Put the rice in a large bowl with the yoghurt, eggs, rice flour, cheeses, herbs, lemon zest, three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt and plenty of pepper, then mix until you have a thick, well-combined batter.

Heat a tablespoon of the oil in a large frying pan on a medium-high flame. Once hot, add four 65g dollops of the batter mixture (ie, about three heaped tablespoons each), pressing the fritters down slightly with a spatula until they’re about 8cm wide and 2cm thick. Fry for four to five minutes in total, carefully turning them halfway, until golden brown and crisp on both sides. Repeat with the remaining batter and serve hot – you want the mozzarella to be stringy when you cut open the fritters – with a squeeze of lemon to finish.

Roast cabbage with tarragon and pecorino

120ml olive oil
2 lemons – finely grate the zest, to get 2 tbsp, then juice, to get 2 tbsp
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
Salt and black pepper
2 sweetheart cabbages (aka pointed cabbage), outer leaves discarded, then cut lengthways into eight wedges each
10g tarragon leaves, roughly chopped
30g pecorino shavings (use a vegetable peeler)

Put the cabbage wedges in a large bowl and season with an eighth of a teaspoon of salt. Pour the larger portion of oil mixture over the cabbage and toss to coat. Arrange the cabbage on two oven trays lined with baking paper, and roast for 20-25 minutes, until the edges are crisp and golden brown (swap the trays around halfway through, so both get time near the higher heat at the top of the oven). Transfer the cabbage to a platter, then leave to rest and cool for five to 10 minutes.

Mix the lemon juice into the remaining oil mixture, then drizzle evenly over the cabbage wedges. Scatter the tarragon and pecorino on top, finish with a good grind of black pepper and serve.