Rukmini Iyer’s fast and simple recipes for herby pea and cream cheese tart and corn fritters

Pea, tarragon and cream cheese tart

That is good sufficient to make when mates come over, and likewise simple sufficient for a fast weeknight dinner. Simply unroll the puff pastry, high with a mix of rapidly cooked frozen peas, eggs and creme fraiche, scatter over some cheese, and voilà! A straightforward, quiche-adjacent dinner. I like the background complexity that contemporary tarragon brings to this dish, however if you happen to don’t have any, or aren’t eager on its aniseedy flavour, simply let the Boursin do the herby heavy lifting.

Prep 10 min

Prepare dinner 30 min

Serves 4

250g frozen peas, defrosted

2 sprigs tarragon, leaves picked and finely chopped (non-obligatory)

4 eggs

100g full-fat creme fraiche

Zest of 1 lemon, plus the juice of ½ lemon

Flaky sea salt

1 x 400g pack ready-rolled puff pastry

150g garlic and herb cheese – Boursin or comparable

Warmth the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/fuel 6. Prepare dinner the peas in a pan of boiling water for 2 minutes, then drain, and rinse and refresh underneath the chilly faucet.

In the meantime, whisk the tarragon, eggs, creme fraiche and lemon zest in a bowl, add half a teaspoon of sea salt, then stir by the drained, cooled peas.

Unroll the pastry right into a medium roasting tin, simply sufficiently small (roughly 26cm x 21cm) that the perimeters of the pastry come up the perimeters to type a lip. Pour within the pea and creme fraiche combination, crumble the cheese evenly excessive, then bake for 25 minutes, till the pastry is crisp and golden brown.

Scatter over some sea salt flakes and a squeeze of lemon juice, then serve sizzling or at room temperature.

Sweetcorn fritters with avocado, halloumi and sizzling honey

Rukmini Iyer’s corn fritters with avocado, halloumi and sizzling honey.

I benefit from the brunch-for-dinner vibes of this dish, nevertheless it’s simple sufficient to make on a weeknight after work, and it’s a winner with kids, too. My high timesaving suggestions: slice the avocado and halloumi whilst you’re frying the fritters, and use a second pan to cook dinner the halloumi – that is scrumptious sufficient that your resident washing-up volunteer (!) gained’t thoughts the extra pan.

Prep 10 min

Prepare dinner 25 min

Serves 2 adults and a couple of kids

300g frozen sweetcorn, defrosted (or drained canned corn)

150g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp sea salt flakes

2 eggs

100ml milk

2 avocados, peeled, stoned and sliced

Juice of 1 lime

Olive oil, for frying

225-250g halloumi, lower into ½cm-thick slices

6 tbsp honey

1 tsp chipotle chilli flakes

Greek yoghurt, to serve

Combine the corn, flour, baking powder, paprika and salt in a big bowl. In a small jug, whisk the eggs and milk, then stir into the sweetcorn combination to make a thick batter. Gown the sliced avocado with the lime juice.

Activate the oven to very low – 70C (50C fan)/fuel very low. Put half a tablespoon of oil in a big, heavy-based frying pan on a medium warmth, then, when it’s sizzling, drop in heaped tablespoons of the batter – you need about one and a half tablespoons of batter per fritter – conserving them fairly nicely spaced aside. Fry for 2 minutes on all sides, adjusting the temperature as wanted, in order that they don’t cook dinner too rapidly. Switch to a shallow roasting tin lined with kitchen paper, then put within the heat oven and repeat with the remainder of the batter, utilizing half a tablespoon of oil per batch.

For pace, use a second dry pan or griddle pan to fry the halloumi on a medium warmth for 90 seconds on all sides, till golden brown.

As soon as all of the fritters are cooked and within the oven, add the honey and chipotle flakes to the recent pan and warmth for a minute or two, till effervescent. Drizzle the recent honey over the fritters and serve directly with the halloumi, avocado and yoghurt on the facet.