Guest recipes with Tonia Buxton

A taste of Lent

Roasted Octopus with Lemon and Parsley

This is the most simple and delicious octopus recipe you will ever find

1 whole octopus, cleaned and prepared (ask your fishmonger to do this for you)

extra virgin olive oil

4 large rosemary sprigs

juice of 2 lemons

a handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped

To serve

tomato and onion or Greek salad

lemon wedges

crusty bread

Preheat the oven to 150C.

Lay the prepared octopus in a large, shallow roasting dish, drizzle generously with olive oil and add the rosemary sprigs. Cover completely with foil.

Roast in the oven for 1½-2 hours, depending on size, until very tender.

When cooked, transfer the octopus to a plate and, using scissors, cut into bite-sized pieces.

Whisk a little olive oil and lemon juice together (a 2:1 ratio of oil to juice) to make an emulsion. Stir in the chopped parsley, and drizzle over the warm octopus.

Serve with tomato and onion or Greek salad, and lemon wedges. Mop up the juices with crusty bread.

Chickpea Filled Filo Triangles

This is one of the dishes that’s on my vegan menu for The Real Greek. It has proved to be very popular as it has the perfect balance of aroma and spice

1 pack filo pastry

olive oil, for brushing

For the filling

2 x 400g tinned chickpeas, drained

1 onion, cut into quarters

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground turmeric

40g sundried tomatoes

1 small red chilli, very finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, crushed

zest and juice of 1 lemon

2 tbsp olive oil

30g flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

black and white seasame seeds for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180C and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Place all the filling ingredients except for the seasame seeds into a food processor and blitz into a coarse paste.

Remove the filo pastry from the wrapper and unroll onto a clean work surface. Cut through the centre vertically so you have two even sections. Place one on top of the other. Use two sheets per triangle.

Place 1 heaped tsp (do not overfill) of filling at the bottom of each strip and then start folding the pastry around the filling.

Seal the triangle with a dab of olive oil.

Lightly brush with olive oil (you don’t want the pastry to be oily) and sprinkle with a little salt.

Place the pastries on the lined baking tray, under damp kitchen paper, and continue until you have used up all the filling or pastry sheets. Sprinkle them with dark and light sesame seeds (if using).

Bake for 12–15 minutes until golden.

Tonia Buxton has written four cookbooks and is a well-known TV celebrity and chef. For more information visit toniabuxton.co.uk