It’s that time of year again. Christmas is closing in fast, and we’re counting down the most popular recipes Broadsheet published in 2022. (Here’s last year’s list.)
Every week we publish at least two recipes from any category: drinks, dinner, dessert, sandwiches, snacks and everything in between. Some clear winners emerge from the pack each year, though. Crowd-pleasing pastas, curries and other one-pot weeknight meals, of course, but this year we also have a zingy barbequed corn, West African banana fritters and a wine-bar-style anchovy toast in the mix.
Still need more inspiration? Check out Broadsheet’s most-popular recipes of the decade, part one and part two.
1. Yotam Ottolenghi and Noor Murad’s curried cauliflower cheese filo pie
Golden-brown pastry, bubbling cheddar, oozing bechamel and soft, slowly roasted cauliflower – this is a perfect weekend or holiday project. And it’s a good example of why Ottolenghi has become one of the most famous chefs in the world. There’s no meat in here, but it’s hearty and satisfying as they come.
2. Paul West’s barbequed corn with tangy sour cream dressing
On the streets of Mexico, elotes is a dead-simple snack of charcoal-roasted corn on the cob, usually topped with cheese, mayo, chilli and lime. That’s essentially what you’re looking at here, with a few careful tweaks that keep its widespread appeal firmly intact.
3. O Tama Carey’s Sri Lankan chicken curry
All curries are fragrant to some degree. This one, though, is baked low and slow in a casserole dish until the chicken begins to fall apart. When you finally ease the top off, the scent of cardamom, mustard, cumin, fenugreek and more – contained and concentrated for 90 minutes – fair smacks you in the face. And as any good Thai, Indian or Sri Lankan cook knows, a curry only ever tastes as good as it smells.
4. Gordon Ramsay’s green pasta with rocket, almonds and lemon
Packed with kale and rocket, this is one of those quick, healthy and relatively affordable dishes destined to grace your table every week during summer. Optional parmesan and anchovy up the savoury factor, making this a satisfying pasta you’ll want to eat over and over.
5. Diana Chan’s char kway teow
Here it is: the answer to those who say cooking dinner for one is too hard. And in fact, it’s an advantage here, as the wok needs to be as hot as possible. (The more food you add to a wok, the faster it loses heat.) “Prepare all the ingredients in advance as the cooking process is super-fast and takes no time at all,” the Masterchef winner says. “I just love this dish as the flavours are amazing and it reminds me of home – nostalgia at its best.”
6. Aline Princet’s banana fritters
It’s a wide world of cooking out there, with endless options and inspiration. Still, if you’re anything like us, there are nights when you dread the thought of making yet another pasta or stir-fry. For those times, keep this easy-to-make Central and West African street-food handy – they can be eaten sweet, or paired with your fave hot sauce for a spicy kick. Why not bananas for dinner?
7. Christine Manfield’s spiced chickpea dal
In a year where the cost of food has risen alarmingly, dal is a good dish to have in your repertoire. The possibility-filled Indian stew that can be made with split lentils, peas, kidney beans and dozens of other types of affordable, nutritious pulses. Manfield ate this particular one frequently while travelling through Sikkim, a north-east Indian state that borders Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan. It combines ginger, chilli and turmeric for a warming punch.
8. Stephanie Alexander’s tomato and basil salad
There’s tomato salad. And then there’s tomato salad by Stephanie Alexander, one of the most celebrated cooks and authors this country has ever produced. Sure, it only includes five ingredients – including salt and pepper – but there’s some good advice here on how to make it really, truly sing, plus four optional add-ons (we’re adding them all).
9. Manel’s chilli chicken and coconut rice
This fragrant (that word again!) dish comes from a chef with the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre’s catering arm, and draws on her Malaysian Indian heritage. Made with curry leaves, lime leaves, lemongrass, turmeric and green chillies, it’s a light, bright meal designed to feed a whole family with ease (just watch the spice).
10. Joel Bennetts’s anchovy toast with salsa verde and pickled eschalots
A recipe for toast? Have we given up? Absolutely not. And neither has Joel Bennetts, head chef Bondi’s Fish Shop. “Anchovy toast, for me, is the kind of snack that I make in crisis mode, when I want something quick and delicious and I want to demolish it in 10 minutes,” he says. Hear hear.
Bonus: four things Julia Busuttil Nishimura pulls together for picnics
Picnic season is upon us. Be the star of your next few outings with these four recipes, which are simple but refined. For her picnics, the author of Ostro and A Year of Simple Family Food likes to make smoked trout pate, cotoletta sandwiches, chargrilled capsicum panzanella and a juicy melon salad with ginger and vanilla syrup. We think you will too.
Looking for more recipe inspiration? See Broadsheet’s recipe hub.
Additional writing by Emma Joyce.
