Simply Jamie: Jamie Oliver’s formula for fast and simple food

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Our cookbook of the week is Simply Jamie by British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.

Jump to the recipes: busted sausage on toast with beans, roasted veg with Camembert fondue and jarred pepper pasta.

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Having a productive, quarter-century-long career in writing and TV “isnâ€t that easy,†says Jamie Oliver. But one of the tricks is “really listening very, very hard.†For his 28th book, Simply Jamie (Appetite by Random House, 2024), the British celebrity chef took inspiration from a reliable source.

“Basket data, which never, ever lies, (shows) weâ€ve never cooked less than now. So, there are a few big questions there. Has the last 25 years of my career been a waste of time? I donâ€t think so. I think it could be a lot worse if we hadnâ€t made the programs, the documentaries and the campaigns that we have, and changed many of the things.â€

Cooking skills are more critical than ever, adds Oliver. With the “Uberization†of food, convenience seems to be highest in the hierarchy, beyond value, cost and ease. “This is just my attempt at trying to keep cooking alive for a new generation, trying to give confidence, really, to people, to really break down things.â€

Thatâ€s why, while his other cookbooks typically have eight, 10 or 12 chapters, Simply Jamie has five: Midweek Meals, Weekend Wins, One-pan Dinners, Pantry Love and Delicious Desserts. The methods are streamlined, delivering on the promise of the bookâ€s title. But that doesnâ€t mean the recipes arenâ€t interesting. For a cruciferous take on panzanella, broccoli is boiled, squashed, coated in Parmesan and roasted, and miso-glazed eggplant is boiled, steamed, and fried for texture.

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Acknowledging that the data underpinning Simply Jamie may be boring to some, Oliver says he found it interesting to use as inspiration. “This is not a book for philosophy and heartfelt stories. This is a book for hints, tips, shortcuts and principles,†he says. “I just want people to cook and have a go and have a try and get that lovely, warm feeling of having done something yourself instead of ordering something again.â€

Basket data shows that most Britons donâ€t eat enough oily fish, for example, but they do buy salmon every week, so Oliver featured eight ways to give fillets a fresh look. Vegetables arenâ€t prominent enough on the average plate, “so weâ€ve got lots of veggies in everything.†Likewise, fibre-rich beans donâ€t get enough love. (Most Canadians only get half as much fibre as they need in a day.) Oliver helps their case by showing that even when you think youâ€ve got nothing for dinner, a can of beans will get you most of the way there. “I try to use the book as an excuse to get more of the good stuff into peopleâ€s diets.â€

Roughly 10 years ago, Oliver wrote several books centred around health. “I didnâ€t want to be that guy, so I went every Friday to university and got a degree in nutrition.†While people sometimes say that talking about nutrition takes the fun out of food, heâ€s found the opposite to be true. “Good nutrition is about what you can have, not what you canâ€t have. And when you look at meat-reduced and pro-veg, -fruit, -nuts, -seeds and -legumes, itâ€s really about cooking.†Generally speaking, cooking vegetable-forward meals involves roasting, caramelizing and toasting, using spices and herbs, and dried and fresh mushrooms — “and thatâ€s really cooking.â€

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On the other end of the spectrum, Simply Jamie opens with seven no-cook pasta sauces that come together in under 15 minutes, including the sunny jarred pepper pasta — “so colourful, optimistic, but really, for busy people.†Oliver takes “mothership†recipes such as poached chicken, secret veg sauce and cornbread in many directions. A “better†bolognese blends ground beef, pork and lentils, and a big batch can serve you throughout the week in six very different meals, such as a pesto gnocchi bolognese bake and halloumi, pea and bol samosas.

“Iâ€m trying to do my best to build a case that having cooking in your arsenal of skills is relevant to modern-day life. And if you know a few basic skills, itâ€s a freedom, and itâ€s giving you choices, and it means that you can have delicious times and nourish yourself in a really positive way, even if youâ€re not rich. As Iâ€ve travelled around the world, the best food Iâ€ve ever had has always come from communities that are not rich.â€

As with his bolognese, 65 per cent of Simply Jamieâ€s recipes are meat-free or meat-reduced (containing at least 30 per cent less meat than a conventional portion). Many of the bookâ€s meat and fish recipes include plant-based swaps, such as busted sausage on toast with beans, which you can make with veggie or pork links. Oliver points out that reducing the amount of meat “is a clever thing to do, for money and the environment, but actually, itâ€s very traditional.†He thinks that some of the worldâ€s most delicious dishes come from using the whole animal — and using it sparingly with vegetables, dried mushrooms and pulses.

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“Part of me really hates the labelling of veggie, vegan, pescatarian, meatarian, whatever -tarian,†says Oliver, adding that in countries such as India, vegetarianism is far from a monolithic concept. “Itâ€s not binary. Itâ€s not in a box. And so you have health credentials and reasons for doing something. You have ethical reasons for the environment and the soil, and the farming world we live in, and you have health reasons. There are many reasons, and I think eating meat should be uncomfortable. It should. And it should be uncomfortable because it shouldnâ€t be effortless. It shouldnâ€t be frictionless. That would be immoral — and I eat meat, and I eat fish.â€

After 25 years of advocating and educating, Oliver considers himself “very lucky.†He struggled at school but credits growing up in his familyâ€s Essex pub for his education. “Iâ€ve always had an appreciation for the public. Iâ€ve always felt like I work for the public because I was brought up to say, ‘Yes, sir. Yes, madam,†and serve. And I have no problem. I love the idea of serving people. It makes me so happy to try and make someoneâ€s day a bit better. And somehow — I donâ€t know how — Iâ€ve been able to write all these books,†he says, laughing.

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Oliver was considered a young disruptor when he made his TV debut in 1999 as The Naked Chef. Now, he thinks his job is to “evolve for our career and find our purpose and be useful†— and is as motivated as ever to teach people to cook. “I still think the worldâ€s a better place if people know about food, where it comes from, and how it affects their body. And I know that kids are much better humans if theyâ€ve seen something grow and if they know that if you do some stuff — just some stuff — you can make dinner and a delicious one at that. I still think itâ€s an adventure.â€

BUSTED SAUSAGE ON TOAST WITH BEANS

Serves: 2
13 minutes

7 oz (200 g) mixed mushrooms
2 large sausages (2 1/2 oz/70 g each)
2 thick slices of bread
4 sprigs of thyme
2 tbsp HP sauce
2 tsp sun-dried tomato paste
1 x 15-oz (425-g) can of cannellini beans (also known as white kidney beans)

Step 1

Place a large non-stick frying pan on a medium-high heat. Slice or tear the mushrooms into the frying pan to start dry-frying as it heats.

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Step 2

Squeeze the sausage meat out of its casing, pressing and smoothing it to cover the whole surface of one side of each piece of bread, then place sausage-side down in the frying pan with a splash of olive oil and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, or until golden and crisp, picking in the thyme halfway.

Step 3

Generously brush the sausage side of each toast with HP sauce, flip to glaze for just 30 seconds, and remove to a plate with the mushrooms.

Step 4

Add the sun-dried tomato paste and beans, juice and all, to the frying pan and simmer vigorously until reduced to a nice consistency. Season to perfection and serve alongside the toast and mushrooms.

VEGGIE LOVE

Simply swap in veggie sausages, mashing them onto the bread, and youâ€re good to go.

Energy: 509 kcal | Fat: 22.5 g | Sat fat: 7.4 g | Protein: 27.2 g | Carbs: 44.1 g | Sugars: 4.4 g | Salt: 1.6 g | Fibre: 10.2 g

ROASTED VEG WITH CAMEMBERT FONDUE

Serves: 6
Prep: 7 minutes
Cook: 55 minutes

3 sweet potatoes (1 3/4 lbs/800 g total)
3 mixed-colour bell peppers
3 cloves of garlic
3 mixed-colour onions
9 oz (250 g) Camembert cheese
1 French baguette
1/2 a bunch of basil (1/2 oz/15 g)

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Step 1

Preheat the oven to 400F (200C). Scrub the sweet potatoes and slice into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Seed the peppers and slice into chunky wedges. Peel and slice the garlic. Toss it all in a large roasting pan with 1 tablespoon each of olive oil and red wine vinegar and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper.

Step 2

Halve the unpeeled onions and carefully place cut side down directly on the oven rack, placing the roasting pan of veg beneath. Roast for 45 minutes.

Step 3

Remove the roasting pan from the oven and use tongs to move the onions to your board, then remove the skins, break the onions apart and toss with the veg.

Step 4

Leaving a 1/2-inch rim around the edge, cut the rind off the top of the Camembert, then nestle it into the middle of the roasting pan, drizzle with a little oil, season with black pepper and bake for a final 10 minutes, warming the baguette alongside. Pick over the basil leaves, and serve!

Energy: 475 kcal | Fat: 11.7 g | Sat fat: 6 g | Protein: 18.3 g | Carbs: 74.2 g | Sugars: 16 g | Salt: 1.7 g | Fibre: 9.8 g

JARRED PEPPER PASTA

Serves: 4
12 minutes

10 1/2 oz (300 g) dried penne
1 bunch of Italian parsley (1 oz/30 g)
1 clove of garlic
1 x 16-oz (473-mL) jar of roasted red peppers
2/3 cup (100 g) blanched almonds
1/2-1 tsp dried red chili flakes
Generous 1/2 cup (150 g) cottage cheese

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Step 1

Cook the pasta according to the package instructions.

Step 2

Blitz the parsley (stalks and all) in a blender with enough extra virgin olive oil to make a vibrant green oil, then pour into a clean glass jar.

Step 3

Peel the garlic and place in the blender (thereâ€s no need to clean it) with the roasted red peppers (juice and all), the almonds, chili flakes, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar and half the cottage cheese. Blitz until super-smooth.

Step 4

Drain the pasta, reserving a cupful of starchy cooking water, then return it to the saucepan. Pour over the pepper sauce and toss together over the heat, thinning with a splash of cooking water, if needed, then season to perfection with sea salt and black pepper.

Step 5

Divide between serving plates, dot over the remaining cottage cheese, then drizzle with parsley oil to taste, keeping the rest in the fridge for up to 3 days, or freezing in an ice cube tray for future meals.

Energy: 591 kcal | Fat: 30.6 g | Sat fat: 4.7 g | Protein: 18.4 g | Carbs: 64.1 g | Sugars: 7.2 g | Salt: 0.2 g | Fibre: 1.1 g

Recipes and images excerpted from Simply Jamie by Jamie Oliver is published by Appetite ©Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited (2024 Simply Jamie). Recipe photography: ©David Loftus, 2024. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.

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