Jamie Oliver makes everyday food super-exciting but with minimal fuss. In his latest cookbook he shares recipes inspired by his travels around the Mediterranean and celebrates simple bold flavours.

Inspired by flavours that will transport you to the Greek coast, this delicate dish simply celebrates white fish fillets. Easy to halve if you’re serving two, you’ll be glad to have this one up your sleeve.

Serves: 4
Total: 15 minutes

4 x 150g white fish fillets, skin off, pin-boned
3 mixed-colour peppers
1 large leek
½ bunch of oregano (10g)
1 large juicy orange

To amplify the flakiness, very generously dust the fish with sea salt (don’t worry, we’ll rinse it away later) and leave aside. Put a large shallow casserole pan on a medium heat.

Chop the peppers into 2cm chunks, discarding the seeds and stalks, adding them to the pan as you go with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Quarter the leek lengthways and wash, then slice 2cm thick. Add to the pan, season with salt and black pepper. Cook for 15 minutes, or until sweet and lightly golden, stirring regularly and adding splashes of water, if needed.

Strip the oregano leaves into a pestle and mortar with a pinch of salt and pound into a paste. Squeeze in half the orange juice, then add 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar and 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and muddle together.

Rinse the fish and pat dry with kitchen paper. Nestle the fish into the veg, squeeze in the remaining orange juice and add 100ml of water, then cover the pan, reduce the heat to low and cook for 7 minutes, or until the fish is just cooked.

Drizzle the orange dressing over the fish and veg and serve.

ENERGY 276KCAL FAT 14.5G SAT FAT 2.1G PROTEIN 29.1G CARBS 7.6G SUGARS 7G SALT 1.3G FIBRE 2.6G

Here, I’m celebrating a classic Spanish combination, but how I’ve put them together is definitely not typical. Super-fun and undeniably delicious, this is perfect served as part of a lunch or tapas spread.

Serves: 4
Total: 15 minutes

100g chorizo
4 cloves of garlic
1 x 270g ciabatta loaf
400g ripe mixed-colour cherry tomatoes
100g Manchego cheese

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Slice the chorizo, and peel and finely slice the garlic. Place in a large non-stick ovenproof frying pan and toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, then place in the oven for 6 minutes, or until golden and caramelised.

Carefully halve the ciabatta lengthways and warm alongside. Meanwhile, put half the tomatoes into a blender with 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar and 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Season with sea salt and black pepper, then blitz. Push through a coarse sieve into a bowl.

Quarter the remaining tomatoes and dress with just a little extra virgin olive oil, salt and red wine vinegar. Coarsely grate the Manchego.

Place the ciabatta spongy side up on a board, then spoon over and cover with the tomato sauce. Sprinkle over the dressed tomatoes, then divide over the chorizo and garlic, spooning most of the excess oil into a jam jar (for tasty cooking another day). Immediately sprinkle the cheese into the hot pan and allow the residual heat to gently melt it into a chorizo fondue.

Pour directly over the bread as evenly as possible (your guests will go wild!), then slice up and serve.

ENERGY 507KCAL FAT 31.8G SAT FAT 10.7G PROTEIN 19.5G CARBS 35.1G SUGARS 7.3G SALT 2.5G FIBRE 3.4G

Making Italian favourite risotto with just five ingredients requires a staunch commitment to big flavour. Juicy mussels are often under-utilised, but they’re great value, healthy and a super-sustainable choice.

Serves: 3
Total: 40 minutes

1 large bulb of fennel, ideally with leafy tops
600g ripe tomatoes
300g risotto rice
1kg mussels, scrubbed, debearded
30g parmesan cheese, plus extra to serve

Trim the fennel, reserving any leafy tops in a bowl of cold water, then finely chop the rest and place in a large, deep pan on a medium heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Cook for 10 minutes, or until soft, stirring regularly.

Meanwhile, slice the tomatoes into sixths and remove the seedy core (to save waste, push the seeds through a coarse sieve to get all of the lovely sweet juices).

Fill and boil the kettle. Add the rice to the pan and stir for 2 minutes. Add a good splash of boiling kettle water and wait until it’s been fully absorbed before adding another, stirring constantly and adding more water for 12 minutes.

Check the mussels, tap any open ones and if they don’t close, discard. Stir the mussels, tomatoes and any juices into the rice, then cover and cook for 7 minutes, or until the mussels have fully opened (discard any that remain closed) and the rice is cooked. Turn off the heat, finely grate and stir in the parmesan with 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, and season to perfection. While the rice relaxes for a couple of minutes, I like to remove half the mussels from their shells.

Serve sprinkled with the reserved fennel tops and an extra grating of parmesan, if you like.

ENERGY 559KCAL FAT 18.2G SAT FAT 3.8G PROTEIN 21.7G CARBS 83.5G SUGARS 4.7G SALT 1G FIBRE 8G

There’s something wonderfully humble about the combination of chicken and potatoes, and inspired by my trips to Greece, this expression of something we know and love is guaranteed to please.

Serves: 4
Total: 18 minutes

1kg red-skinned potatoes
2 onions
1 bunch of oregano (20g)
2 lemons
4 x 250g chicken legs

Remove the top shelf from the oven, then preheat to 200C. Scrub the potatoes, chop into erratic 2 to 5cm chunks and place in a large baking dish.

Peel and quarter the onions, then break apart into petals and add to the dish.

Strip half the oregano leaves into a pestle and mortar and pound to a paste with a pinch of sea salt and black pepper, then muddle in 2 tablespoons each of olive oil and red wine vinegar. Drizzle most of the marinade into the dish, toss together well and roast for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, use a speed-peeler to strip the peel from the lemons, then slice the lemons in half. Toss the chicken legs in the reserved marinade. When the time’s up, arrange the chicken directly on the bars of the top shelf and return it to the oven, so the delicious juices rain down on to the spuds below. Throw the lemon halves into the baking dish, then roast for 1 hour, or until everything is golden, shaking up the potatoes and onions halfway and tossing through the remaining oregano leaves and lemon strips for the last 15 minutes. Carefully remove the chicken from the oven, along with the veg, and squeeze over the jammy roasted lemon halves, to serve.

ENERGY 615KCAL FAT 30.2G SAT FAT 7.2G PROTEIN 38G CARBS 50.8G SUGARS 6.8G SALT 0.9G FIBRE 4.6G

Couscous is used across the Mediterranean in so many wonderful ways – here I’m putting it centre stage to create the most outrageous bake, with a crispy outside and beautifully fluffy centre.

Serves: 4
Total: 15 minutes, plus marinating

1 x 460g jar of roasted red peppers
2 x 200g tubs of tzatziki
1kg mixed chicken thighs and drumsticks, skin on, bone in
4 red onions
300g couscous

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Whiz one of the jarred peppers in a blender with 1 tub of tzatziki and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Pour over the chicken and leave to marinate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

Peel and quarter the onions, place them in a 28cm non-stick ovenproof frying pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil on a medium heat for 10 minutes, or until dark and gnarly, turning regularly, then remove to a plate. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil into the pan, then add the marinated chicken and brown for 10 minutes, turning regularly. Place the onions back in the pan, tear in the remaining peppers, then roast in the oven for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, just cover the couscous with boiling kettle water, season with salt and pepper, and cover. Leave to hydrate for 3 minutes, then fluff up with a fork. When the time’s up, remove the pan from the oven, tip over the couscous and carefully pat down to compress. Roast for 10 minutes, then confidently and carefully turn out onto a large plate or platter and top with dollops of the remaining tzatziki.

Serve straight from the oven and let everyone dig in.

ENERGY 790KCAL FAT 30.2G SAT FAT 9.8G PROTEIN 53.2G CARBS 81G SUGARS 19.2G SALT 2.3G FIBRE 8.3G