Ellie’s Table by Ellie Bouhadana
Self-taught chef Ellie Bouhadana honed her skills in events and restaurants across Melbourne. Her debut cookbook, Ellie’s Table, celebrates the intimacy and joy of feeding family and friends.
Words: Hande Renshaw I Photography: Lucia Bell-Epstein
Melbourne-based Ellie Bouhadana’s debut cookbook draws on her family heritage—a recipe book rich with storytelling.
Vermouth poached cherries and marscapone from Ellie’s Table.
Ellie’s Table by Ellie Bouhadana is out now.
Seafood on ice with mayonnaise and mignonette from Ellie’s Table.
For many creatives, the lockdown period was tinged with frustration. Fortunately, for many, there was a silver lining. The frustration soon became the catalyst to spark passion projects and follow paths that had once felt out of reach.
For Ellie Bouhadana, a self-taught chef based in Melbourne, lockdown provided the chance to craft meals in her home kitchen, creating packages of fresh focaccia and handmade pasta, which she delivered to 200 customers each week. Her lockdown venture turned into a surprisingly successful endeavour, leading her to host summer pop-up events and become the head chef at Hope St Radio, a wine bar and radio station in Melbourne.
Ellie’s cooking is deeply personal, rooted in her family heritage. She highlights the intimacy and joy of feeding friends and loved ones, prioritising these moments over perfecting techniques or presentation.
Her debut cookbook, Ellie’s Table, draws on the value of bringing people together and cherishing the small moments in between—from dreaming about meals and writing shopping lists to the ‘hazy delight you feel after a big meal, tipsy and rounder bellied than before you sat down at the table,’ shares Ellie.
The chapters in the book are arranged just as Ellie would serve her guests at a dinner party—beginning with cold plates and snacks, moving on to breads and whipped butters, then progressing to main dishes, vegetables, pasta, and finishing with desserts. ‘Having people over and cooking for them is, I think, one of the most beautiful ways to spend time with and really get to know your loved ones,’ says Ellie.
Below we share a recipe from the new cookbook: Matbukha with prawn oil and grilled prawns.
This is an edited extract from Ellie’s Table by Ellie Bouhadana—published by Hardie Grant Books. Purchase the book online now here.
‘This book is an attempt to put into writing my family heritage and the ever-evolving dishes I have explored at Hope St Radio and in my home kitchen,’ says Ellie Bouhadana.
Matbukha with prawn oil and grilled prawns from Ellie’s Table—recipe shared below.
“Having people over and cooking for them is, I think, one of the most beautiful ways to spend time with and really get to know your loved ones.”
Seafood on ice with mayonnaise and mignonette from Ellie’s Table.
Ellie Bouhadana says the book ‘includes recipes that I have learnt from my family, dishes that I have put on the menu at Hope St Radio or pop-ups, and recipes that I’ve learnt on my travels.’
MATBUKHA WITH PRAWN OIL & GRILLED PRAWNS
The word matbukha translates to ‘cooked salad’ in Arabic. I have always seen this ‘salad’ as more of an oily, spicy red dip, one that you dunk a piece of challah through to soak up the cooked tomato. I don’t remember a holiday or Shabbat meal at my parents’ place without this entree plate. Although a staple, it is a nostalgic dish for my dad and as such is something my mum and I make often. Serving it with prawns is not at all traditional (prawns are considered treif or ‘unkosher’!), but it is a decadent, flavourful way to eat this tomato dip. If you have never had matbukha before, make the traditional recipe first (see note on page 11), then try it with the prawn oil and grilled prawns. Use the leftover prawn oil as a base for the Tagliatelle with prawns and nduja pangrattato (page 192).
Serves 8 as a starter
Preparation 25 minutes, plus cooling time
Cooking 45 minutes
INGREDIENTS
16 raw prawns, shells and heads left on
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
PRAWN OIL
250 ml (8½ fl oz/1 cup) grapeseed oil or another neutral oil, plus 1 tablespoon extra for frying
16 or so prawn heads, left over from the raw prawns
4 garlic cloves, smashed with the back of a knife
1 onion, roughly chopped
TO CLEAN THE PRAWNS
Twist off the heads, leaving the shell and tail intact, and set the heads aside. Place a prawn belly-side up on a chopping board. Using a sharp knife, make an incision from the top of the prawn’s belly to the bottom, slicing through the shell and meat, but not so far as to cut the prawn in half. Now press down on the prawn with the palm of your hand to open it into a butterfly shape. Use a skewer or the tip of a sharp knife to carefully pull out the black intestinal tract from the prawn’s spine. Repeat with the remaining prawns, give them all a good rinse and then set them aside.
TO MAKE PRAWN OIL
Put 1 tablespoon of the grapeseed oil into a saucepan over a medium heat. When the oil is hot, sauté the prawn heads, garlic and onion, pressing down on the heads to extract the juices, for about 5 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant and onion has taken on some colour.
Pour 1 cup of the oil over the prawn head mixture and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes, pressing down on the heads every now and then to extract more juices. Strain, reserving the orange prawn oil and discarding the cooked heads, garlic and onion.
MATBUKHA
800 g (1 lb 12 oz) good quality tinned whole peeled tomatoes
1 large green chilli, finely sliced
2 large red chillies, finely sliced
60 ml (2 fl oz/¼ cup) extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
60 ml (2 fl oz/¼ cup) prawn oil (see page 10)
10 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1 heaped teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon sugar
2–3 teaspoons fine salt, to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon white-wine vinegar
a handful of flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, finely chopped, to serve
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
grilled bread, challah or sesame focaccia, to serve
TO MAKE THE MATBUKHA
Put the tinned tomatoes in a bowl and crush them with your hands. Tip them into a saucepan over a medium heat together with all of the ingredients, except the vinegar and parsley, and stir. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer gently uncovered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened and slightly reduced.
Taste the matbukha to check that the flavour is deep and spicy. If it hasn’t reached this point, simmer for another 20 minutes or so, but remember to keep stirring the sauce.
Once it is ready, turn off the heat and stir in the vinegar; this acid will help brighten the flavour of the matbukha.
Leave the matbukha to cool in the saucepan. At this point you can leave the dip in the fridge to rest overnight, if you like (it will keep refrigerated for up to a week).
TO GRILL THE PRAWNS & SERVE
Heat the 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil in a cast-iron frying pan over a high heat. When the oil is very hot, put the prawns flesh side down in the pan and grill for about 3 minutes, pressing on them with a spatula. Flip the prawns and grill, shell side down, for 30 seconds, season with flaky salt, then remove them from the pan.
To serve, spoon the matbukha onto a serving plate. Lay the prawns on top of the matbukha and shower with the parsley and a glug of extra-virgin olive oil.
Serve with grilled bread, challah or sesame focaccia, using the bread to swipe into the dip.
NOTE: If making traditional matbukha, leave out the prawns – replace the prawn oil with another 60 ml (2 fl oz/¼ cup) extra-virgin olive oil, then follow the recipe to make and serve the matbukha, disregarding the steps to grill the prawns.