3 tasty autumn recipes from zola nene's new book

Zola Nene helps us bring in a new season with recipes to warm you up and inspire you in the kitchen.

Award-winning South African chef Zola Nene is back with a brand-new collection of recipes in her second cookbook, Simply Zola: The Journey Continues. We got our hands on a sneak peek of three dishes that are just perfect for cooler autumn weather.

Prawn, lemon and chilli linguini

SERVES: 1  

15ml olive oil
1 spring onion, sliced
½ red chilli, sliced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
150g shelled and deveined prawns
60ml fresh cream
60ml fresh or frozen peas
salt and pepper
100g fresh linguini pasta, boiled until al dente
zest and juice of ½ lemon
15ml chopped fresh parsley

1. Heat the oil in a pan, then fry the spring onion until softened. Add the chilli, garlic and prawns, then fry until the prawns are browning at the edges.

2. Add the cream and peas, season to taste and leave to simmer gently for two minutes. Toss in the pasta, lemon zest, lemon juice and parsley.

3. Serve immediately.

5-Spice vegetable noodle broth jar

SERVES: 1  

30ml soy sauce
5ml garlic and ginger paste
5ml sesame oil
15ml 5-spice powder (store bought or homemade, recipe below)
15ml sriracha sauce
2 button mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 spring onion, chopped
100g courgette spaghetti
30ml chopped fresh coriander

5-SPICE POWDER MIX
½ piece stick cinnamon
1 star anise
2ml fennel seeds
2ml Szechuan pepper
2 whole cloves

TO SERVE
375ml boiling water

1. If making your own 5-spice powder mix, do this first. Add the cinnamon, star anise, fennel seeds, Szechuan pepper and cloves to a dry pan. Toast over a high heat until the spices release their aromas (about three minutes). Remove the mixture from the pan and leave to cool completely. Grind to a fine powder with a pestle and mortar. Store in an air-tight jar for up to three months.

2. In the bottom of a 500ml jar, place the soy sauce, garlic and ginger paste, sesame oil, 5-spice powder and sriracha, then stir well to combine. Top with the mushrooms, spring onion, courgette spaghetti and coriander. Cover with a lid and refrigerate until ready to eat.

3. When ready to serve, pour the boiling water into the jar, replace the lid, and leave to stand for two minutes before enjoying.

Dutch baby pancake with plums

SERVES: 4  

FRUIT
6 plums, halved
30ml maple syrup
5ml vanilla extract

PANCAKE
4 eggs
250ml full-cream milk
250ml cake flour
60ml castor sugar
30ml unsalted butter
30ml canola oil

TO SERVE
icing sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.

2. To prepare the plums, place them in a roasting dish and drizzle with the maple syrup. Cook in the oven until the plums begin to soften (about 15 minutes), then stir in the vanilla extract.

3. For the pancake, whisk together the eggs, milk, flour and sugar in a bowl, to a smooth batter.

4. Add the butter and oil to a cast-iron pan then heat in the oven for three minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and swirl to coat it with the oil and butter. Quickly pour in the batter and return the pan to the oven immediately. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the sides have puffed up and the edges are golden and crisp. Do NOT open the oven during baking as this will cause the pancake to collapse.

5. Serve the pancake immediately out of the oven topped with the plums, then dust generously with icing sugar.

These recipes were extracted from Simply Zola: The Journey Continues by Zola Nene (Penguin Random House, R290)