BUTTERFLY PULL RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. Fire up your wood-fired oven an hour or so before you’re ready to cook (you can easily adapt this recipe for a barbecue or regular oven – use your instincts).
  2. When the oven temperature reaches 200°C (check with a thermometer) and the smoke and flames have died down, you can start cooking.
  3. Peel and bash the garlic with a generous pinch of sea salt in a pestle and mortar, then add the dried oregano and enough olive oil to loosen the mixture.
  4. Cut the lamb into 3cm chunks, then place in a large bowl. Season with black pepper, then add the marinade, and toss to coat.
  5. Halve, deseed and cut the peppers into chunks, and cut the lemons into wedges, then thread onto 8 skewers, alternating between lamb, pepper, bay leaves and lemon wedges.
  6. Lay the skewers on a baking tray and roast in the hot oven for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until charred, sticky and cooked through, turning occasionally. Keep an eye on them – rotate the tray so that all the kebabs get a turn of being close to the fire and pull them back a little if the bread starts to burn.
  7. Pick and roughly chop the parsley leaves, then scatter over the kebabs. Delicious served up with flatbreads, a dollop of Greek yoghurt and some sliced cucumber.

Steps:

• 1. Peel the prawns, reserving all the heads and shells. Run a knife down the back and pull out the veins. Keep 4 prawns whole, running your knife down those ones again to butterfly them. Chop the rest of the prawns into small chunks to help distribute that sweet taste throughout the dish.
  2. Put the saffron into a little bowl with a thimble of boiling water.
  3. Place the prawn heads and shells in a large pan on a medium heat with a lug of olive oil and fry while you peel and finely chop the onion, then add it to the pan. Cook until the onion starts to soften, stirring occasionally.
  4. Add the saffron with its soaking water and the anchovies. Turn the heat up, add the wine and cook it away, then add the tinned tomatoes, 1 tin’s worth of water and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 12 minutes.
  5. Leave the sauce to cool a little, then, in small batches, blitz in a blender until smooth, pass through a coarse sieve and season to taste.
  6. Put a large pan of salted water on to boil for the pasta. Peel and finely slice the garlic, quarter the cherry tomatoes and finely slice the chilli. Trim and finely slice the fennel, preferably on a mandolin (use the guard!).
  7. You can make this with the fresh or dried pasta – if you're using fresh, cut the sheets into linguine.
  8. Now it’s time to focus. Great pasta is all about timing and confidence – the sauce takes 4 minutes, so if using dried pasta, get that on first and start the sauce after 8 minutes; if using the fresh, cook it halfway through the sauce process – I don’t want you to overcook the prawns or pasta.
  9. Place a large pan on a high heat and, once hot, add a good lug of olive oil, quickly followed by the garlic and chilli. After 30 seconds, toss in the whole prawns, then after another 6 seconds add the chopped prawns, cherry tomatoes and fennel, and toss again. Pour over the sauce and bring to a simmer.
  10. At this point, drain your cooked pasta and place it on top of the sauce. Toss again, quickly check the seasoning and divide between four bowls, followed by any leftover prawns and sauce. Top each portion with a clump of rocket, add a squeeze of lemon juice and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Eat it, and be proud of yourself.