5 Ingredients Mediterranean

Order the brand new 5 Ingredients cookbook from Jamie Oliver!

5 Ingredients Mediterranean is everything people loved about the first book, but with the added va-va-voom of basing it on Jamie's lifelong travels around the Med.

With over 125 utterly delicious, easy-to-follow recipes, it's all about making everyday cooking super-exciting, with minimal fuss—all while transporting you to sunnier climes. You'll find recipes to empower you to make incredibly delicious food, but without copious amounts of ingredients, long shopping lists or loads of washing up. 65% of the recipes are meat-free or meat-reduced, and all offer big, bold flavour.

You'll find something for every day of the week, and every occasion. Take a look below for three of our favourite recipes from 5 Ingredients Mediterranean!

Herby steak & crispy potatoes
Green pesto, juicy mixed-colour tomato salad & crushed pistachios

Total time: 30 minutes

500g red-skinned potatoes
1 x 300g sirloin steak
4 teaspoons fresh green pesto or pistou
6 ripe medium mixed-colour tomatoes
20g shelled unsalted pistachios

Tunisians are one of the biggest pasta eaters on the planet and they have a whole load of their own pasta shapes and techniques. Harissa really amplifies the sweetness of the prawns here—delicious!

1 lemon

Cook the pasta in a pan of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions. Meanwhile, peel the prawns, removing and reserving the heads and leaving the tails on. I like to run a small sharp knife down the back of each, discarding the vein, so they butterfly when they cook. Toss the prawns with the harissa and leave to briefly marinate. Place the prawn heads in a large frying pan on a medium heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and fry until golden all over, stirring regularly and gently squashing to extract amazing flavour.

Roughly chop and reserve the top leafy half of the parsley, then finely slice the stalks and add them to the pan with a pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Fry for 1 minute, then add the marinated prawns and cook for 1 minute on each side. Using tongs, drag the pasta into the pan, squeeze in half the lemon juice, throw in the parsley leaves, then toss together, loosening with a splash of starchy cooking water, if needed. To serve, pick out and discard the crispy prawn heads and cut the remaining lemon half into wedges for squeezing over.

Chocolate and coffee are celebrated all around the Med and they’re also my wife’s two favourite indulgent pleasures, so why wouldn’t I create possibly one of the most decadent desserts on earth?

Tota time: 40 minutes, plus cooling

150g dark chocolate (70%)
125g unsalted butter
50ml good espresso
2 large eggs
125g golden caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 120°C/250°F/gas ½. Snap the chocolate into a heatproof bowl, add the butter, espresso and a good pinch of sea salt, and place over a pan of gently simmering water to melt very slowly until smooth, stirring regularly. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and sugar together until pale and doubled in size, then carefully fold in the melted chocolate mixture.

Boil the kettle. Divide the mixture between 6 coffee cups or ramekins and put them into a roasting tray. Place the tray in the oven, then carefully pour in enough boiling kettle water to come halfway up the side of the cups. Bake for exactly 20 minutes, then carefully remove from the oven and leave to cool in the water for 2 hours. To serve, I sometimes shave over some extra chocolate, or add fresh fruit like cherries, blood oranges or wild strawberries, with a dollop of yoghurt or crème fraîche.