Frying pan Turkish flatbreads

Today marks the start of Organic September and what better way to kick it off than this great recipe from much-acclaimed vegetarian cookery writer Anna Jones, author of A Modern Way to Cook

Anna writes: "The part of east London I live in is full of Turkish cafes. They turn out charcoal-baked flatbreads and insanely good salads, and although meat is front and centre in Turkish food, there are some amazing vegetable dishes too. Here is a quick way to make my two favourites at home."

Anna's Frying Pan Turkish Flatbreads

Ingredients

To make the flatbreads

• 200g spelt flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 200g Greek yoghurt, or 150ml warm water

To make the topping

• 2 red onions
• 3 red peppers
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried Turkish chilli flakes
• 1 green chilli
• a small bunch of fresh mint

To make the salad

• 1 red onion
• 1 lemon
• 5 ripe vine tomatoes
• a small bunch of fresh mint
• a small bunch of fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon sumac
• 1 teaspoon harissa or Turkish chilli paste
• 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
• extra virgin olive oil

Getting started

Put all the flatbread ingredients into the bowl of your food processor and pulse until the mixture forms a ball. If you don't have a food processor, this can be done in a bowl using a fork to begin with, followed by your hands, but it will take longer.

Dust a clean work surface with flour and tip out the dough. Knead for a minute or so to bring it all together. This is a quick flatbread recipe, so you don't need to knead it for long. Put the dough into flour-dusted bowl and cover with a plate. Put to one side to rise a little for 10-15 minutes while you do some other jobs. Don't expect it to rise like normal dough, but it may puff up a tiny bit.

To make the topping, heat a frying pan on medium heat, then finely chop your onions and red peppers and put them into the pan with 1 tablespoon of oil. Cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes, until soft and sweet, then add the dried chilli. Chop the fresh green chilli and mint and add to the pan along with a final tablespoon of oil.

Next, make your salad. Finely slice the onion and put into a bowl with the juice of half a lemon and a good pinch of salt. Scrunch with your hands, then leave to pickle.

Chop the tomatoes roughly, then roughly chop the leaves of fresh herbs. Put them into a bowl with the spices and the pomegranate molasses and add the lemon-picked red onions. Season well with salt and pepper and add a little more lemon juice and a good drizzle of olive oil, balancing out the flavours until it tastes great.

Now back to the flatbreads. Put a large frying pan or griddle pan (about 22-24cm) on a medium heat.

Dust a clean work surface and rolling pin with flour, then divide dough into four equal-sized pieces. Using your hands, pat and flatten out the dough, then use the rolling pin to roll each piece into about 20cm round, roughly 2-3mm thick.

Once your pan is hot, cook each flatbread for 1-2minutes on each side, until nicely puffed up, turning with tongs.

Spread with the onion and chilli mixture while hot, and serve straightaway with spoonfuls of salad.

What to drink: As it's still warm and summery as I'm posting this I'd go for a crisp dry white or rosé. There are in fact some good ones from Turkey (though I haven't come across many that are organic) but anywhere round the Mediterranean - neighbouring Greece, Italy or Southern France would be fine too.

Follow all the Organic September action, find recipes and features at www.soilassociation.org/organicseptember and by following #OrganicSeptember on social media. You can find more of Anna's recipes on her website Anna Jones.

Cured brill with mint and peas

Chefs' recipes are often complicated but you couldn't ask for a simpler, more summery dish than this fabulous fish recipe from Nathan Outlaw's Fish Kitchen*.

Nathan writes: "Brill isn’t a fish one would generally expect to find cured, but while experimenting as I do (though not always with great success), I discovered that it was really well suited. Usually much oilier fish fit the bill, but in this minty cure brill is perfect. It goes without saying that peas and mint pair well and here they team beautifully with the cured fish."

Serves 4

500g brill fillet, skinned and trimmed

400g freshly podded peas

Cure

100g Cornish sea salt

100g caster sugar

40g mint leaves

70ml water

Dressing

100ml cold-pressed rapeseed oil

40ml cider vinegar

5g mint leaves, chopped

Cornish sea salt

To finish

A few mint sprigs

Handful of pea shoots or tendrils

For the cure, put the sea salt, sugar, mint and water in a food processor and blitz together for 1 minute.

Lay the brill fillet on a tray and pour the salt cure over it. Make sure the fish is evenly coated all over. Cover with cling film and leave to cure in the fridge for 2. hours.

Now wash off the cure well with cold water and pat the fish dry with kitchen paper. Wrap the fish tightly in cling film and place in the fridge for an hour or so. (At this stage, you can freeze the fish for up to a month.)

Add the peas to a pan of boiling water and blanch for a minute or two until just tender. Drain and refresh under cold water; drain well.

For the dressing, whisk the rapeseed oil and cider vinegar together, add the chopped mint and season with salt to taste.

Unwrap the brill. Using a very sharp knife, slice the fish on a clean board as thinly as possible, laying it straight onto serving plates. Spoon the dressing evenly over the fish and sprinkle with a little salt. Scatter over the peas and finish with the mint sprigs and pea shoots.

What to drink: Given that Nathan has used local ingredients for the dressing I'd be inclined to serve a crisp Cornish white like Camel Valley's Bacchus. Otherwise a Loire Sauvignon such as Sancerre, Pouilly Fumé or even a good Sauvignon de Touraine would be lovely

Recipe extracted from Nathan Outlaw’s Fish Kitchen (Quadrille, £20) Photograph © David Loftus