HELEN GRAHAM - SAFFRON GIGLI & CHICKPEAS WITH SMOKED TOMATOES

Bubala

Executive Chef, Helen Graham, was born in an Ashkenazi Jewish home in North West London with an interest in cooking from an early age. Her first experience of traditional Middle Eastern flavours came from visiting Golders Green’s traditional Jewish restaurants on weekends with her family. After graduating with a degree in History of Art, Helen followed her passion. She spent a few years in food styling and recipe writing before joining the Middle Eastern restaurant, The Palomar, as Commis Chef.

After fifteen months, Helen left The Palomar and spent the next few years continuing to widen her culinary expertise in favoured London restaurants, including The Good Egg and The Barbary. She worked alongside Yotam Ottolenghi in his test kitchen in 2016, experimenting with new dishes and ingredients and discovering her love of vegetables taking centre stage on the plate.

In 2017 she met business and hospitality entrepreneur Marc Summers, and after a series of successful pop-ups across London, she became Bubala Spitalfields’ Head Chef. In 2022, Helen was appointed Executive Chef and supported Marc with the launch of Bubala Soho. In the same year, Helen was nominated as one of six chefs to watch by Jay Rayner in Observer Food Monthly Magazine.

Helen's food incorporates her Ashkenazi Jewish heritage with Sephardic food traditions and is influenced by her travels across the Middle East.

INGREDIENTS

1g saffron
90ml Early Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 onion, peeled and sliced into half moons
1 tbsp za'atar
1tsp Smoked Chilli Harissa
150g drained Smokey Semi-Dried Tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
400g chickpeas, including liquid
100g Gigli Pasta
20g butter

METHOD

Step 1: Put water onto the boil for the pasta with 1g of Saffron.
Step 2: Heat 4 tbsp olive oil in a medium pan and fry the onion pieces gently until golden and crisp. Remove onions from the pan and toss with 1 tbsp of za'atar and a pinch of salt. Set aside.
Step 3: Add 2 tbsp olive oil to the same pan and place on a medium heat. Fry the garlic until fragrant then add the chopped smoky tomatoes along with the Smoked Chilli Harissa. Fry for 2 mins and then add the chickpeas and their liquid. Season with ½ tsp salt. Cook for 2 minutes until all is emulsified.
Step 4: Add 1 tbsp salt to the boiling saffron water, and once this returns to the boil, add your pasta. Cook for 8 mins and then drain and toss with the chickpea sauce. Stir in the butter, then plate and garnish with the za'atar onions.