Meatballs alla Norma

As someone who loves anything related to food, I love reading about it, making and eating it (obviously), but I also find it amazing to talk about it with different people and learn what they like, what they don’t like and how their tastes change with time.

I have those conversations with my husband all the time, and he tells me about the food he ate as a kid, things he loved and things he couldn’t stand, how it took him so long to appreciate all sorts of vegetables, and that his mother would be really glad to see him finally eating like an adult (she passed away in 2011).

Every time Joao and I talk about those things I feel more inspired to cook, and when he asked me to make meatballs – one of his all time favorite dishes – I remembered Jamie Oliver’s meatballs alla Norma and thought that a bit of eggplant in the meatballs wouldn’t hurt.

I love eggplant. :)

The eggplant sauce tasted divine with the meatballs; Jamie served his over polenta, but since it was too hot here I went with spaghetti instead and some bread to mop up the sauce – a simple yet delicious meal that I get to replicate anytime I want with the meatballs I stashed in my freezer.

Meatballs alla Norma
slightly adapted from the always delicious Save with Jamie: Shop Smart, Cook Clever, Waste Less

Meatballs – recipe here

Sauce:
1 large eggplant
olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 400g (14oz) can diced tomatoes
salt and freshly ground black pepper
handful fresh basil leaves

Dice the eggplant into 1.5 cm cubes, then season well with salt and leave for 15 min in a colander.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Line a large baking sheet with a double layer of foil and brush it with olive oil. Place the meatballs onto the prepared sheet and bake until firm and cooked through (about 30 minutes) – bake as many as you want, the recipe yields about 25 meatballs. You can freeze uncooked meatballs for up to 2 months and bake them directly from frozen.

While the meatballs are in the oven, make the sauce: take handfuls of the eggplant and squeeze out the excess salty liquid, then put into a saucepan on a medium heat with a lug of oil to cook for 10 min, or until golden, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Stir in the sweet chili sauce and balsamic, add the tomatoes and 3 tablespoons water. Season with salt and black pepper, then simmer for 10-15 min, or until thickened. Stir in the basil and remove from the heat.

Add the meatballs to the sauce and serve immediately.

Serves 4

Sweet pea salmon pie - turning a piece of fish into something delicious

Talking to my husband the other day about food, we once again came to the conclusion that we don’t eat fish as often as we should, which is such a shame.

I did not make any promises, for breaking them makes me frustrated and that is something I really don’t need right now – instead, I decided to make roasted salmon for lunch: seasoned with lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper, baked over a layer of sliced leeks – very simple yet very delicious.

I did have left about 200g of salmon, and I did not want to eat it cooked in the same way, so I used it to make Jamie Oliver’s fish pie – he uses a combination of white fish, shrimp and salmon, but I made it with salmon only for it was what I had around. I also reduced the recipe considerably for the original serves 8 people.

It was my first fish pie ever and as I placed it in the oven it looked and smelled really good. My husband was at work, so I texted my sister and asked what she felt about having fish pie for lunch – I know she’d never had fish pie before, so I described the dish for her, and her reply was: “I have never have that, but I love everything in it – I’m coming over!”. :D

The pie tasted delicious and despite the mashed potatoes on top it is such a light dish – we devoured it but it never felt like we’d eaten a lot.

Sweet pea salmon pie
slightly adapted from the delicious Save with Jamie: Shop Smart, Cook Clever, Waste Less

250g potatoes
½ lemon
10g unsalted butter
100g frozen peas
1 small carrot
½ onions
olive oil
1 cup (240ml) whole milk
200g salmon
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
25g frozen spinach
pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.

Peel the potatoes and cut into small chunks, then put them into a small saucepan of boiling salted water for 10-15 minutes, or until cooked through. Drain and mash with a pinch of salt and pepper, the zest from the lemon and the butter.
Place the frozen peas in a colander, pour over some boiling water to defrost them, then drain well and pulse a few times in a food processor. Fold them through the mashed potato to create a rippled effect, then leave to one side.

Peel and chop the carrot and onion and cook them in a wide 2 ½ cup-capacity ovenproof dish with a drizzle of oil for 15 minutes, or until softened but not colored, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan on a medium heat. Once simmering, add the salmon and cook for around 10 minutes, or until cooked through, then use a slotted spoon to remove them to a plate, taking the pan off the heat. Remove the skin from the salmon.

Stir the flour into the carrots and onions, then gradually add half the milk, a tablespoon at a time, stirring continuously (discard the remaining milk). Stir in the spinach until broken down, then season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Flake in the salmon and the juice from ¼ of the lemon and stir gently to combine.

Top with the pea-spiked mash and smooth out, scuffing it up slightly with a fork or a spoon to give it great texture. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until golden and the filling is bubbling.

Serves 2

Beef kofta curry with fluffy rice and peas and going crazy over cookbooks

September is a lovely month: spring comes our way, bringing flowers to make the city prettier and, in Sao Paulo’s case, it also brings the much needed rain. But it is also the time of the year when a bunch of cookbooks are released, which makes me tense for as much as I keep telling myself that “I have too many cookbooks” or “I don’t need new cookbooks” I know I don’t sound very convincing. :)

I’ve had my eye on several new releases for a long time and I was already in trouble because I couldn’t make up my mind about which ones to buy, and now to make things worse for me Jamie Oliver has a new cookbook, too. Oh, crap. :S

While I decide whether or not to buy Comfort Food, I’ll use the Jamie’s cookbooks I already own, because they’re really good. This beef kofta comes from the delicious Jamie's 15-Minute Meals, a book I should definitely use more often for it’s packed with tasty recipes.

I adapted the recipe ever so slightly to use curry powder for I did not have any curry paste at hand and also to use brown lentils instead of the super expensive (at least here) puy lentils called for in the original recipe. These “adaptations” saved me some money, I used ingredients I already had at home, and at the end the food turned out delicious – and I even got the husband to eat lentils, which was the real victory here. :D

Beef kofta curry with fluffy rice and peas
slightly adapted from the wonderful Jamie's 15-Minute Meals

100g cooked lentils
300g quality lean beef mince
1 fat garlic clove, minced
1 heaped teaspoon garam masala
generous ½ teaspoon table salt
freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
2 ripe tomatoes
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
2 spring onions, white part only
½ fresh red chilli
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon runny honey
2 teaspoons curry powder
100ml coconut milk
handful parsley

For the rice:
1 teaspoon olive oil
½ onion, finely diced
1 mug basmati rice
2 cardamom pods
salt
150g frozen peas

In a bowl, combine the lentils, mince, garlic, garam masala, salt and pepper then mix and scrunch together with clean hands. Divide the mixture in half, then with wet hands quickly squeeze and mold each half into 8 fat fingers. Put them into a nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat, drizzle with ½ tablespoon of oil, and cook, turning occasionally until golden all around.

Squash the tomatoes into the liquidizer, add the peeled ginger, spring onions, chilli, turmeric, honey, curry and coconut milk, then blitz until combined. Pour into the kofta pan, bring to the boil, then simmer and season to taste.

Rice: heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Add the rice and stir to combine. Add the salt and the cardamom, followed by 2 mugs of boiling water. Cover, lower the heat and cook until rice is cooked and fluffy. Take the lid off the rice, add the peas, mix it all up with a fork, cover and give it just 2-3 more minutes so the peas are cooked. Remove from the heat.

Sprinkle the koftas with the parsley and serve with the rice.

Serves 4

Beef meatloaf with spaghetti sauce

Jamie’s Money Saving Meals hasn’t been aired here in Brazil yet but luckily for me there are some episodes available on You Tube – I have watched six of them (not sure if there are more) and really liked the concept: the food looks delicious and not at all hard to prepare, and when I saw him making meatloaf with tomato sauce and spaghetti I knew exactly what would be the next Sunday lunch at my house. :)

I found the recipe online and tweaked it a bit to make it more what my husband and I like – we’re not huge pork eaters, though we wouldn’t want to live in a world without bacon. :) The meatloaf goes really well with the pasta and leftovers (if there are any) are delicious in sandwich form (I like mine with a spoonful of Dijon mustard).

Beef meatloaf with spaghetti sauce
slightly adapted from here

Meatloaf:
3 carrots
extra-virgin olive oil
½ onion, finely chopped
500g beef mince
60g fresh breadcrumbs
1 heaping teaspoon dried oregano
handful of fresh oregano, chopped
handful of fresh parsley leaves, chopped
30g feta cheese, grated
1 large egg
a few drops of Tabasco
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Sauce and pasta:
½ tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 x 700ml jar of passata
1 teaspoon sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
handful of fresh basil leaves, torn
handful of fresh oregano leaves

For assembling the dish:
30g Cheddar cheese
400g dried spaghetti

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Peel the carrots, quarter lengthways, then place in a 20x30cm (8x12in) roasting tray, drizzle with the oil and bake for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a small saucepan and cook the onions, adding a pinch of salt, until translucent. Cool. Transfer to a large bowl, add the beef, breadcrumbs, dried and fresh oregano, parsley, feta, egg, Tabasco, salt and pepper. Mix lightly with your hands (don’t overmix or the meatloaf will be tough), then shape into a loaf (roughly 20cm long). Make a space in the middle of the tray with the carrots and add the meatloaf. Cook for a further 25 minutes, or until the meatloaf is golden and cooked through.
While the meatloaf is in the oven, make the sauce: in a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and the dried oregano and cook until slightly golden, then add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the passata (with a splash of water from the empty jar), the sugar, season with salt and pepper and cook for 15-20 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir in the herbs, cover and remove from the heat.

Have a large saucepan of salted boiling water ready (for the spaghetti).

Remove the tray from the oven and carefully pour the sauce around the meatloaf. Top the meatloaf with a spoonful of tomato sauce, then the grated Cheddar and pop the meatloaf back into the oven for a further 5 to 10 minutes, or until golden and delicious, and the sauce is bubbling. Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti according to packet instructions, then drain. Serve it with the sauce in the baking tray and the meatloaf.

Serves 4

Chilli con carne meatballs, a.k.a. the day my husband ate cilantro

I thought it would take another trip to China to turn my husband into a foodie, but apparently we didn’t have to go that far: New York City did the trick. :)

After tasting several things for the first time at the great places we had lunch/dinner in the city that never sleeps he was convinced that yes, there is so much delicious food out there just waiting to be discovered, and yes, my suggestions are worth trying. :D

Back from vacation I suggested these meatballs for lunch and then patiently waited for the request to swap the cilantro for parsley - much to my surprise, it never came and the hubby brought home the bunch of herb himself. :D

This recipe comes from "Jamie's 15-Minute Meals", and since I don’t time myself around the kitchen I have no idea how long it took me to cook this meal (I served the meatballs with rice), but I can guarantee it was fast.

Chilli con carne meatballs
slightly adapted from the delicious Jamie's 15-Minute Meals (I bought mine here)

400g lean beef mince
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
a few drops of Tabasco
1 heaping teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon table salt (or to taste)
freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
3 jarred red peppers
½ small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove (for the sauce)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
700g passata
pinch of sugar
handful fresh cilantro + some extra leaves to serve
1 x 400g can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed (I used 200g pinto beans I had cooked previously)
4 tablespoons fat-free natural yogurt
1 lime

In a medium bowl, combine the beef, two cloves of garlic, Tabasco, garam masala, salt and pepper and mix with your hands. Divide the mixture into 4, then with wet hands quickly shape each piece into 4 balls. Heat a frying pan over high heat, add a splash of olive oil, then place the meatballs in the pan, tossing regularly until they’re nicely browned.
Using a blender, blitz the peppers, onion, the other garlic clove, paprika, passata, sugar, cilantro and a good pinch of salt and pepper until smooth. Pour the mixture into a medium saucepan, place it over medium-high heat and stir occasionally. When the meatballs are nicely golden, add them to the sauce, cover partially and cook over medium-low heat for 8-10 minutes or until sauce is thicker and meatballs are cooked through. Add the beans to the empty frying pan and cook them for 2-3 minutes over high heat. Remove from the heat, then stir into the sauce (I preferred to serve them separately). Check the seasoning.
Serve sprinkled with cilantro leaves, the yogurt and a spritz of lime juice.

There was a lot of tomato sauce left when we finished eating the meatballs (I served them with rice); I kept it in the fridge and served over some pasta on the following day (the sauce tasted even better after one night in the fridge).

Serves 4

Escarole and salami tart

Something I’ve been trying to do more often is to bring lunch to work – eating out gets more expensive by the minute while the quality and flavor of the food get worse.

This tart might seem like a lot of work – making your own pastry! – but believe me, it’s not: you just need to plan ahead. Go wild with the filling: the original was a mix of spinach and ham, but I used what I had in my fridge. Since the tart tastes great both warm and at room temperature I brought the leftovers in my lunchbox – but, to be honest, I wish I’d had lunch somewhere else. ;)

Escarole and salami tart
adapted from the wonderful and delicious Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life

Pastry:
250g all-purpose flour
100g unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
30g freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten with a fork
about 1 teaspoon milk, more if necessary

Filling:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
½ tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, finely sliced
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
300g (11oz) escarole, coarsely chopped
a few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup crème fraîche – I used homemade sour cream*
30g freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for grating
2 large eggs
100g (4oz) salami slices

Make the pastry: put the flour, butter, cheese and a generous pinch of salt into a food processor and pulse for 10-15 seconds, until the mixture is crumbly and fine. Pour in the egg and add the milk. Pulse for a few more seconds until the mixture comes together. Scoop your dough out of the food processor onto a clean, floured work surface and pat it a few times to make it more compact – don't knead it. Shape it into a disk, wrap the dough in a plastic wrap and place it in the fridge to rest for at least one hour.
Lightly butter a 33x23cm (13¼x9¼in) baking sheet. Roll out the pastry between two sheets of lightly floured baking paper until you have a 35x25cm (14x10in) rectangle. Line the sheet with the pastry, leaving a 1cm (½in) overhang. Pinch this overhanging dough up to give a little rim. This not only gives it a rustic edge but also stops the pastry from shrinking and it means there’s no need to fill the pastry case with beans or rice before baking it blind. Prick the pastry all over with a fork and chill in the freezer for another 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F.
Make the filling: heat the butter and olive oil in a large frying pan, add the onions and a pinch of salt and gently fry the onions on a low heat for 10 minutes until they're soft and sweet, but don't let them color. Turn up the heat, add the garlic, the escarole (in batches if your pan isn't big enough) and the thyme. Season lightly and give it a good stir. Take the pan off the heat when the escarole has wilted – this will only take a couple of minutes. Set aside.
Put the crème fraîche (or sour cream) into a bowl, stir in the parmesan, eggs and a pinch of salt and pepper, mix together and set aside.
Remove the sheet from the fridge and bake your pastry crust in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly golden. (This is called baking it blind, and it stops the pastry from going soggy when you add the filling.)
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and spread the escarole mixture over it. Lay the salami slices over the escarole, then spoon the crème fraîche mixture evenly over the top, smoothing it out with the back of the spoon. Grate over a generous helping of Parmesan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes, or until the top is golden and the filling has set.
Delicious warm or at room temperature.

* homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

Serves 4

Broccolini rigatoni - delicious food in almost no time at all

I love being in the kitchen, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying quick meals too – they have been a great idea in these cold days, when all I want is to be wrapped in a blanked, reading or watching TV.

After watching several episodes of the wonderful “Jamie’s 30-minute meals” I ended up buying the book - which is absolutely beautiful - and the first recipe I tried was this pasta dish: broccolini is in season and the hubby loves it. It instantly became one of his favorites – and heaven knows how rarely that happens. :)

Broccolini rigatoni
slightly adapted from the wonderful Jamie Oliver's Meals in Minutes; I bought it on amazon.co.uk

250g broccolini or broccoli
½ small onion
1 garlic clove
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
finely grated zest of ½ lemon
a few sprigs of fresh thyme, stalks removed
200g rigatoni
generous handful finely grated parmesan, plus more to serve
handful of basil leaves

Slice all the broccolini florets from the stalks and set the florets aside. Place the stalks, the onion, the garlic and the capers in a food processor and process until a rough paste forms.
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and add the broccolini paste. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add ¼ cup (60ml) hot water, season with salt, pepper, the lemon zest and the thyme leaves and stir.
Meanwhile, cook the rigatoni in a large saucepan of rapidly boiling salted water until al dente, adding the broccolini florets to the water in the last minutes of the cooking time.
Drain the pasta and broccolini florets reserving about ½ cup (120ml) of the cooking water. Transfer the pasta and broccolini to the pan with the paste, add the parmesan and basil leaves and mix to combine everything together. If necessary, add a little of the reserved cooking water to loosen the pasta sauce.
Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with more parmesan and serve at once.

Serves 2

Summertime tagliatelle, in the middle of fall

My dad sometimes tells me funny/cute stories about my mom and I especially like the ones about her weird pregnancy cravings, like the day she felt like cooking and eating a rooster – no, I’m not kidding. :D

She’d crave ice cream desperately in the middle of the winter and would get under 2-3 blankets to eat it.

Everyone that knows me and knew my mom says that we look exactly the same and they say that we have a lot in common, too, when it comes to personality. Maybe they are right, because I felt like eating summertime pasta in a very cold day. :D

Summertime tagliatelle
slightly adapted from Cook with Jamie

115g (4oz) pine nuts
juice and zest of 2 lemons
a bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked
¾ cup (180ml) extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ cups (150g) Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, plus extra for shaving
½ cup (50g) pecorino cheese, freshly grated
salt and freshly ground black pepper
500g good-quality tagliarini or tagliatelle

Smash up half of the pine nuts to a paste, then put it into a big heatproof bowl with the rest of the whole pine nuts, the lemon juice and zest, and the extra virgin olive oil. Stir and add the Parmesan and pecorino. Season with some freshly ground black pepper.

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil for your pasta. Sit the sauce bowl on top of the pan while the water’s heating up – this will take the chill out of the sauce and warm it through slightly. When the water starts to boil, remove the bowl and add your pasta to the water. Cook it according to the packet instructions then drain in a colander, reserving a little of the cooking water. Toss the pasta with the sauce and a little of the reserved cooking water to help loosen it up a bit. The heat from the pasta will melt the cheese, allowing all the lovely sauce to coat it. If you find the sauce is too thick then add a little more water. It’s not supposed to thick – it should be more a dressing than a sauce.

Serve with a little extra Parmesan shaved over the top and a sprinkle of parsley leaves. Eat immediately.

Serves 4

Jamie Oliver gone bad - a weird banana and honey bread

I wasn’t much inspired to post today, since it is about a recipe that did not work out, but that changed after I read Pea’s text.

I bookmarked the recipe last week and couldn’t wait to try it – I love baking with yeast and the idea of a banana honey roll seemed amazing. And that roll was one of Jamie’s recipes. I was sure it would be delicious.
Well, I wouldn’t know about that – the bread came out so weird I did not feel like putting it in my mouth. It was far too moist and dense, heavy... It did not look like bread to me. I’m no expert, but I have baked yeasted breads hundreds of times and the results were pretty good. And Jamie’s bread was anything but good (I’m glad I halved the recipe).

I won’t let this recipe put me off my willing to make yeasted banana bread. So, if you have any suggestions or recipes to share, I’m all ears, oops, eyes. :)

No recipe today – but you can read the original here.

Two side dishes worth trying: Jamie's potato salad and Martha's roasted asparagus

I beg of you – make one of these recipes. Or go wild and make both. You won’t be sorry, I promise.

Fresh asparagus are something quite new to me – I don’t ever recall seeing them in supermarkets when I was younger. But ever since I spotted them for the first time there was no turning back – I became a huge fan. In my humble opinion, fresh asparagus will taste great no matter how you make them – I especially love them in risottos – but pair them with olive oil, black pepper and parmesan and you’ve got yourself an addictive combination.

As for the potato salad… I’ll tell you that it’s another recipe from the show “Jamie at home” and I know you’ll be convinced of how good it is. I would never have thought that a simple potato salad could be so delicious – and it tasted even better the next day.

Jamie used lemons for the salad, but I used limes instead; since I’m making this again about 184 times, I’ll try it with lemons too.



This is my entry for the Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Lia from Swirling Notions.

Martha’s roasted asparagus with parmesan
from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast

2 bunches (680g/1 ½ pounds) asparagus
1 tablespoon olive oil
coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup finely grated parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 230ºC/450ºF. Trim the tough ends from the asparagus.
On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the asparagus with the olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Spread in an even layer. Sprinkle with the cheese.
Roast until the asparagus is tender and the cheese is melted, 10-15 minutes.
Serve immediately.

Serves 4

Jamie’s potato salad
from Jamie at Home

500g new potatoes, peeled
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
grated zest and juice of 1 large lime
3 tablespoons capers, drained
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 handful chopped parsley*

Cook the potatoes in a large pot of lightly salted boiling water until they’re tender but not too soft; drain.
Place the olive oil, lime zest and juice in a large bowl and mix well. Add the potatoes while they’re still hot, season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Add the capers.
Add the parsley after the potatoes are cool. Mix well and serve.

* Jamie used dill

Roast chicken tray bake with tomatoes and potatoes

A couple of weeks ago I watched "Jamie at Home” for the first time – it was an episode about potatoes. I love potatoes – who doesn’t? – and all the recipes were mouthwatering. Joao must have thought so too, because he asked me to make this chicken for lunch on the following day – and he is a beef guy. BEEF.

I didn’t have a pen at the moment to take notes, and I don’t really remember him giving exact ingredient amounts, so this is my version of his roast chicken tray bake with tomatoes and potatoes.

The food was really good and I like the idea of using fresh oregano – a nice herb change to a basil addict like me.



This is my entry for the Weekend Herb Blogging, this time hosted by Erin, from The Skinny Gourmet.

Roast chicken tray bake with tomatoes and potatoes
from Jamie at Home

8 chicken pieces – I used thighs, wings and drumsticks
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
salt
freshly ground black pepper
juice of ½ lime
400g new potatoes
100g cherry tomatoes
¼ cup (60ml) olive oil
1 large handful fresh oregano leaves + 2 extra sprigs

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF.
In a large pan over medium-high heat, heat the 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil. Add the chicken, garlic, season with salt and pepper and cook until nicely browned.
Meanwhile, boil some water in a large saucepan and rapidly cook the potatoes – drain and set aside. If there are potatoes much bigger than others, cut in half.
Squeeze the lime juice over the chicken, mix well and remove from heat.
Place the handful of oregano leaves in a mortar or food processor – Jamie used his crazy shaker - and lightly smash/process. Add the olive oil, salt and pepper and smash/process again, until you get some delicious green oil.
Place the chicken, potatoes and tomatoes in a baking dish, drizzle with the green oil, add the oregano sprigs and mix.
Bake for 25-30 minutes and serve immediately.

Served very well the hungry couple on a Sunday lunch. :)