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Recipes from Happy Go Paleo by Irena Macri

Irena Macri

Baked salmon with home-made sweet chilli sauce.
Baked salmon with home-made sweet chilli sauce.Supplied

Frittata of potato, chorizo, caramelised onion & black olive

Serves 4

500g brushed white potatoes, peeled and halved
1 teaspoon coconut oil
200g mild chorizo, sliced
1 large brown onion, quartered and sliced
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
12 black, semi-dried olives or Spanish olives, pitted and chopped
6 eggs
sea salt
ground black pepper
chopped parsley, to serve

Frittata of potato, chorizo, caramelised onion and black olives.
Frittata of potato, chorizo, caramelised onion and black olives.Supplied
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Place the potatoes in a small saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Strain, rinse under cold water and thinly slice.

While the potatoes are cooking, heat the coconut oil in a deep frying pan over medium heat. Add the chorizo and cook for two to three minutes on each side, until browned. Remove to a plate and reserve the chorizo fat and juices in the pan. Once the chorizo has cooled down, dice it roughly.

Add the onion and olive oil to the frying pan and cook over low-medium heat for five to seven minutes, stirring a few times, until soft and golden. Add the garlic, sliced potato, chopped olives and chorizo, and stir through.

Mini chocolate souffle cakes.
Mini chocolate souffle cakes.Supplied

In a bowl, whisk and season the eggs with a generous pinch of sea salt and some black pepper. Pour over the potatoes and rotate the pan to spread the egg mixture evenly. Cover with a lid and cook over medium heat for three to four minutes until cooked through the bottom half. Pop the pan under a hot grill for a further three minutes, until golden brown on top. Sprinkle the chopped parsley over the top to serve.

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Tip: For a vegetarian version, simply omit the chorizo. Regular sausage or even some salami can be used instead of chorizo. Sweet potato can be used instead of white potato if avoiding nightshades.

Baked salmon with home-made sweet chilli sauce

<i>Happy Go Paleo: Fun Healthy Meals from My 80/20 Kitchen</i>, by Irena Macri. Viking. $34.99.
Happy Go Paleo: Fun Healthy Meals from My 80/20 Kitchen, by Irena Macri. Viking. $34.99.Supplied

Serves 4

4 x 150g salmon fillets
sea salt
6 teaspoons homemade chilli sauce (see below for the recipe)

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Preheat the oven to 200C. Place the salmon fillets, skin-side down, on a sheet of baking paper on a baking tray. Season each fillet with the sea salt and spread 1½ teaspoons of sweet chilli sauce on top. Bake for 13-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets.

Tip: Other fish can be used in this recipe and of course you can use a regular store-bought sweet chilli sauce or omit it completely and sprinkle the fillets with some chilli flakes, ginger and garlic.

Home-made sweet chilli sauce

Makes about ⅔ cup

2½ long red chillies (1 with seeds, 1½ deseeded), finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 thin, thumb-sized pieces ginger, finely chopped
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
⅔ cup water
2½ tablespoons honey
generous pinch of sea salt
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder

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In a small saucepan, combine all the ingredients except the arrowroot, and bring to the boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 10-15 minutes, then reduce the heat further, to very low.

Dissolve the arrowroot powder in two tablespoons of water, then add to the sauce. Mix through and let it thicken for 20-30 seconds, then turn off the heat and let the sauce cool before pouring it into a clean jar or a bottle.

Tip: Ideally, prepare the sauce ahead of time. Keep leftovers in an air-tight glass jar or a bottle in the fridge for up to a month.

Mini chocolate souffle cakes

Serves 6

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coconut oil or butter, for greasing
4 eggs, separated
1 tablespoon vanilla essence
½ cup cooled melted ghee, butter or coconut oil (or a combination)
⅓ cup preferred sweetener such as honey, maple syrup or rice malt, plus 1 tablespoon extra
⅓ heaped cup cacao powder
1 cup cooked and mashed sweet potato (baked is best)
1½ tablespoons tapioca flour or arrowroot flour
⅓ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
sea salt
coconut ice-cream, strawberries and mint, to serve (optional)

Preheat the oven to 175C. Grease a tray of six to eight muffin cases with a little coconut oil or butter. Alternatively you can use individual ramekins.

Using an electric mixer, whisk the yolks for one minute, until creamy. Add the vanilla essence, melted ghee/oil and your preferred sweetener, and whisk until well incorporated.

Add the cacao powder and mashed sweet potato. Whisk for 20 seconds, until well incorporated, then sift through the bi-carbonate of soda and tapioca or arrowroot flour. Whisk again for 20 seconds, until the mixture thickens and starts to form a ripple trace.

Place the egg whites and a pinch of salt in a separate, spotlessly clean bowl. Whisk for 1½ minutes, until soft peaks form. Add half the egg whites to the chocolate mix and gently fold in with a spatula. Add the rest and gently fold until everything is well combined.

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Add two to three tablespoons of mix per muffin case, not quite to the top, because the cakes will rise. Or fill the pre-greased ramekins with the mixture, leaving about 1cm from the top. Place the tray on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 25 minutes. The cakes should feel quite soft and bouncy when you touch them and they will be super-moist and soft on the inside.

Once baked, turn the oven off and open the door. Place the tray on the oven door, and allow to cool for five minutes. This gradual temperature change should prevent them collapsing. Serve immediately as is or with a dollop of coconut ice-cream, fresh strawberries and mint. These can be eaten warm or cold and can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days.

Tip: Baking time might vary slightly depending on your oven or how big your muffin casings are. If you are baking it as a round cake in a spring-form or a cake tin, give it about 45 minutes.

Happy Go Paleo: Fun Healthy Meals from My 80/20 Kitchen, Irena Macri. Viking. $34.99.

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