Ajoy Joshi’s Spiced Yoghurt Cauliflower Florets

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4 – 6 with rice

Back from a week in New Caledonia and far too much fine French food (is there such a thing), we were down for a late Friday afternoon curry.

Yes, New Caledonia is amazing. First world, superb food, great bars, 10/10.

Enter the always-reliable Ajoy Joshi with an absolutely moorish cauliflower curry.

Simple, though packed with flavour and wonderful spice.

The sliced ginger are just an added benefit.

If you’re after a cleaner Indian vegetable to go alongside a great curry – I cooked this incredible Doi Murgi (Bangladeshi Yoghurt Chicken Curry) by Dina Begum – this is it.

And yes, I know Indian and Bangladeshi cuisines are different, though these two paired perfectly.

Ingredients

1 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 pinch powdered asafoetida
1 tsp cumin seeds
1kg cauliflower, cut into small florets with long stems attached
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chilli powder
3cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced thinly
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tbs fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp plain whole-milk yoghurt
2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped

Method

  1. In a spice grinder, grind coriander seeds. Set aside.
  2. In a wok or deep frying pan, heat oil over medium heat. When oil is hot, add asafoetida and cumin and cook, stirring for 20 seconds. Add cauliflower florets, cover and cook until they start to soften.
  3. Uncover and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Then cover and cook until florets start to brown. Once again, uncover and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Finally, cover and cook for 1 – 2 minutes more. (The cauliflower should be golden-brown.)
  4. Reduce heat to low and add salt, chilli powder, ginger, ground coriander, turmeric, garam masala, lemon juice and yoghurt. Mix well and cook, tossing for 2 minutes to blend the flavours.
  5. Serve immediately sprinkled with the coriander.

Colin Fassnidge’s Pork, Marjoram & Parmesan Rind Rigatoni

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4 – 6

I was worried this wouldn’t be a special pasta, though there is something very special about it. There is a real nuance in the flavour and it’s just lovely.

Definitely the marjoram. Definitely.

Could also be the parmesan rind.

Could be that I really slowly cooked it down and then let it sit for a few hours.

Definitely was because it was a mid-week dinner.

We had dinner at Pelengrino2000 for Nat’s birthday earlier in the week and this is exactly what I would have expected from them.

1-hat stuff.

Hat’s off Colin Fassnidge. First recipe and it hit it out of the park.

Ingredients

1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 bunch marjoram, leaves picked and finely chopped, stalks finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped
500gm pork mince
1/3 c white wine
700ml tomato passata
2 parmesan rinds (substitute 1/2 c finely grated parmesan) plus extra finely grated to serve
350gm spaghettini or rigatoni

Method

  1. Heat oil in a large skillet over low-medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, marjoram stalks and chilli, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until the onion is softened. Increase heat to high, add pork and cook for 10 minutes or until evenly browned.
  2. Add the wine and cook, stirring regularly, for 2 minutes or until the liquid is reduced slightly. Add passata, parmesan rinds and 3/4 marjoram leaves, and bring to the boil. Reduce to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes to reduce slightly and develop flavour. Discard rinds.
  3. Meanwhile, cook your pasta al dente, reserving 1/3 pasta cooking water.
  4. Toss pasta and reserved cooking water through the tomato mixture. Scatter with remaining marjoram leaves and extra parmesan to serve.

Vikrant Kapoor’s Chickpea Curry (Channa Masala)

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

Zaafran used to be one of Sydney’s best Indian restaurants. My best mate Giles and I would often go there for lunch, overlooking Darling Harbour and the city.

As Darling Harbour (now demolished) slowly merged from a stylish shopping centre and destination to a tourist trap full of ugg boot and opal sellers, Giles and I stopped visiting. Though what great memories and food: nothing beats a midweek lunch and a bottle of cold white.

This is the second Vikrant Kapoor recipe I have cooked. The first was this tremendous barramundi, something that was simply 5-star.

This chickpea curry’s simplicity is deceptive. The clarity of the flavours is just awesome and it was just a perfect side to this Pushpesh Pant Chicken with Fenugreek Leaves.

Arguably, it was much more than a side. Brilliant.

Ingredients

1 large potato, unpeeled
1 tbsp ghee
1 large onion, chopped
1 large tomato, puréed
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp chilli powder
450gm canned chickpeas, drained
1 tsp salt
Coriander leaves, to garnish

Method

  1. Cook the potato in a pan of boiling water for about 10 minutes or until tender. Drain and allow to cool, then peel and cut into cubes. Set aside.
  2. Heat the ghee in a frying pan, add the onion, tomato, ginger garlic paste, cumin, coriander, turmeric and chilli powder and cook for 2 minutes. Add the potatoes and chickpeas and 1/2 c lukewarm water and cook for 5 minutes or until hot. Garnish with coriander.
methi-murg

Pushpesh Pant’s Chicken with Fenugreek Leaves (Methi Murg)

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

When I told the owner of our local Indian grocer I wanted fresh fenugreek leaves, he asked why. I explained that I was cooking this curry and he was totally confused by the quantity asked for and doubted it would work.

(It turns out it is also easier to buy frozen fenugreek leaves rather than fresh, though the result is of course the same.)

This curry was superb: it absolutely worked. Served alongside this chickpea curry, it was just a brilliant meal.

The marinade can be made the night before, perfect for a mid-week treat. Open a good red and thoroughly enjoy.

Ingredients

2 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 onions, sliced
2 tbsp natural yoghurt, whisked
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 medium-sized chicken, cut into pieces (I substituted 1kg chicken thigh)
3/4 c vegetable oil
2 large cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick
3 green chillies, de-seeded and chopped
1/2 tsp ground caraway seeds
2 c fenugreek leaves, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
Salt

Method

  1. To make the marinade, combine the ginger garlic paste, 1 onion, the yoghurt, chilli powder and turmeric together in a large, shallow bowl and season with salt. Add the chicken and turn to coat well, then cover and set aside in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
  2. Heat half of the oil in a large, heavy-based pan over low heat, add the marinated chicken and cook for 8 – 10 minutes, or until the chicken is slightly browned. Pour in 3 1/4 c water and cook for about 30 minutes, or until 2/3 of the water has evaporated and the chicken is cooked.
  3. Heat the rest of the oil in a frying pan over medium heat, add the cardamom pods, cinnamon, chillies, ground caraway seeds and the remaining onion and fry for 1 – 2 minutes or until the cardamom swell. Add the chopped fenugreek leaves and fry for 3 – 4 minutes. Add the cooked chicken and simmer together until the leaves are fragrant, then squeeze over the lime juice.

Christine Manfield’s Baked Fish with Mustard Cashew Masala

.Reading time 6 minutes.

Serves: 6

The effort in this fish is not to be sneezed at, what with the preparation of tomato kasundi pickle.

Something I am not necessarily entirely convinced you need, though we were left with a jar the pickle and Nat made one of the world’s best cheese toasties the next night with a slathering of the pickle.

The end result of this curry is remarkable, however.

The flavours are gentle and yet so full of layers of flavour. This is not your cheat’s Tuesday night coastal Indian curry.

The evidence of the prep and time in this curry is clear.

This curry is a special keeper. Worth every minute.

Another Christine Manfield homerun.

Ingredients

3 tomatoes, grated
1 tbsp tomato kasundi pickle (see below)
3 tsp sea salt flakes
1 tbsp caster sugar
100ml vegetable oil
2 tsp coriander seeds, roasted and ground
2 tsp cumin seeds, roasted and ground
1 c fish stock
1 tbsp chickpea flour
1/2 c thick plain yoghurt
50ml cream
6 x 150gm mulloway cutlets*
1 tbsp mustard oil
25ml lime juice
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
1/2 long green chilli, finely sliced

Mustard Cashew Masala

2 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder
60gm grated fresh coconut
1 tbsp minced ginger
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 small green chillies, chopped
1 brown onion, chopped
2 tbsp raw cashews, chopped
1 tbsp mustard oil

Tomato Kasundi Pickle (Makes 600gm)

1 tbsp brown mustard seeds
160ml malt vinegar
1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
6 garlic cloves
8 small red chillies, minced
100ml mustard oil
1 tbsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground turmeric
1kg ripe tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
50gm brown sugar
1 tbsp sea salt flakes

  1. Kasundi Pickle: heat a frying pan over a low heat. Add the mustard seeds and vinegar and cook for 5 minutes, taking care not to evaporate the vinegar. Set aside to cool.
  2. Place the mustard seed vinegar, ginger, garlic and chilli in a food processor until a smooth paste forms.
  3. Heat the oil in a heavy-based frying pan over a medium-low heat. Add the ground spices and cook for 15 seconds or until just fragrant. Add the mustard paste and tomato, stir to combine and cook, stirring occasionally for 45 minutes or until the tomato has broken down. Add the sugar and salt, stir to combine and cook for a further 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Transfer to a food processor and pulse briefly to form a coarse paste. Pour into a sterilised glass jar and seal with a tight-fitting lid. Store in the pantry for up-to 1 month and refrigerate once opened.
  4. To make the mustard cashew masala, place all the ingredients together in a food processor and blend to form a paste. Set aside.
  5. Place the tomato and tomato kasundi pickle in a frying pan over a medium heat and cook for 8-10 minutes or until reduced by half. Add 2 tsp of the salt and the sugar, stir to combine and set aside.
  6. Heat the vegetable oil in a wide-based pan over a low heat. Add the ground coriander and cumin and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Immediately stir in the mustard cashew masala, increase heat to medium, and continue stirring for 5 minutes or until aromatic and starting to colour. Add the reduced tomato and the stock and cook for 10 minutes, Reduce heat to low.
  7. Meanwhile, combine the chickpea flour and yoghurt in a bowl, this prevents the yoghurt from splitting during cooking, and stir into the masala sauce. Add the cream and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat while you cook the fish.
  8. To cook the fish, preheat the oven to 200c. Brush the fish skin with mustard oil and sprinkle with a little sea salt. Heat a heavy-based, ovenproof frying pan over medium heat. Add the fish skin-side down, and cook for 3 minutes or until golden and crisp. Turn the fish over, pour the mustard cashew sauce around the fish, transfer to the oven and cook for 4 – 5 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish, or until cooked through. Rest for 2 minutes to allow juices to settle.
  9. Carefully lift the fish from the pan and place on serving plates. Add the lime juice, remaining 1 tsp of salt, coriander and chilli to the sauce in the pan and stir to combine. Spoon sauce over the fish and serve with steamed basmati rice.

* Any deep-sea, firm-flesh fish will do, such as kingfish trevally, trumpeter or groper.

Christine Manfield’s Chettinad Chilli Chicken

.Reading time 4 minutes.

Serves: 4

You can point blindfolded to any Christine Manfield recipe and know it will be a knockout.

French, Asian, Contemporary Australian.

My first experience of her cooking was at her extraordinary Sydney restaurant, Paramount. And that would have to have been 25 years ago.

I was then lucky enough to do a Christine Manfield cooking class at the Seafood Markets with my mother, something I still remember well. (Also probably 25 years back!)

Christine’s Five Spice Duck and Shiitake Mushroom Pie is a flavour triumph, though start a day ahead as Nat will attest!

Anything from her book ‘Tasting India’ is going to blow your socks off in a good way: her 100-almond curry is an extraordinary place to start.

I’ve only cooked a few dishes from her latest book ‘Indian Cooking Class’.

This curry is one of them and the complexity of the spice layering is just awesome.

It isn’t so complex that you couldn’t make it mid-week, especially if you made the masala paste on Sunday afternoon.

Put on your blindfold, line this recipe up and thank me later.

Ingredients

75gm ghee
2 brown onions, diced
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
3 small red chillies, minced
20 fresh curry leaves
2 tsp chilli powder
4 chicken marylands, cut into thigh and leg joints
3 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
100ml chicken stock
2 tsp sea salt flakes
1 tbsp lime juice
1/2 c coriander leaves

Chettinad Masala Paste

1 tsp white poppy seeds
2 large dried chillies
100gm grated fresh coconut
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp finely diced brown onion
2 tsp ginger garlic paste

Method

  1. To make the Chettinad masala paste, place the poppy seeds in a frying pan and cook over low heat for 20 seconds or until lightly toasted. Remove from the pan and soak in 1 tbsp water for 20 minutes. Add the chillies to the pan and cook for 2 minutes or until fragrant. Allow to cool before grinding into a fine powder in a spice grinder. Place the poppy seed mixture, coconut, ground chilli and other spices in a food processor or blender and process to a fine paste.
  2. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 4 minutes or until golden. Add the ginger garlic paste and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the spiced coconut paste and cook, stirring to combine, for 4 – 5 minutes. If the mixture becomes too dry, add a splash of water to prevent it from burning. Set aside to cool.
  3. To cook the chicken, melt the ghee in a wide-based pan over a medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for 4 minutes or until softened. Add the ginger garlic paste and minced chilli and cook, stirring to combine, for 30 seconds. Add the curry leaves and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds or until crisp. Add the ground chilli and 3 tbsp of the Chettinad masala paste and cook, stirring to combine, for 2 – 3 minutes. Add the chicken and cook, turning once to ensure the pieces are evenly coated in the paste, for 5 minutes. Add the tomato and cook for another 4 minutes. Add the stock, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until the chicken is tender. Season with salt and lime juice. Scatter with coriander and serve with steamed rice.

Pushpesh Pant’s Chicken in a Rich Scarlet Sauce (Murg Roganjosh)

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

The name on the tin is exactly what you get here: a beautiful chicken curry in a rich scarlet sauce.

Another Pushpent Pant win.

Marinate the chicken overnight and this is a simple, authentic curry for a special mid-week meal.

Ingredients

1 c natural yoghurt, whisked
4 green cardamom pods
2 black cardamom pods
800gm chicken thigh cut into pieces
1 c mustard oil*
2 bay leaves
2 cinnamon sticks, 2.5cm long
4 cloves
Small pinch of asafoetida
1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground aniseed
1 tsp Garam Masala
Salt

Method

  1. Mix the yoghurt and cardamom pods in a bowl to make a marinade, then season with salt. Put the chicken in a large shallow dish and rub the marinade evenly over the chicken, cover and set aside in the refrigerator for 3 hours.
  2. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based pan over medium heat, add the chicken, bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves and asafoetida and stir gently though constantly for 10 minutes until the yoghurt dries and the oil separates out. Now reduce the heat and cook for a further 10 minutes, or until the chicken turns brown. Mix in the chilli powder, increase the heat and stir quickly, then add the ginger, aniseed powder and garam masala together with 1 c of water. Reduce the heat and cook until the sauce thickens.

* Two points here. 1. Mustard oil is lovely and definitely worth getting. 2. I used a little over 1/4 c. Oily Indian curries are lovely, though 1 c will scare your guests.

David Japy’s (Chick) ‘The Classic with Chicken’ Burger

.Reading time 4 minutes.

Serves: 4

A few months back, we flew to the Barossa for my birthday.

We both had to work, though we had the little kids in tow and were surrounded by some of Australia’s best wineries: what could go wrong, right?

What a brilliant week.

Light the fire before the kids get up, have breakfast (croissants), bash out emails, a winery or two around lunchtime, back for lunch at home, far fewer emails and try one of the reds we purchased earlier in the day.

Thanks for a brilliant week Nat. Never going to be 45 again and so lucky to have spent it with you. Here is to Grant Burge at 10am on my birthday.
At Henschke. Max didn’t take their heritage as seriously as they did. (They still gave him a colouring pack.)
David Franz. A brilliant cellar door and brilliant wines. Cellaring a 2013 Cab Sav.
We purchased their cookbook years ago. The restaurant is a most-go in Adelaide.
A brilliant recommendation from my mate Bryan. Cellared.
My mate Bryan’s favourite drop: a bottle in the cellar for Max when he turns 21.
Waking up to this each morning. Light fire. Croissants. Count down to birthday Champagne.

Per tradition, I had a cookbook for Nat ready to be unveiled in the lounge before we flew down to Adelaide.

‘Hamburger Gourmet’ by David Japy.

We’ve bought a few hamburger books and almost exclusively – actually, exclusively – they’ve been duds. Donated to the local community library.

Hamburger Gourmet, however. This is no dud.

Take this ‘Chick’ burger, one of the best chicken burgers I’ve had.

Tom (13) has designated burger night every second Thursday and I’m not scared.

Start with this burger.

Just wonderful. Simple yes, though bloody wonderful!

(We added avocado due to having an abundance of them and I am yet to be convinced avocado should not be on any and every chicken burger.)

Ingredients

4 homemade or bought buns (we did milk buns)

Patties
500gm chicken breast
A few pinches, sea salt
A drizzle olive oil

Sauce
1 onion, thinly sliced
A drizzle olive oil
200gm crème fraîche
75gm Italian parsley, finely chopped

Toppings
70gm baby spinach
Mashed avocado

Method

  1. For the patties, dice the chicken into small pieces and form into 4 patties, pressing them together well.
  2. Brown the onion in a frying pan over a high heat with the olive oil. Set a quarter aside. Put the frying pan over low heat and add the crème fraîche and parsley. Cook, stirring until the mixture reduces. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
  3. Season the patties with the sea salt. Cook the patties in a hot frying pan over high heat with the olive oil for 5 minutes on each side.
  4. Cut the buns in half horizontally and toast them for 2 minutes under the grill. Spread the cut sides of the heels and crowns with the sauce. (Now is the time to spread the avocado on the heels if that is your preference.) Put the chicken patties on the heels then topped with the reserved onions and spinach. Finish with the crowns.

Nebraska’s Runza (Beef and Cheese)

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Makes: 12

I’m a massive follower of US politics and so excited to see the Democrats become competitive – and truly joyous – for the 2024 Presidential Election.

I especially love Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ running mate.

A completely down-to-earth guy (teacher, coach, veteran, Governor of Minnesota) originally from Nebraska.

In one of his social videos, he trolled JD Vance, Trump’s running mate about likely not even knowing what a Runza was.

And of course, there I was replying on Twitter: “[Me, not knowing what a Runza is] Haha, fuck yeah, get him.”

Tim Walz, nominee VP at Runza in Nebraska.

So what is a Runza?

It’s a bit like a pizza pocket, though filled with savoury mince, maybe cheese, mushrooms, chilli, you name it.

Very popular in the mid-west of the States and originally from Germany.

The key is the amazing dough however.

Friday night and Nat was up for the challenge (which wasn’t much of a challenge).

I totally get why so many people freeze these as a snack.

They’re great.

Mid-western fast-food, pizza-pocket great.

But again, it’s that dough. Just yum!

Go on. Live a little and master the Runza.

Ingredients

Dough

4 1/2 c plain flour
1/4 c sugar
7gm yeast (1 packet)
1 tsp salt
3/4 c milk
1/2 c water
1/2 c butter
2 eggs, beaten

Filling

1 tbsp olive oil
1kg ground beef mince
1 small onion, diced
4 c cabbage, chopped
2 tsp seasoned salt*
1 tsp pepper
12 slices cheddar cheese

* Seasoned Salt

1 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder

Method

  1. To make the dough, place 1 1/2 c flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a KitchenAid mixing bowl.
  2. Heat the milk, water and butter until warm and the butter melted. Pour the heated, wet ingredients into the flour mixture. Stir slightly before adding the beaten eggs.
  3. Continue by adding the remaining flour, one cup at a time, until when kneaded the dough comes together and is smooth and elastic.
  4. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
  5. For the filling, while the dough is rising, heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and then cook the onions and mince until the liquid has evaporated and the meat is starting to brown. Stir in the cabbage, seasoned salt and pepper and cook until the cabbage has wilted. Set aside to cool ensuring no liquid is left.
  6. Heat the oven to 180c. To assemble, punch down the dough and divide into 12 equal portions.
  7. Working with 1 piece of dough, roll into a rectangle 15cm x 20cm in size.
  8. Place a heaped 1/2 c of filling into each dough piece. Fold over the filling, seal and suck the edges.
  9. Place onto a greased baking sheet and bake for 18 – 20 minutes until golden brown.

Lidia Bastianich’s Leek and Ricotta Tart

.Reading time 4 minutes.

Serves: 6 – 8

My father-in-law – also a Rob – and I have a shared passion for classic, old-school, home-cooked Italian.

If you follow my blog, you’ll know I have typed up many of Antonio Carluccio’s recipes, as just one example of the old-school Italian Rob and I enjoy so much.

I helped Rob with a few jobs at the start of the year and as thanks, he gave me Lidia Bastianich’s cookbook, ‘From Our Family Table to Yours’. (If you wanted to know the way to my heart, buy me a cookbook and preferably, one written by Lidia!)

And yes, I have previously typed up many Lidia Bastianich recipes. She is a genius.

Rob suggested I kick off the book by cooking Lidia’s Leek and Ricotta Tart.

To summarise the end-result, Tom, our 13-year old food critic simply said, “this is brilliant”. And he wasn’t wrong.

I love anything with ricotta and the leek is a wonderful addition.

For a long, homely Italian lunch or dinner, kicking-off the meal with this tart would very much set the scene for a special meal ahead.

Divertitevi!

Ingredients

For the dough

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour plus more as needed
1/2 c freshly grated Parmesean
2 tsp sugar
1/2 st salt
1 large egg yolk (save the white for the filling)
7 tbsp unsalted butter, cold, cut into bits

For the filling

3 tbsp unsalted butter, plus more for the baking pan
2 large leeks, white and light green parts, halved vertically, sliced 2cm thick
4 spring onions, chopped
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1 large egg white (yolk used in the dough)
1 c fresh ricotta (I used smooth)
1/2 c freshly grated Parmesean, plus more for sprinkling
1/4 c chopped fresh Italian parsley
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1 large egg, beaten, for an egg wash

Method

  1. For the dough: combine the flour, grated cheese, sugar and salt in a food processor, and pulse to combine. Beat the egg yolk in a spouted measuring cup with 1/3 water.
  2. Scatter the butter pieces over the flour, and pulse until the mixture is lumpy. Drizzle in the egg-yolk mixture, and pulse until the dough comes together, adding a little more water or flour as needed. Move the dough to a floured counter, and knead it a few times to bring it together. Form it into a disk, wrap is plastic wrap, and chill until just firm, about 1 hour.
  3. For the filling: melt the 3 tbsp butter in a medium skillet over a medium heat. Add the leeks, and cook, stirring often, until they’re tender: about 10 minutes. Add the scallions, and continue to cook until they are wilted but the green parts are still green: about 4 minutes. Season with 1/2 tsp salt and several grinds of pepper, and let it cool.
  4. Beat the egg white in a large bowl until foamy. Add the cooled leeks, the ricotta, 1/2 c grated cheese, parsley, and nutmeg. Season with 1/2 tsp salt and stir to combine.
  5. Preheat the oven to 180c with a rack in the bottom third. Butter a large 18cm cake pan. Roll the dough on a piece of baking paper to a circle about 30cm in diameter and lay it in the buttered pan. Add the filling, and spread it to an even layer. Fold the overhanging edges in to make a crust on the edges. Brush the crust with the egg wash, and sprinkle all over with the grated Parmesan.
  6. Bake until the filling is set and deep golden brown and the crust is golden on the edges: 40 – 50 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool. Serve or warm or at room temperature, cut into wedges.