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Middle of the table Banger recipe

  • 1 day ago
  • 2 min read

Words by Martyn Odell aka The Lagom Chef


Championing a no-waste food philosophy, Martyn Odell – aka The Lagom Chef – gives home cooks the knowledge and confidence to make delicious food from what you have in.


Middle of the table banger recipe Roasted broccoli on hummus on a patterned plate, surrounded by bread and olives on a bright red table.

Serving things big with minimal effort is one of the greatest joys of cooking for me. I don’t know if I was the first to discover this, but I was making a ravioli filling once

and mixed mascarpone and miso together, and it ended up tasting like Parmesan cheese. It was glorious and easy! Make this belter and people will think you’re a legend.

Serves: 2-3 


Preparation time: 5 minutes 

Cook time: 20 minutes


Ingredients:

1 head of broccoli

Olive oil

Parmesan cheese

1 tsp smoked paprika


For the sauce:

4 big tbsp mascarpone or double cream

1 tsp miso

Aleppo chilli flakes (any chilli flakes will do)



WHY IT WORKS

Umami, umami, umami. The Parmesan cheese and miso are top-tier umami ingredients and they work so well with the creamy mascarpone. Charring makes a basic ingredient epic. The broccoli can go a little bitter, but you can balance it with this tangy sauce. Please make this one, even just for the sauce!


Method

Preheat the grill.


Cut the head of broccoli, stem and all, into quarters. Drizzle with oil and season with salt, then put the quarters in an ovenproof frying pan on a high heat. Put another pan on top of the broccoli and weigh it down to get some deep char on the broccoli. Be patient and flip only when ready.

Now don’t be shy with the Parmesan! Grate loads of it over the broccoli. I’m not going to give you measurements, as you’re an adult and can make your own decisions about cheese.


Slide the broccoli under the grill and cook it to the point of burning, then dust with a little smoked paprika.


Now for the sauce. If using mascarpone, plop it in a bowl and mix in ½ teaspoon of miso. TASTE, then season with salt and add more miso little by little, TASTING as you go. If using double cream, whisk it to stiff peaks, then add the miso and TASTE it the same way.


To serve, I like to spread the sauce on a plate and pile the broccoli on top with a few chilli flakes and any other sprinkles you have.


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