'Leon Happy Fast Food' cookbook: Recipes from burrata with balsamic strawberries to sabich

Serves 4

Prep time: 15mins, plus marinating, if you have time

WF | GF | V | NF | SoF

250g fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
2 tbsp good-quality balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp​ white sugar
3×100g balls of burrata​
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
a small handful each of fresh basil and mint leaves
a couple of pinches of flaky sea salt, or more to taste
a few twists of freshly ground black pepper

This is a lovely way to eat strawberries as a summer starter or salad. The tartness of the strawberries and vinegar is balanced by the rich creaminess of the burrata. If you can’t find burrata, buffalo mozzarella works almost as well.

Mix the strawberries in a bowl with the vinegar and sugar. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for a few hours, if you have time.

When ready to serve, put the strawberries on a serving platter. Split open the burrata balls and dollop the creamy cheese over the strawberries. Drizzle with the olive oil, tear over the basil and mint leaves, and sprinkle over the salt and pepper.

Tip: the strawberries, vinegar and herbs also go very well over vanilla ice cream or frozen yoghurt as a dessert.

open image in gallery

Serves 4

Prep time: 30mins* Cook time: 10-15mins

DF | V | NF | SoF

For the salad

3 plum tomatoes, cored and diced
½ large cucumber, diced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
a handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
juice of ½ lemon
½ tsp each ground cumin and sumac
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the cabbage

½ head of red cabbage, shredded
2 tbsp red wine vinegar

For the tahini sauce

2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 tbsp tahini
¼ tsp ground cumin

For the aubergine

3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large aubergine, in 1cm-thick discs
salt

To serve

4 pitta breads
8 tbsp hummus
4 hard-boiled eggs, cooled, peeled, sliced
4 tbsp quality mango chutney
a handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped

Sabich is an incredibly popular Israeli street food. It was introduced by Iraqi Jews who, on the Sabbath when no cooking was allowed, ate pre-fried aubergine slices, hard-boiled eggs and pitta bread. This modern formulation is an unusual combination of flavours, but it really works.

Combine all the salad ingredients in a bowl, mix thoroughly and check the seasoning.

Combine the cabbage ingredients together in a bowl with ½ tsp of salt. For the tahini sauce, blend the garlic and lemon juice together in a small food processor first to remove some of the harshness from the garlic. Then add the tahini, cumin and 2 tbsps of cold water and blend until smooth and drizzleable, adding more water if too thick. Season with salt to taste.

When ready to cook the aubergine, heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat until shimmering. Fry the aubergine until golden brown and tender, turning once, about 5 minutes on each side. Place on a tray lined with kitchen paper and sprinkle with a little salt.

Wipe out the pan, return to the heat and toast the pitta breads for 30 seconds on each side. Slit a little pocket in the top of each. Smear 2 tbsps of hummus inside each pitta, stuff in 3-4 fried aubergine slices and one sliced egg, top with the salad and cabbage, dollop on a tablespoon of mango chutney, drizzle over as much tahini sauce as you want, and scatter over the parsley.

Eat immediately, with lots of napkins.

open image in gallery

Serves 4

Prep time: 10mins, plus chilling * Cook time: 7-8mins

WF | GF | DF | SoF

200g roasted peanuts
5 cloves of garlic, crushed or grated
2 tsp ground ginger
2 beef stock cubes, crumbled up between your fingers (WF, GF if needed)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp​ freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp​ onion powder
2 tsp​ smoked paprika
1 tsp chipotle chilli flakes, crushed or finely chopped
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1kg beef sirloin, trimmed of any fat
10-12 wooden/bamboo skewers (soaked in water for 20 minutes before use)
vegetable oil, for brushing

Grilled meat skewers are a common street food dish in West Africa. This recipe is our version of suya, Nigerian beef skewers rolled in a spiced peanut crumb, although the crumb is also delicious around chicken or fish. They taste best cooked over charcoal, but a hot grill pan will do the job.

Pulse the roasted peanuts in a food processor until they become like coarse breadcrumbs – but be careful not to go so far as to get a paste. Add the garlic, ginger, stock cubes, salt, pepper, onion powder, smoked paprika, chipotle chilli flakes and cayenne pepper. Pulse to combine, but don’t over-blend.

open image in gallery

Cut the beef into long, thick strips, about 3.5cm-thick and wide. Thread the pieces of beef onto the skewers with each skewer running lengthways through the meat (a bit like a corn dog!). Brush the meat with some oil, then press the peanut mixture firmly onto each beef skewer, making sure you coat each and every bit. Place on a plate, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Heat a barbecue or grill pan to a high heat. Oil the grill grates or pan, then cook the skewers until golden and crusty on the outside and pink in the middle, about 7-8 minutes, turning once. Don’t move them around too often or too early because you will knock the coating off.

Remove from the heat, leave to rest for 2 minutes, then tuck in.

‘Leon Happy Fast Food‘ cookbook by Rebecca Seal, Jack Burke and John Vincent is published by Conran Octopus, £16.99. Photography by Steven Joyce