Baked homemade gnocchi with prosciutto, cavolo nero and mascarpone

I was 11 when I first went to Italy. Some family friends had invited me to go for the last 3 weeks of the summer holidays. At first, I was physically ill with the thought of leaving Mum and my family for that long. For the whole journey from Bath to London, as the other two kids sang along to Miss Dynamite, I sat in the middle with a feeling of dread and longing to be back with Mum.

Flying in to Rome, we drove up to Cortona in Tuscany and homesickness quickly switched to excitement and intrigue as we drove through the dusty, heat haze, up the poplar-lined track and towards the shuttered farm house that sat alone, surrounded by pine-laden hills. The aroma of pine and the sound of crickets still takes me right back to that holiday.

The next few weeks were filled by exploring the gardens and surrounding hills. We spent the days chasing and catching lizards, building rope swings and attempting to build a make-shift pool out of what I think was an old skip. We soon discovered that masking tape wasn’t going to hold the holes together and moved on to trying to find wild boar- thank goodness we didn’t succeed.

Italy was where I discovered tomatoes. Not the kind you get in England but big, sun-ripened bursting ones with deep red skins. Helping to prep them in the stone-floored, cool kitchen, you couldn’t ignore the aromas coming from them- they were like nothing I’d ever experienced. We’d eat them in the shade with buffalo mozzarella, hams, salamis, rocket and fresh bread- what more could you possibly want.

It’s also where I discovered gnocchi, in a small restaurant in Cortona. Bored of ordering spaghetti bolognese and margarita pizza (I was 11, don’t judge me), I was given a verbal slap on the hand and told to order something different. I loved it.

This recipe is a tribute to that holiday. I’ve used Unearthed prosciutto del Poggio as I feel their open mind to discovering new foods is on a par with how my 11 year old self felt during those three weeks of exploration and discovery. I’ve paired it with cavolo nero, a shallot, tomato, garlic and thyme sauce, mascarpone and homemade gnocchi.

Ingredients

• 2 packs Unearthed Prosciotto– from Waitrose (I used 12 rashers and ate the rest)
• 200g cavolo nero (use kale if you can’t find)
• 12 tsp mascarpone
• Parmesan to serve (optional)

For the gnocchi

• 1kg floury potatoes
• 175g ’00’ four (use plain if you can’t get)
• 2 large egg yolks
• generous pinch of salt

For the sauce

• 2 large echalion (banana) shallots, finely sliced
• 4 fresh plum tomatoes, diced
• 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 680g jar of passata (I used Cirio)
• 3 sprigs of thyme
• Splash of balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp tomato puree
• Generous glug of olive oil

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160ºC. Rub the potatoes in olive oil and place on a parchment lined baking tray. Bake for 1.5 hours, or until soft- this will depend on their size. Turn them half way through to cook evenly. (If you’re impatient, put them in the microwave 2 or 3 at a time and cook in bursts until soft all the way through).
2. While your potatoes are in the oven, make your sauce. Heat the oil to a medium heat and add the shallots and garlic. Fry, stirring for 5 minutes until soft.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes and leaves from the thyme sprigs and cook until the tomatoes have broke down. Keep stirring to make sure they don’t catch and add a splash of water if it gets too dry.
4. When it’s looking paste-like, add the balsamic vinegar and tomato puree, stir to incorporate then add the passata. Leave on a low simmer, stirring occasionally until needed late. Slow cooking tomatoes really brings out their flavours.
5. When the potatoes are soft, leave to cool for a few minutes and then carefully remove the skins. If you’ve got sensitive hands and want to get on with things then don some clean washing up gloves- these will protect your hands from the heat.
6. Put the potatoes 1 by one through a potato ricer or pass through a sieve in to a large mixing bowl. Add the egg yolks, sieved flour and salt. Bring together with a round-ended knife and then your hands to form a dough.
7. Tip out on to a lightly floured surface and knead lightly. Roll in to a thick sausage shape and cut in to 4 pieces. Roll the first piece out in to a thinner sausage (about 1.5cm thick) and cut in to 2cm pieces. Pinch gently in the middle and place on a parchment-lined tray.
8. Turn on the grill to high and boil two pans of water- one for the gnocchi and one for the cavolo nero. Put the cavolo nero in the pan for no more than a minute, then drain, cool under cold water and set aside.
9. Cook the gnocchi in two or three batches. It’s cooked when it floats to the surface. remove with a slotted spoon and add to the sauce. When it’s all cooked, stir the kale in to the gnocchi and sauce and tip in to a large baking dish. tear the ham in to roughly two pieces and push in to the gnocchi, keeping the top exposed. Dot with teaspoons of mascarpone.
10. Place the dish under the grill, keeping a watchful eye. You want the ham to crisp up a little on top and for the mascarpone to brown slightly. When this is done, you’re good to go, serve with a salad and a good Italian red-divine.

Going on this trip proved that you often get the most out of doing things that you’re scared of and taught me a valuable lesson in using fear to keep exploring and keep discovering.

 

 

Go nuts for doughnuts (and white chocolate and hazelnut hot choccy)

When you’re at any sort of funfair or festival as a child, teen or adult, it’s impossible to walk past a doughnut stand without subconsciously (or, actually, very consciously) meandering, nose first, towards it.

Yes, yes, I want my face and hands covered in sugar, now.

There’s something so indulgent about getting a paper bag full of sugar dusted dough that’s still warm and smells like heaven. I said before I thought freshly baked bread was arguably the best smell in the world… Well, meet it’s heavy weight contender; freshly cooked doughnuts.

It’s such a shame that they’re almost certainly waving a few nutritional value red flags but that didn’t stop me eating 4 of them. If you’re going to treat yourself, do it properly. It won’t hurt to ignore the food police once in a while.

You can get creative with the filling, I attempted to make a white chocolate hazelnut spread to fill them with but sadly I made it too thin (I then adapted it and it made the most incredible hot chocolate, see recipe below). What better than a traditional jammy doughnut anyway? Maybe a salted caramel one but that’s open to discussion.

Ingredients

• 220g strong white flour
• 50g butter, cold and diced
• 100ml luke warm milk
• 1 medium egg, beaten
• 7g sachet dried yeast
• 1 tbsp caster sugar plus extra for dusting
• pinch of salt
• 3tbsp jam
• 1.5l sunflower or vegetable oil

For the salted caramel filling

• 125g light soft brown sugar
• 80ml double cream
• 70g softened butter
• Pinch of sea salt

You will also need…

• Piping bags (see how to make them here)

Method

1. Sift the flour in to a mixing bowl and add the salt and rub in the butter until the mix resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Add the caster sugar and yeast- mix and make a well in the centre.
3. Mix the beaten egg in to the warm milk and pour in to the well. Using a rounded knife, bring the dough together-it should be soft and almost sticky. Tip on to a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. If the dough is too wet and sticking to the surface, add small amounts of flour and knead in.
4. Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to prove in a warm place for an hour or until doubled in size.
5. For the salted caramel cream, heat the sugar and cream together and allow to boil for a couple of minutes-put aside to cool.
6.  When the dough has risen, tip out and divide in to 12 equal pieces. Use scales if you want to be precise.
7. Roll the portions of dough in to balls by pinching together the bottom and rolling on the surface. Place pinch side down on a lined baking sheet and place somewhere warn for 45 minutes.
8. While you wait, prepare your fillings. Beat the softened butter for the salted caramel until soft and fluffy. Gradually add the caramel, beating as you go. If you’re making your own piping bags do so now.
9. Just before the 45 minutes are up, heat the oil in a saucepan until a cube of bread turns brown in 30 seconds (190’C)
10. Fry the doughnuts in batches of 3, lower them in with a slotted spoon and fry for 30 seconds each side. Remove and place on kitchen roll.
11. Allow to cool slightly, then, using a sharp knife make a slit in the side and pipe in the jam. For the salted caramel ones, allow the doughnuts to properly cool before piping in the filling.
12. Dust in caster sugar and eat. Eat now.

How to make white chocolate and hazelnut hot chocolate

1. Toast 100-150g hazelnuts at 200’C for 5 minutes or until they start to slightly colour and release their oils.
2. Gently heat 400ml milk in a pan. While it’s heating, roughly chop the hazelnuts. Add to the simmering milk, turn off the heat and leave to infuse for half an hour.
3. Strain the milk in to a new pan and add 150g white chocolate, broken in to pieces. Heat very gently, stirring continuosly.
4. Pour in to 2 mugs and savour each sip.

 

Harissa Roast Chicken with a Butternut Squash, Red Onion and Pomegranate Bulgar Wheat Salad

If you look out the window you may be fooled in to thinking it’s October, I went out earlier in a fur hooded coat and tights! It’s July!!! On days like this it really is just more sensible to stay inside and thank your lucky stars that you decided to sell your Secret Garden Party ticket.

Although a traditional roast chicken with all the trimmings would probably be more appropriate, I wasn’t going to let the weather get the better of me and decided to cook up this Moroccan feast instead! Harissa is a Moroccan chilli paste that can be added to stews and tagines or simply as a marinade for chicken, fish or lamb. If you’ve got some time on your hands you can make it yourself (it’s much nicer) or otherwise I find Belazu to be the best.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken
• 1 Jar of shop bought or home-made Harissa paste
• 3 Lemons (1 cut in to thin slices, 1 chopped in half and 1 zested and juiced)
• 2 Red onions, cut in half length ways and then in to segments
• 1 Carrot, peeled and diced in to cm cubes
• 1 Butternut Squash, peeled and diced in to cm cubes
• 1 tspn cumin
• 1 tspn ground coriander
• 250g Bulgar Wheat
• 1 Chicken stock pot
• 1 bunch Fresh Mint, chopped
• 1 Bunch of Fresh Coriander, chopped
• 1 Pomegranate, seeds removed
• Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

1. Preheat oven to 200’C (180’C if fan assisted)
2. Start by placing your thinly sliced lemons on the bottom of a larger baking tray and place the chicken on top. Doing this will help protect the meat and also add flavour to the juices that run off. Stick one lemon half up the rear of the chicken.
3. Make some diagonal slices through the skin and in to the breast meat using a sharp knife. This will help the flavour of the paste penetrate in to the meat. Now, rub the harissa paste all over the chicken and under the skin where possible. Place in the oven and leave for half an hour.
4. When the half hour is up, add the carrot, squash and onions, sprinkle over the spices and toss. Put back in the oven for another half hour.
5. During this half an hour you can get the rest prepared for the bulgar wheat; chop your herbs, zest your lemon and remove the pomegranate seeds. The easiest way to do this is to half it along the equator and firmly bash the back of a spoon on to the skin.. the seeds will fly out so make sure you have a big dish to catch them!
6. Remove the chicken from the baking tray when the half hour is up.. check to see if it’s cooked by cutting in to the thickets part of the thigh. Transfer your bird on to a large plate, wrap in tinfoil and cover with a tea towel to keep warm while it rests.
7. Give your vegetables a stir and pop back in the oven for 20 minutes. If there are a lot of juices, transfer to a jug or bowl, you can add them to the bulgar wheat later.
8. Put the bulgar wheat in a saucepan with plenty of cold water and cook on a medium to high heat for around 10 minutes or until the grains are tender. When the water starts to simmer you can add your stock pot. Carefully drain.
9. Remove the vegetables from the oven, add the bulgar wheat to the tray and stir, being careful not to make it too liquidy, add some of the reserved juices. Taste as you go.. Next add the lemon zest, lemon juice, herbs, half of the pomegranate seeds and seasoning. You can serve it in the baking tray, simply sprinkle the rest of the seeds and some torn coriander and mint on top and you’re good to go! By now your chicken will have rested so pop it on a big wooden board and carve at the table!

Don’t feel like you’ve got to stick to a traditional roast at the weekend, there are endless possibilities that are far less time consuming when it comes to roast chicken, so have some fun and get creative! If you have any questions about any of my recipes, please feel free to ask away and I’ll be happy to help!

Turkish Lamb Koftas with Quick Flat Breads and Tangy Cucumber and Mint Yoghurt

When it comes to flavour, its pretty hard to mess up when fresh coriander, chilli, lemon and ginger are in town. They are the most solid of friendship groups and welcome a host of other ingredients with open arms. I always make sure I’ve got a supply of each in my fridge, especially during the summer when these light, zingy flavours are most suited.

If you’re struggling about what to have for supper one night and fancy getting a bit creative without having to use any special equipment then have a go at this recipe. It’s so simple to make and tastes out of this world! You could even cut your work load by buying some wholegrain wraps, but I personally think making the flat breads is half the fun! These flat breads don’t use any yeast and don’t need time to prove.I always get a bit of a buzz when I pull off something new so give it a go and the rewards will be worth the extra effort.

Here is what you’ll need to feed 4 hungry people;

For the Kebabs
– 1 Pack of Kebab Skewers (can find in any supermarket)
– 500g Lamb Mince
– 1 Red Onion, finely diced
– 1 Bunch of Corriander, chopped
– 1 Lemon, zested
– 2 Red chillies, de-seeded and finely diced
– 2 teaspoons Cumin powder
– 1/3 Bunch of Mint, chopped
– A good sprinkling of Sea salt and Black Pepper

For the Flat Breads (taken from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingston)
– 500g Plain Flour
– 2 Teaspoons Sea Salt
– 2 Tablespoons Rape Seed Oil or Olive Oil
– 300mls Warm Water

For the Cucumber and Mint Yoghurt
– 500g Greek Style Yoghurt
– 1/2 Cucumber, very finely diced
– 2/3 Bunch mint (a handful), finely chopped
– Olive oil for drizzling

To serve
– 1 Baby gem lettuce
– Lemon Juice

Method;

1. First, preheat your oven to 180’C and soak your kebab sticks in some water. This will prevent them burning when you later cook the meat.
2. Start by making your flat breads. Sift the flour and salt in to a mixing bowl. Add the oil and water and bring together using your hands until it has formed a dough.
3. Lightly flour your work surface and turn the dough out. Kneed for a few minutes until its all come together and has an elastic consistency.Cover and rest until you’re ready to cook them.
4. Next we move on to the Kofta mix. In a mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients and mix until well combined. Remove your sticks from the water and lightly pat dry. Divide your mince mixture in to either 4 or 8 portions depending on the size you’d like and shape the meat around each skewer. Drizzle olive oil over your koftas.

5. A griddle pan works best for koftas but a large frying pan will do. Heat your pan on a high heat and brown your koftas on each side in batches as you don’t want to crowd your pan. Place on a baking tray and set aside while you make your flat breads and yoghurt.
6. For the yoghurt, combine all of the ingredients and put in to a bowl. Drizzle over some olive oil and swirl around to slightly marble it.
7. For the flat breads, roll your dough in to a sausage shape and divide in to 8 portions. On a floured surface, roll each portion in to a rough circle about 2-3mm thick. Heat a non-stick frying pan and one at a time, cook your flat breads for a minute or two or until they start to char in places then flip it over and cook for another 45 seconds. Put your breads on a plate under a clean tea towel. When you’re halfway through cooking your flat breads, put the koftas in the oven to finish off cooking.

8. Serve by putting a flat bread on each plate. Dollop a generous amount of the yoghurt, followed by a couple of leaves of baby gem and finally your koftas with a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkling of fresh corriander. And there you have it! A Middle Eastern classic for dinner whenever you fancy it.

Butternut Squash and Pancetta Risotto and how to use the leftovers!

I made this at the weekend and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since! The sweetness of the butternut squash just works perfectly with the salty smokiness of the pancetta. I was inspired by my first trip to Borough market where at first I was quite shy.. Its almost impossible to simply look at what a stall is offering without being sucked in to a sales pitch but I absolutely loved the atmosphere and the range of produce was incredible!

Borough Market haul

After having a browse, I settled on a butternut squash and pancetta risotto. I used a mixture of Comte cheese and Parmesan but Parmesan alone will work just as well! Here’s what you need;

Serves 6
1 Butternut squash diced in to approx 1.5cm cubes
1 lemon, juiced
1 Bunch of thyme
150g diced pancetta
2 large banana shallots, finely chopped (can use 1 large onion instead)
3 cloves of garlic, crushed with he back of the knife
400g Arborio risotto rice
2-3 large glasses of dry white wine
1 Litre vegetable stock
90g Parmesan, grated

Even if you’re cooking for a couple less people, make extra as its great the next day for lunch or vamp it up in to deliciously naughty Arancini balls, they’re so good I want to cry! (mainly because I couldn’t stop eating them) Here’s how to make the risotto;

1. Preheat the oven to 200’C.

2. Heat your stock. If you’re using cubes or stock pots, follow their instructions to create 1 litre

3. Peel and dice the squash in to approximately 1.5cm cubes and place on a roasting tray. Drizzle over olive oil, salt, pepper and some thyme then throw in 2 of the garlic cloves and pop in to a hot oven for 30 minutes or until soft all the way through.

4. While the squash is roasting, heat a glug of olive oil and small knob of butter in a large saucepan; gently sweat the diced shallots and 1 finely chopped garlic clove until soft but not brown. This takes about 15 minutes so don’t be impatient, it will all be worth it! Separately fry the diced pancetta until starting to crisp and then stir into the the shallot mix.

5. Once the squash is cooked, remove from the oven and add half to the risotto pan with the roasted garlic and thyme. By adding the squash here it means that it will pretty much disintegrate by the end of the cooking process, giving the risotto a lovely orange colour and a sweet background.

6. Pop the rest of the butternut squash back in the oven on a low heat and crank up 5 minutes before you want to serve.

7. Now add the risotto rice to the saucepan. Keep stirring it in on a medium heat until the rice grains go a slightly glassy translucent colour, don’t add any liquid before this!

6. When your grains are glassy, pour in about half a glass of wine and stir until the rice has absorbed all the liquid. Its best to have a full bottle handy in case you or the risotto need a bit more. Once the liquid has disappeared repeat but with a ladle of stock. Keep adding the wine and stock alternately (and slowly!!!) and make sure the liquid has been absorbed each time before adding more. Keep trying the risotto through the cooking process so you get an idea of how much more liquid it may need.

7. When the rice is cooked it should be soft but still have a little bit of bite to it, if it goes too far you’ll end up with a pot of delicious mush!

8. Now its cooked, remove from the heat and add the lemon juice and grated parmesan or cheese of your choice. It is important to remove the risotto from the heat before adding cheese as otherwise it can go stringy.

9. Season with pepper. It shouldn’t need any salt as the stock, pancetta and parmesan have already donated theirs.

10. Serve with a sprinkling of the roasted butternut squash and fresh thyme et voila!

I didn’t manage to get a photo of the finished result as we were too hungry to fanny around with getting a good angle etc!

After eating this I had a good 3 portions left so the next day decided to embark on a mission to make Arancini! for those of you who don’t know what this is, its cold risotto rolled in to a ball, rolled in flour, egg whites and bread crumbs then deep fried. Naughty I know but they make a seriously impressive snack or pre-dinner nibble if you make them small enough!

Here’s my finished result and how to make them;

Finished Arancini!

1 Bottle of vegetable or sunflower oil
Leftover risotto
Whites from 2 eggs
Fresh bread crumbs
Plain flour

1. Make your breadcrumbs by blending slightly stale white bread. You can use anything bready for this, I used some left over breakfast muffins and they worked perfectly. If you don’t have any stale bread then lightly toast it and leave to cool.

2. Place the plain flour and bread crumbs next to each other in a tray and the beaten egg whites behind them.

3. Roll the risotto in to balls, the size depends what you want them for but I made mine about an inch.

4. Now assign each of your hands ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ and use them accordingly; with your wet hand, pick up the ball and place it in the flour. Now with your dry hand, cover the ball in flour and roll around until completely covered, drop in to the egg whites. Now with your wet hand, make sure the ball is completely covered and drop in to the bread crumbs where you repeat the process with your dry hand. I know this seems a bit faffy but its such a pain when your fingers end up caked in flour, egg and breadcrumbs so this is a little trick to avoid that!

5. Place your balls that have been breadcrumbed on a piece of greaseproof paper on a plate and rest in the fridge for half an hour.

6. Heat a saucepan full of your oil of choice (olive oil won’t work as doesn’t heat to a high enough temperature)

7. To check whether the oil is hot enough, drop in a large crumb of bread, it should sizzle immediately and float to the surface. When the oil is ready, using a slotted spoon, lower in your balls one by one and make sure they’re covered.

8. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and place on kitchen roll after 4 minutes or until they’re a lovely golden colour. Serve with a dip of your choice, I chose a tomato and chilli chutney which I’ll post the recipe of very soon!

9. Have fun! The easiest way to enjoy yourself in the kitchen is by thoroughly reading and understanding a recipe before you start and making sure you have everything measured out to hand!