I never thought I would find the one cookbook I can’t live without.
And I have many cookbooks and I love them all.
I love reading recipes, imagining what they would taste like and cooking them.
A happy discovery
A few months ago I found a book that I can’t seem to live without: ‘The roasting tin around the world’ by Rukmini Iyer. I love every single recipe that I have cooked so far!
The book’s contents are divided into different regions of the world. If you’re not familiar with Rukmini Iyer, she’s the author of the bestselling ‘Roasting Tin’ series. The idea behind the series is that the dishes require absolute minimum effort, but they still taste incredibly delicious.
This book is for those of you who struggle for ideas what to cook day after day. With just a few ingredients and a large roasting tin, you can create an endless repertoire of dishes.
One of the dishes I keep coming back to is ‘Smoky sausage casserole with chorizo, peppers and beans’. It’s posh baked beans really! The addition of fresh herbs, garlic and bay leaves makes it smell so good when it’s cooking in the oven.
I love dishes that take 10 minutes to prepare and those that I can ‘forget’ about, while they are cooking!
Ingredients
1 red pepper and 1 orange pepper, sliced
1 red onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
12 free-range sausages (meat or veggie)
100g chorizo from a ring, cut into small cubes
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
3 bay leaves
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 x 400g tin of haricot beans, drained and washed (or any other beans you might have e.g. canellini or black beans)
2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
400ml boiling water
How to make it
Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C. Mix the peppers, onion, sausages, chorizo, rosemary, bay leaves, olive oil, sea salt and a some pepper in a large roasting tin. Transfer to the oven and roast for 35 minutes, until the sausages are just starting to brown.
Stir in the beans, chopped tomatoes and boiling water, then return to the oven for a further 30 minutes. The sauce will have reduced and the sausages will have browned off.
I usually serve it with some rice or roast potatos and a sald, or as the original recipe suggests with some fresh sourdough bread.
Other favourite dishes
My other favourite dishes from this book are: ‘All in one paella with chicken, peppers and chorizo’, ‘Roast chicken with mushrooms, chicory and dill’ and ‘Smoky chipotle chicken with black beans, feta and lime’.
I cannot wait to try the rest of the recipes from this book! I doubt that I will ever run out of inspiration. Stay tuned.
What’s the one cookbook you can’t live without?
For more info about Rukmini Iyer’s books go to https://www.rukmini-iyer.com/
See my other recipes for inspiration here.