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.

Fridge-raid tortilla sandwiches

You might think that as tortilla generally has carbs of its own it doesn’t need to be stuffed between two slices of bread. Wrong! The Spanish do it so why shouldn’t the rest of us? Particularly if you have leftovers to use up.

This was based on some amazingly fragrant peppers we bought in the market at Arles a couple of days ago (for 99 cents a kilo!). Add some fried onion, a few slices of chorizo and some eggs and you’ve got a great filling to stuff into a baguette or roll. Or even a pitta bread. Perfect student food for those who have just gone up to uni for the first time.

You can vary it endlessly depending on what’s in the fridge although I’d say that onion - and, some would say, potato - was essential. Ham or bacon instead of chorizo, a bit of crumbled up feta, some chopped herbs - feel free. Just make it a bit thinner than you would a normal tortilla.

Serves 2-3 - or 1 if you’re utterly starving (leftovers will keep in the fridge till the next day)

4 tbsp olive oil + extra for drizzling

1 large mild sweet onion, peeled and thinly sliced

2 green peppers - preferably like these small tasty ones on the right - de-seeded and sliced. (You can find them in middle-eastern and Turkish greengrocers)

About 50-75g sliced chorizo

4 large eggs, lightly beaten and seasoned with salt and pepper

a baguette or ciabatta loaf

Heat a medium-to-large frying pan over a moderate heat, add 3 tbsp oil and start frying the onion. As it softens add the sliced peppers and chorizo and fry until the veg start to brown (about 5 minutes).

Add the eggs, cook for a minute then lift the edges of the tortilla to let any uncooked egg run to the bottom of the pan. Leave for 3-4 minutes or so then invert a large plate over the pan and tip the tortilla onto the plate. Add another tbsp of oil, slide the tortilla back into the pan, cook for another minute then turn off the heat. Leave for 8-10 minutes if you can bear it then cut into thick strips and tuck into a split baguette or a couple of rolls. Drizzle over a little extra olive oil or a dollop of aioli. A few fresh basil leaves wouldn't go amiss either.

What to drink: Well probably anything you've got to hand but a glass of Spanish or southern French red would hit the spot nicely

For more recipe inspiration buy my Ultimate Student Cookbook here.