Comfort food at its best. Don’t be tempted to strain the chicken broth of fat, it adds to the flavour and don’t skimp on the salt. You can use the poached chicken meat for sandwiches, or something else.
Alpabetto in Brodo – serves 4 (the recipe makes double the quanity of broth needed and it will keep in the freezer)
800kg chicken thighs (skin on and bone-in)
1 onion, peeled and halved
1 carrot, peeled and halved
1 stick of celery, halved
1 bay leaf
a few peppercorns
200g alfabeto
grated Parmesan, to serve
Put the chicken into a large heavy pan, cover with 2.5 litres of cold water and add a large pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and use a slotted spoon to spoon off any scum.
Add the vegetables, bring back to the boil, then turn the heat to low, cover and simmer gently for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Strain through a fine sieve, pressing down on the veg and chicken to extract all the flavor. You won’t need the chicken after this but you should strip the meat from the bones and keep it for something else.
Bring 1 litre of the broth to the boil, add the alfabeto and cook until al dente. Ladle into bowl and add grated Parmesan.
(Original recipe from An A-Z of Pasta by Rachel Roddy, Penguin: Fig Tree, 2021.)
So fregula is fregola, pearl couscous, giant couscous, mograbia(h) as well as some other names, but it is essentially tiny pasta balls. We’ve cooked with it before but this time Jules bought it by accident and we had to find a recipe to use it up. Somewhat like a risotto, but the texture is a touch more unctuous. Quite a rich and flavoursome dish.
Wine Suggestion: This dish requires a powerful red with a fresh core of acidity. Taking inspiration from a Risotto Milanese pairing we opened a Pira Luigi Barolo Serralunga from 2018. Youthful and expressive aromatics of leather, violets & wild berries plus hints of tar. This flowed into an energetic and refined palate with elegant, but persistent tannins; almost lifted and light, but with a deep core of rich fruits.
Fregula with sausage and saffron – serves 4
1 clove of garlic
6 tbsp olive oil
120g sausage meat, crumbled – try to find meaty Italian sausages if you can
4 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
2 sprigs of thyme
a small piece of chilli
1 litre stock – meat or veg – we used turkey stock
350g fregula (see note above)
a few strands of saffron
60g pecorino, grated
Put the stock into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer.
Smash the garlic clove but leave it whole, then put into a deep frying pan with 3 tbsp of the olive oil. Fry gentluy over a medium-low heat.
Add the sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, thyme and chilli, and fry, stirring, for a couple of minutes.
Add the fregula to the sausage and stir for a minute. Then start adding the stock, a ladelful at a time, the same as you would if cooking risotto. Keep both pans simmering as you keep going like this. Start tasting the fregula after 12 minutes and cook until al dente. You are looking for a loose rather than stiff consistency.
Add the saffron, pecorino and 3 tbsp of olive oil and serve.
(Original recipe from An A-Z of Pasta by Rachel Roddy, Penguin:Fig Tree, 2021.)
We’re clearing out in January, rather then dieting. This recipe used up the last of a side of smoked salmon and its simplicity is perfect.
Wine Suggestion: We think Verdicchio is under-rated as a grape and for food combinations like this where you have a creaminess, combined with some Omega fatty acids and citrus zest it is the business. Tonight our choice was Sartarelli’s Tralivio which balances fruit weight with an almost saline minerality.
Tagliatelle with Salmon and Mascarpone – serves 4
400g tagliatelle
200g smoked salmon, snipped with scissors into short strips
125g mascarpone
20g soft butter
zest of 1 lemon, plus more to garnish
a few sprigs of dill, snipped
Cook the tagliatelle in lots of very salty water until al dente.
Meanwhile, tip the salmon strips into a large warm serving bowl along with the mascarpone, butter and lemon zest. Add a ladleful of the pasta cooking water to loosen it all to a cream, then taste and add salt if needed.
Drain the pasta, reserving some water, then tip into the bowl with the sauce and toss gently, adding more cooking water if needed. Serve sprinkled with the dill and some more lemon zest.
(Original recipe from An A-Z of Pasta by Rachel Roddy, Penguin: Fig Tree, 2021.)
You need to cut your courgettes into very thin strips for this, as thin as the pasta. The sauce is a bit carbonara-ish, very delicious.
Wine Suggestion: Something fun and white like the El Abuelo de Piqueras, a Verdejo – Sauvignon Blanc blend from Almansa in Spain. Vibrant fruit tied together with a sense of fun and energy.
Bucatini with courgettes – serves 4 (easily halved)
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
300g courgettes, cut into 5cm long, 2mm thick strips
400g bucatini (or spaghetti, linguine or fusilli)
2 eggs, plus 2 extra egg yolks
70g Parmesan, grated
a few fresh basil leaves
Warm the olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion and courgettes with a pinch of salt, then cook gently for 10 minutes, turning over gently, until very soft. Remove from the heat.
Bring large pan of water to the boil, then add lots of salt. Add the pasta and cook until al dente.
Meanwhile, put the eggs, egg yolks, Parmesan, a pinch of salt and lots of black pepper into a large bowl. Whisk together to combine.
When the pasta is almost cooked, return the courgette pan to the heat to warm through the fat and courgettes and add the torn basil.
Drain the pasta and reserve some of the water. Add the pasta to the courgette pan and stir together. Remove the pan from the heat and add the egg mixture and a splash of pasta water, then stir quickly until everything is coated in a creamy sauce. Add a little more pasta water to make it silky if needed, then serve.
(Original recipe from An A-Z of Pasta by Rachel Roddy, Fig Tree, 2021.)
We absolutely loved this mushroom dish by Rachel Roddy in the Guardian; it’s simple but incredibly tasty. Serve with some steamed white rice.
Wine Suggestion: An earthy Pinot Noir, like Konrad Salwey’s Spätburgunder from Baden in Germany allows both the mushrooms and peppers to shine through, and it’s fresh acidity lifts the backbone of passata, vinegar and cream to the next level.
Mushroom & Pepper Goulash – serves 4
15g dried porcini
1kg field mushrooms, wiped clean and thinly sliced
1 large jar of roasted peppers, drained and cut into thick strips
1 large onion, peeled and sliced
4 tbsp olive oil
20g butter
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
150ml dry white wine
150g tomato passata
a few sprigs of thyme
2 tsp sweet paprika
½ tsp hot, smoked paprika
1-2 tbsp red wine vinegar
200ml single cream
Soak the porcini in 150ml warm water for 15 minutes, then drain and save the soaking liquid. Chop the soaked mushrooms and set aside.
Put a large heavy-based pan over a medium-low heat. Add the olive oil and butter, then stir in the onions with a pinch of salt and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring, until soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook for another minute.
Add the soaked and fresh mushrooms, turn up the heat and cook, stirring, for a few minutes, or until the mushrooms start to shrink down.
Add wine, passata, thyme, porcini liquild and paprika. Bring to the boil, then cover, turn the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the lid and add the peppers. Cook uncovered for 15 minutes or until the liquid has almost evaporated. Season to taste and add the red wine vinegar, then stir in the cream.
Serve with steamed white rice.
(Original recipe by Rachel Roddy in the Guardian, 17 January 2022.)
This recipe is from Rachel Roddy’s fabulous book, An A-Z of pasta. She introduces this one by asking if you are familar with vitello tonnato, which happens to be one of Jules’ favourite dishes, so we had to try it. Rachel uses the lumache pasta shape, which means snails and they are a bit like snail shells. We found these hard to find so we substituted conchiglie to great effect.
Wine Suggestion: look for a crisp, fresh white with a good body/structure like a dry, unoaked chardonnay from a cooler region. For us it was Céline & Frèdéric Gueguen’s Bourgogne Côtes Salines. Grown in vineyards just outside the Chablis appellation this is vibrantly fresh apple and melon flavoured with a savoury mid-palate that just melts into the tuna sauce.
Conchiglie with tuna, egg & capers – serves 4
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 stick of celery, trim to the palest bit, pull of any strings, and finely chop
6 tbsp olive oil
1 x 200g tin of tuna in olive oil, drained
2 tbsp tiny capers, rinsed
200ml white wine
1 unwaxed lemon, zested and juiced
400g conchiglie (or lumache)
a sprig of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
2 egg yolks, beaten
Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add a generous amount of salt.
Warm the olive oil in a frying pan, then add the onion and celery with a pinch of salt and cook on a medium-low heat, until soft. You need to be patient as this will take a while.
Add the tuna and capers, stir for a minute, then add the wine and allow to bubble for 10 minutes, adding 3 tbsp of lemon juice and some zest for the last few minutes. You are looking for a saucy consistency so cook for a bit longer if it is still watery.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the packet timings, then drain and tip into a warm bowl, pour the sauce over the top, add the parsley, toss together, then quickly add the egg yolks and toss again.
(Original recipe from An A-Z of Pasta by Rachel Roddy, Penguin: Fig Tree, 2021.)
Romanesco cauliflower is a vegetable that we can’t resist picking up when we see it. It’s flavour really shines in this simple pasta recipe. It is very important to cook the romanesco until completely soft (you will be crushing it later with your wooden spoon), there is no place for al dente in this recipe!
Wine Suggestion: This is best served with a joyful white, and while we initially thought about an Italian Pecorino from the Marches instead went for Domaine Ventenac’s Colombard Vermentino, which is quite simply summer in a glass.
Pasta and Romanesco – serves 4
1 large head of romanesco cauliflower, discard the stalk and break into small florets
6 tbsp olive oil
1 clove of garlic, crushed with the flat side of a knife and left whole
1 red chilli or 1 dried red chilli, chopped, or a pinch of chilli flakes
400g penne pasta (or similar)
30g grated pecorino, plus extra to serve
Cook the romanesco in a very large pan of boiling salty water for 6-8 minutes or until completely soft. Scoop the florets out with a slotted spoon into a colandar.
Meanwhile, warm the olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the garlic and chilli and cook gently until golden, take care not to let it go brown or it will be bitter. Discard the garlic clove.
Cook the pasta in the water used to cook the romanesco.
While the pasta cooks, tip the romanesco into the olive oil and toss to coat in the oil. Season with salt, then crush the florets gently with a wooden spoon so they break up. Scoop the pasta out of the cooking water with a slotted spoon straight into the frying pan. Add the pecorino and stir to mix everything together.
Serve with extra pecorino.
(Original recipe from Five Quarters by Rachel Roddy, Saltyard Books, 2015.)
Do try and find Italian sausages for this, they’re much meatier and richer. We buy a brand called Levoni. You can also use fresh tomatoes if you can find fantastic ones but otherwise we’d recommend a good-quality tin.
Wine Suggestion: This was made after an online wine tasting Jono was running which focussed on Grenache, so naturally we had to try them with this. The amazing Domaine de Cébène Ex Arena from Faugeres was our pick. Mostly old vine, low yeilding Grenache with a touch of Mourvedre, grown on sand. This is perfumed and complex with vitality and energy. The deep red berried fruit is both rounded and structured with a bass note of earthy black fruits and forest floor. Very elegant but also big enough to stand up to the meaty and rich pasta.
Fusilli with Sausage – serves 4
4 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
400g Italian sausages, skins removed
150ml white wine
1 x 400g tin plum tomatoes
a handful of mint leaves
400g dried fusilli pasta
grated pecorino, to serve
Gently warm the garlic and olive oil in a large pan, then crumble in the sausages. Turn the heat up and cook until they are no longer pink (as you would with mince).
Add the wine and bubble until evaporated, then add the tomatoes and cook for 5-10 minutes or until thickened. Add the mint and taste for seasoning, sausages can be quite salty so you might not need any.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta until just al dente in lots of very salty water.
Drain the pasta but keep a little cooking water in case you need to thin the sauce. Stir the pasta into the sausage sauce and simmer for a few minutes. Serve in warm bowls with pecorino sprinkled over.
(Original recipe from An A-Z of Pasta by Rachel Roddy, Fig Tree, 2021.)
We cooked this fantastic recipe for Easter, avoiding the temptation of Spring lamb which is ridiculously expensive at present. Plus we think lamb is tastier later in the season when they are a bit older. This is the sort of recipe that Jono would choose, but I decide it looks too fiddly and we opt for something else. Something this weekend made me relent and give this a go … probably the prospect of a long weekend and nothing much to do!
Make friends with your butcher and ask them to debone the rabbit for you. The stuffing and rolling seems a bit tricky when you’re doing it and ours looked far from pretty but if you tie it tightly with string, wrap in some cling film and leave in the fridge for an hour, it will all stay together nicely and looks great when you cut it out. Be brave.
Wine Suggestion: Good with a Chianti Classico from a better producer and, if possible, a little age for some of the tertiary bottle development characters to emerge. For us we had a bottle of the Tenuta Sant’Alfonso, a single vineyard wine made by Rocca delle Macie from our cellar.
Stuffed rabbit – serves 4 to 6
1kg deboned rabbit (about 1.2kg unboned)
1 small red onion, finely diced
1 tomato, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil, plus a bit extra
1 tbsp tomato purée
30g pine nuts
30g currants or sultanas
200ml white wine
about 100g soft breadcrumbs
10-12 slices streaky bacon or pancetta
Spread the deboned rabbit out over a work surface. Rub with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, add the onion and cook until soft, then add the tomatoes and fry for 2 minutes. Add the tomato purée, pine nuts and currants and cook for another minute. Add 100ml white wine and bubble until most of it has disappeared. Start adding the breadcrumbs, a handful at a time, until you have a stuffing that is neither too wet or too dry. It should clump in your hands and stay together but not feel too sticky. Season.
Make a pile of the stuffing, shaping with your hands, about 7cm from the less fat end of the rabbit. You need to leave a generous margin near the edges so the stuffing doesn’t squeeze out. Roll the rabbit into a fat log shape, tucking in the sides as you go. Wrap the joint in the bacon or pancetta and tie firmly widthways and lengthways with kitchen string. You can set it aside in the fridge for a while now if you need, we found this useful to firm it up a bit.
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C/Gas 6.
Heat some more oil in a frying pan, then brown the rabbit on all sides. Transfer to a deepish roasting tin, not too much bigger than the rabbit. Add rest of the wine to the frying pan, scraping the meaty bits on the pan with a wooden spoon, then pour this over the rabbit. Roast for 45 minutes until nice and golden on the outside. Allow to rest for 20 minutes before serving in thick slices.
(Original recipe from Two Kitchens: Family Recipes from Sicily and Rome by Rachel Roddy, Headline Home, 2017.)
Rachel Roddy is a great inspiration for us in the kitchen. Her recipes are so simple but just right. This spaghetti dish has no pepper or cheese and doesn’t need them, it’s delicious as it is and a treat at any time of year.
Wine Suggestion: We were inspired by the bright Spring day and this dish to open the Spiaggia Marche Bianco. A youthful Verdicchio from the Sartarelli family who live and breathe Verdicchio. Joyful and charming; everything we were hoping for.
Spaghetti aglio, olio al limone – serves 4
2 large unwaxed lemons, zest grated
a large handful of flat-leaf parsley, very finely chopped
500g spaghetti
1-2 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
1 small dried chilli or a pinch of dried chilli flakes
6 tbsp of olive oil
Mix the lemon zest and chopped parsley together and set aside.
Bring a large pan of water to the boil, add lots of salt, then stir in the spaghetti and cook until al dente.
Meanwhile, very gently warm the olive oil in a large frying pan with the chopped garlic and chilli. You want it to be fragrant but be very careful not to burn it.
Use tongs to lift the spaghetti out of the water and into the frying pan, you want a little of the residual cooking water. Stir the spaghetti to coat in the oil, then add the lemon zest and parsley and a pinch of salt. You can also add a squeeze of lemon juice if you like, we usually don’t feel it needs it. Divide between warm pasta bowls.
(Original recipe from Two Kitchens: Family Recipes from Sicily and Rome by Rachel Roddy, Headline Home, 2017.)
It seems like so long since we’ve cooked fresh fish, but tonight was the night. We’ve had Rachel Roddy’s book (Two Kitchens: Family Recipes from Sicily and Rome) for ages now but this has been its first outing (for reasons that we won’t bore you with here). This dish was everything we hoped for – quick for a Friday night but absolutely packed with all the flavours that this family loves. We served with couscous but rice or bread are also suggested. Well done Rachel!
Wine Suggestion: we were seduced by the Sicilian white, the Gulfi Carjcanti, a blend of Carricante and the ancient Albanello. Lively and herbal alongside a salty sapiness in the flavour making this a great wine to pair with seafood, let alone the olives, capers and tomatoes in this dish.
Fish in spicy tomato sauce with capers and olives (Pesce all ghiotta) – serves 4
1 onion, finely diced
2 celery sticks, remove the strings and finely dice
100ml extra-virgin olive oil
500g fresh tomatoes, or tinned plum tomatoes drained of the juice
1 tsp sugar (optional but sometimes good if using tinned tomatoes)
a pinch of red chilli flakes
50g salted capers, rinsed
60g olives – we used a mixture of green and black
4 fish fillets (cod, bream or hake – we used hake), about 120g each
1 heaped tbsp of chopped flat-leaf parsley
Take your fish out of the fridge and season it with a little salt.
Gently fry the onions in a deep frying pan, large enough to fit the hake fillets in a single layer later, until soft and translucent.
Add the celery and cook for a few minutes, then add the tomatoes and chilli and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
Add the capers and olives and simmer for another couple of minutes.
Take the pan off the heat, make a space in the sauce and arrange the fish fillets, skin-side down, in a single layer, then spoon over some of the sauce. Put the pan back over a low heat and simmer very gently, spooning more sauce over occasionally, until the fish is cooked through – watch carefully as it shouldn’t take too long. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve.
(Original recipe from ‘Two Kitchens – Family Recipes from Sicily and Rome’ by Rachel Roddy, HEADLINE HOME, 2017)
Jono & Jules do food & wine 