They may be a support act, but great side dishes can transform a meal. Breads, salads, rice, potatoes and veggies, some can even be transformed into the main attraction with a little inspiration. Here are my favourite side dish recipes.
Rosemary Focaccia Join my food & wine tour to Italy to discover more Italian regional specialties! Authentic focaccia is made with a generous amount of olive oil (see video below). Plenty of oil ensures your focaccia is moist and rich. Once you’ve mastered a basic focaccia recipe you can start having fun with toppings. Most […]
Onion Focaccia Join my food & wine tour to Italy to discover more Italian regional specialties! Ligurian restaurateur Lucio Galletto makes the most delicious focaccia I’ve tasted (see video below), so my recipe is inspired by his and uses plenty of delicate Ligurian-style olive oil. Lucio calls focaccia ‘Liguria’s answer to pizza’ and I see […]
Olive Focaccia Join my food & wine tour to Italy to discover more Italian regional specialties! My olive focaccia recipe is inspired by Ligurian restaurateur Lucio Galletto, who uses more water and oil in his recipe than most I’ve seen (see video below). Liguria is famous for the tiny, tasty Taggiasche olives that make the […]
Burghul with Vermicelli Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Middle Eastern cooking class! Rice with vermicelli is a popular Lebanese side dish and I also love this version using burghul that’s packaged with fine vermicelli noodles already through it (Duru brand from Turkey, available at Middle Eastern grocers). You could also toast some vermicelli […]
Lebanese Vermicelli Rice Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Lebanese cooking class! Riz bi sh’arieh is one of my favourite rice dishes – so simple and so delicious. The fried vermicelli noodles add another dimension visually and texturally – especially if you toast them until they’re really dark golden – and the butter adds […]
Ginger & Green Onion Sauce Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Malaysian cooking class! For me this ginger and green onion sauce is what Hainanese chicken rice is all about (see video below). Best of all it’s super easy to make. You’ll need about 8 green onions for this recipe, perhaps 6 if they’re […]
Cialledda Fredda (Tomato & Bread Salad) Like this recipe? Join me on a Southern Italian food & wine tour to discover more regional specialties! On my first visit to Basilicata, the staff at my hotel prepared this delicious tomato and bread salad for me one morning after they discovered I was interested in their regional […]
Cacik Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Turkish cooking class inspired by Somer Sivrioğlu! Yoghurt is a great accompaniment to anything fried as the acid cuts through the richness. I especially love it mixed with garlic and cucumber to make cacik (çaçık in Turkish, pronounced jajuk). Cacik is similar to Greek tzatziki except that […]
Roti Chanai Like this Roti Chanai recipe? You’ll love my online Malaysian cooking class inspired by Simon Goh! Roti chanai (also written roti canai and roti cane) is popular in India, Malaysia and Singapore (where it’s called roti prata). This flaky flatbread is an essential accompaniment to many curries, in fact it’s ideal for soaking […]
Risotto Milanese (Saffron Risotto) Join my small-group food & wine tour to northern Italy to discover more regional specialties! Risotto Milanese originated in Milan, where it’s the traditional accompaniment to ossobuco. Lombardy is the home of risotto, and my friend Alessandro Pavoni is the king of risotto making. He was born in Brescia in Lombardy […]
