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Posts Tagged ‘Tomato Sauce’

Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 27 January 2024| Leave a Comment »

We’ll never tire of this classic!

Wine Suggestion: Italian reds work with tomato pasta sauces as they tend to be a little bit more acidic which compliments the acidity of the tomatoes. Given how light the spinach and ricotta are a light chianti or a young nebbiolo will work well.

Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni – serves 5 to 6

FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE:

  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 2 bay leaves
  • ½ tsp dried thyme
  • ½ tsp dried oregano
  • 6 tbsp tomato purée
  • 170ml white wine
  • 2 x 400g tins crushed tomatoes
  • 1 litre vegetable stock
  • 1½ tsp caster sugar
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • 10g basil leaves, roughtly torn, plus extra to serve
  • 250g cannelloni tubes
  • 50g finely grated Parmesan
  • 125g grated mozzarella

FOR THE FILLING:

  • 250g frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
  • 500g ricotta
  • 30g finely grated Parmesan
  • 100g grated mozzarella
  • 1 egg
  • 1 large clove of garlic
  • a little grated nutmeg
  • ¾ tsp fine sea salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper

First make the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, bay leaves, thyme and oregano. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the onion is translucent. Add the tomato purée and stir for a minute. Stir in the wine, then turn the heat up hight and simmer until almost evaporated. Add the tomatoes, stock, sugar, salt and pepper. Simmer gently for 35 minutes.

Remove the bay leaves and whizz the sauce until smoooth, then stir in the basil leaves.

Squeeze the defrosted spinach with your hands to get rid of as much water as possible. Put the spinach in a bowl with the rest of the filling ingredients and mix well with wooden spoon.

Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan.

Spread about 375ml of the sauce across the base of a large baking dish (about 23 x 32 cm).

Put the filling into a piping bag (or you can use a sandwich bag with the corner snipped off). Pipe the filling into the tubes until full, then place them in the baking dish.

Pour over the rest of the tomato sauce, making sure to cover all the tubes. Cover with foil, then bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, then sprinkle with the Parmesan, then the mozzarella. Bake for another 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Garnish with extra basil leaves and Parmesan and serve with a green salad.

(Original recipe from Recipetin Eats by Nagi Maehashi, Pan Macmilan, 2022)

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Prawn and Tomato Stew with Coriander Pesto

Posted in Fish, Food, Gluten-free, Prawns, Shellfish, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 5 August 2023| Leave a Comment »

A dish from Falastin, it’s packed with flavour and we recommend adding the optional black olives and feta cheese. A green salad and some crusty bread is also a good choice. The tomato sauce and coriander sauce can both be made in advance, just char your cherry tomatoes and fry the prawns at the end.

Wine Suggestion: Despite this being a seafood dish we think a Southern French red is the way to go with this. Tonight something quite special: Roc des Anges Unic which is a super expressive Grenache with a thrilling tension and energy.

Prawn and tomato stew with coriander pesto – serves 4

  • 250g cherry tomatoes
  • 60ml olive oil
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 2cm piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated
  • 1 green chilli, finely chopped
  • 2 tsp coriander seeds, lightly crushed in a pestle and mortar
  • 1½ cumin seeds, lightly crushed in a pestle and mortar
  • 8 cardamom pods, lightly bashed in a pestle and mortar
  • 20g dill, finely chopped
  • 2 tsp tomato purée
  • 6 plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
  • 600g peeled raw king prawns
  • a handful of black kalamata olives (optional)
  • 100g feta cheese, crumbled into chunky pieces (optional)

FOR THE CORIANDER PESTO:

  • 30g coriander, roughly chopped
  • 1 green chilli, finely chopped
  • 50g pine nuts, lightly toasted
  • 1 lemon, finely grate the zest to get 1½ tsp, then cut into wedges to serve
  • 80ml olive oil

Toss the cherry tomatoes with 1 tsp of oil. Heat a large sauté pan over a high heat, then add the cherry tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, until charred and blistered. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Wipe the pan out, then add 2 tbsp of olive oil and place over a medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until softened and lightly browned. Add the garlic, ginger, chilli, spices, dill and tomato purée, then cook for another 2 minutes until fragrant. Add the plum tomatoes and 300ml of water, 1½ tsp salt and plenty of black pepper. Bring to a simmer, then lower the heat and simmer for 25 minutes or until thickened and the tomatoes have broken down.

Meanwhile, make the coriander pesto. Put the coriander, pine nuts and chilli into a food processor and pulse a few times, just until the pine nuts are roughly crumbled. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the olive oil, lemon zest, ¼ tsp of salt and some black pepper. Stir to combine and set aside.

Dry the prawns well then mix in bowl with ¼ tsp of salt, 1 tbsp of oil and plenty of black pepper.

Put 2 tsp of oil into a large frying pan and place on a high heat. When the pan is hot, add the prawns in batches and fry for a minute on each side, until cooked and browned.

Stir the cooked prawns and the charred tomatoes into the tomato sauce and cook over a medium heat for another 3 minutes, to heat through. Transfer the prawns and tomatoes to a serving dish, drizzle over some of the coriander pesto and sprinkle over the olives and crumbled feta.

(Original recipe from Falastin by Sami Tamimi and Tara Wrigley, Ebury Press, 2020.)

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Cannelloni alla sorrentina

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 27 April 2023| Leave a Comment »

You need to take your time over this one but it’s an excellent thing to do on a rainy day.

Wine Suggestion: A bright, youthful, vibrant red Italian red came to mind immediately for this. We didn’t have anything to hand from the Sorrento/Naples area so crossed over to the Marches for Umani Ronchi’s Rosso Conero Serrano. A delightful blend of Montepulciano and Sangiovese it stepped in admirably with an elegant red-fruited core and fine tannins.

Cannelloni all sorrentina – serves 4

First you need to make a batch of fresh egg pasta. If you have never done this before a youtube video will be helpful.

  • 400g 00 flour
  • 4 eggs

Make a mountain of flour on a large wooden board. Make a crater in the centre and break in the eggs.

Use a fork to break the egg yolks and gently whisk before starting to incorporate the flour by knocking it into the eggs. When you have added enough flour that the eggs will no longer run away, you can start using your hands and continue to mix, bring the flour and eggs together into a soft scraggy ball.

Knead the pasta until the dough starts to soften and smooth out – at least 5 minutes. If after the first few minutes the ball is still dry and flaky, flick just a few drops of water onto the board and knead them into the dough. You may need to do this a couple times, but don’t add too much, keep it to a couple of drops each time.

Once the dough is smooth, firm but pliable, leave it to rest, covered with a cloth or cling film for a at least 30 minutes.

Clamp a pasta machine onto a suitable table and put to the widest setting. Divide the pasta dough into 4, take a quarter and put the other 3 back under the cloth. Flatten the dough into a patty and put it through the rollers. Fold the strip of dough like an envelope and pass it through again, evelope again and pass again. It will be the size of a small book.

Set the machine at two and pass the dough through, but don’t fold this time. Do the same with the third setting, and so on until you have rolled it through all the settings and have a long strip, you can cut this to make it more manageable. Dust with some flour if it feels sticky.

Repeat this method with the other lumps of pasta. Cut the pasta into 12 sheets, each 20 x 10cm.

FOR THE SAUCE:

  • 6 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • a pinch of chilli flakes
  • 2 x 400g tins plum tomatoes
  • a few fresh basil leaves

FOR THE FILLING:

  • 300g ricotta, drained
  • 2 eggs
  • 200g mozzarella, drained overnight and diced
  • 3 heaped tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 60g Parmesan, grated, plus extra for the top
  • a few fresh basil leaves
  • grated nutmeg

First make the sauce. Warm the olive oil, garlic and chilli in a large, deep frying pan. When the garlic is fragrant, add the tomatoes, basil and a pinch of salt. Break the tomatoes up with a wooden spoon and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.

To make the filling, mash the ricotta in a large bowl, then beat in the eggs. Add the mozzarella, parsley and Parmesan and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.

Bring a large pan of salty water to the boil and prepare a large bowl of cold water. Drop a few pasta sheets into the boiling water, leave for 1 minutes, then lift out and into the cold water for 20 seconds, then lay on clean tea towels.

To roll the cannelloni, put 2 spoons of the filling at the top of the longer edge of each pasta sheet and roll closed.

Spread a little tomato sauce into the bottom of a large baking dish, arrange the cannelloni on top, then sprinkle with grated Parmesan and a few basil leaves, then pour over the rest of the sauce.

It helps to rest the dish now for at least 2 hours or even overnight.

Preheat the oven to 200C and bake for 30 minutes.

Leave the dish to rest for 30 minutes before serving with a green salad.

(Original recipe from An A-Z of Pasta by Rachel Roddy, Penguin:Fig Tree, 2021.)

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Conchiglioni Stuffed with Kale, Spinach and Ricotta

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 12 February 2023| Leave a Comment »

Who can resist a stuffed pasta shell? In this one the joy is the balance between fresh ricotta, iron-rich kale, and a rich tomato sauce.

Wine Suggestion: We’d suggest the open, accessability of a youthful Barbaresco from Piedmont, as opposed the depth and moodiness of a Barolo. We have at hand Pico Maccario’s rendition that has a sense of fun which is sometimes lost by winemakers trying to make the next best thing … and we applaud them; wine is to be drunk and enjoyed too.

Conchiglioni stuffed with kale, spinach and ricotta – serves 4

  • 250g kale, stalks removed
  • 100g spinach
  • 1 green chilli, roughly chopped
  • handful of parsley leaves
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 250g ricotta
  • 50g Parmesan, grated
  • ½ nutmeg, grated
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 200g conchiglioni
  • 750ml slow-cooked tomato sauce
  • 125g ball of mozzarella

Blanch the kale in lots of salty boiling water, then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and straight into a bowl of iced water. Repeat with the spinach but cook for just 30 seconds.

Squeeze all the water out of the spinach and kale and put into a food processor. Add the chilli and parsley, then whizz for a few seconds. Scrape out into a bowl and add the ricotta, 30g of the Parmesan, the numeg, and lemon zest. Stir well to combine, then transfer to a piping bag.

Preheat the oven to 220C/200 Fan/Gas 7.

Bring a large pan of salty water to the boil and cook the pasta for 10 minutes – it should be a little more than al dente. Drain and leave until cool enough to handle.

Pour the tomato sauce into a medium-sized baking dish.

Pipe the kale mixture into the pasta shells and settle them snugly into the tomato sauce, pushing them down a little. Tear the mozzarella over the top and sprinkle with the rest of the Parmesan.

Bake in the hot oven for 20 minutes, then serve with a green salad.

(Original recipe from Slow by Gizzi Erskine, HQ, 2018.)

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Melanzane Parmigiana

Posted in Barbecue, Cheese, Food, Italian, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 6 June 2022| Leave a Comment »

Today was a sunny Sunday so we grilled aubergine slices on the barbecue, made this delicious veggie bake, and ate it outside. Happy days! Serve with garlic or crusty bread and salad.

Wine Suggestion: We think youthful, fruity reds are a joy with this dish and can’t pass up a chance to open a good Beaujolais. For this dish Domaine Rochette’s Régnié, a cru that is often overlooked and unfairly so. Bright and almost crunchy fruit that shouts just as much of sunshine as the Parmigiana.

Melanzane Parmigiana – serves 4 to 6

  • 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for brushing over the aubergines
  • 3 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 3 thyme sprigs
  • 8 large sage leaves, finely chopped
  • 4 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
  • 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 3 tbsp golden caster sugar or granulated sugar
  • 6 large aubergines, sliced very thinly, lengthways
  • 100g Parmesan, finely grated
  • 85g white breadcrumbs
  • 50g pine nuts
  • 2 x 125g mozzarella balls, torn into small pieces
  • a handful of basil leaves

Get the sauce on first. Heat the oil in a large frying pan or a wide saucepan, then add the garlic, thyme and sage and cook for a few minutes. Add the tinned tomatoes, vinegar and sugar, and simmer gently for about 25 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Meanwhile, light your barbecue – a gas barbecue is particularly good for this as it’s easier to control the heat, you don’t want the aubergine to char before it’s softened. If you don’t have a barbecue (or if it’s not barbecuing weather) you can use a griddle pan instead.

Brush the aubergine slices with olive oil, then barbecue in batches until softened and lightly charred.

Mix 25g of the Parmesan with the breadcrumbs and pine nuts, and set aside.

Spread a little of the tomato sauce over the base of a large baking tray or lasagne dish. Top with a layer of aubergine slices, then season well. Spoon over some more sauce, then scatter over some mozzarella, Parmesan and bssil leaves.

Repeat the layers and finish with a layer of tomato sauce. Sprinkle over the cheesey breadcrumbs. You can bake the dish now or stick it in the fridge for up to 24 hours and bake when you’re ready.

Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the top is crispy and golden and the tomato sauce bubbling. Rest for 10 minutes, then serve with salad and bread.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food).

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Spicy Pork & Fennel Polpette

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, Pork, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 3 February 2022| Leave a Comment »

We’re pretty sure we saw somewhere that Polpo, a cookbook by Russell Norman, has just turned ten years old which inspired us to get it out and cook something. We served these, at Russell’s suggestion, with some home-made focaccia but pasta would be good too. It’s an excellent tomato sauce to use for other purposes too.

Wine Suggestion: Given the Italian inspiration to this dish we had to open something to match. The cherry and berry flavours in Pico Maccario’s Barbera Tre Roveri really sing alongside the anise-fennel flavours and the wild herb, leather and truffle flavours lend a base note to the whole dish. Bravo!

Spicy pork & fennel polpette – serves 6

  • 1.5kg pork mince
  • 3 medium eggs (we only had large, all was well)
  • 150g breadcrumbs
  • a large pinch of dried chilli flakes
  • 20g fennel seeds, lightly toasted and ground in a pestle and mortar
  • ½ tbsp fine salt
  • 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE:

  • 100ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely sliced
  • 1 clove of garlic, chopped
  • ½ tbsp fine sea salt
  • ¾ tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • a small pinch of dried chilli flakes
  • 750g fresh tomatoes, quartered
  • 3 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
  • a small handful of oregano, chopped
  • caster sugar, if needed

Make the tomato sauce first, up to a few days in advance if you like.

Heat half the oil in a large saucepan over a medium-low heat and sweat the onion, garlic, salt, pepper and chilli flakes for 15 minutes. Add the fresh tomatoes and the rest of the oil and continue to cook gently for another 15 minutes.

Add the tinned tomatoes, bring to a gentle bubble and simmer over a low heat for 1 hour.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the chopped oregano. Now taste and season if it needs a litle sweetness (we find it usually does). Blitz with a stick blender until smooth and you can also pass through a fine sieve if you would like it more passata textured (we don’t tend to bother).

Now make the meatballs. Heat the oven to 220C/Gas 8.

Put the pork mince, eggs, breadcrumbs, chilli flakes, ground fennel seeds, salt and pepper into a large bowl and mix together well with your hands. Roll in 45g balls and place on a greased baking tray, then roast in the oven for 10 minutes, turning once, until starting to brown.

Meanwhile, bring your tomato sauce up to a gentl simmer. Transfer the meatballs to the tomato sauce and poach for 10 minutes. Serve with some lightly toasted focaccia or pasta or whatever else you fancy.

(Original recipe from Polpo by Russell Norman, Bloomsbury, 2012.)

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Pasta with Tomato Sauce & Brown Caper Butter

Posted in Food, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 5 January 2022| 2 Comments »

This is tomato pasta sauce but with some unusual additions that make it taste a bit special. We hightly recommend you try this.

Pasta with tomato sauce & brown caper butter – serves 4

  • 400g penne pasta
  • Parmesan
  • flat-leaf parsley, chopped, to serve

FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE:

  • 1 onion, chopped
  • olive oil, for frying
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 2 x 400g tins plum tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp white miso
  • 1 tsp runny honey

FOR THE BROWN CAPER BUTTER

  • 4 tbsp capers, drained
  • 75g butter

Fry the onion in a splash of olive oil over a lowish heat for about 5 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic, rosemary and tomato purée and fry for another minute, then add the tomatoes and simmer for 10-15 minutes, breaking them up with a wooden spoon.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in lots of salty water until al denté.

Melt a small knob of the butter into a small frying pan, then add the capers and fry until they burst open, then tip into a small bowl. Add the rest of the butter to the frying pan and cook until it turns light brown and smells nutty, then pour over the capers.

Add the miso, honey and a little seasoning to the tomato sauce.

Drain the pasta but reserve a mug of the cooking water.

Mix the drained pasta with the tomato sauce and a splash of cooking water to loosen the sauce. Divide between warm bowls, then pour over the caper butter. Serve sprinkled with plenty of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and the chopped parsley.

(Original recipe by Ylva Bergqvist in Olive Magazine, December 2018.)

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Aubergine Parmigiana Lasagne

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 10 September 2021| Leave a Comment »

This is like a cross between a lasagne and a parmigiana. If you have a gas barbecue it makes a very easy job of griddling the aubergines in big batches which attracted us to this dish in the first place as the barbecue was on a good run. Nice with some crusty bread.

Wine Suggestion: Light, crunchy red wines just seem to fall into place with lasagne, or aubergine and tomato. This was no different. Tonight to good effect, our favourite Loire red, the Chateau du Hureau Saumur Champigny Tuffe.

Aubergine Parmigiana Lasagne – serves 6

  • 3 large aubergines, thinly sliced lengthways
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 250g mozzarella, drained and coarsely grated
  • 50g Parmesan cheese, finely grated
  • a bunch of basil, leaves picked and roughly chopped, plus extra to serve
  • 8 dried egg lasagne sheets

FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE:

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 6 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
  • ¼ tsp golden caster sugar
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 3 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes

Make the sauce by warming the olive oil and garlic in a large pan for a minute or until golden, go gently or the garlic will brown and turn bitter. Add the sugar and red wine vinegar and allow to bubble up for 30 seconds, then add the tomatoes. Season with salt and return to a simmer. Bubble gently for 10 minutes, then remove from the heat and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat a gas barbecue or a griddle pan to a medium-high heat. Brush the aubergine slices with oil on both sides and season with a little salt. Griddle or barbecue in batches until softened and slightly charred. Don’t let the heat get too high or they will char before they are softened.

Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.

Lay a third of the aubergine slices over the base of a large baking dish, then spoon over a third of the sauce. Scatter with a small handful of both cheeses (but not too much as you want most of it for the top) and half the basil, then top with 4 lasagne sheets. Repeat once more, then finish with a layer of aubergines topped with the rest of the sauce and scattered with the remaining cheese.

Place the dish in the hot oven and bake for 30 minutes. Leave to cool for at least 10 minutes then serve with the rest of the basil sprinkled over.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Tomato Sauce with Porcini Mushrooms

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 4 January 2021| Leave a Comment »

This is a simple tomato sauce for pasta with a bit of magic from Marcella Hazan that makes it taste special. The sauce is intensely mushroomy and absolutely delicious. We don’t often cook from Marcella’s The Essentials of Italian Cooking but we are never disappointed when we do.

Wine Suggestion: This needs a simple red, but with a vibrant core and a new favourite for this brief is the Umani Ronchi Rosso Conero “Serrano”. Mostly Montepulciano but with a touch of Sangiovese this is engagingly easy to drink with ripe cherry flavours and a round and juicy core of fruit; very pleasurable without being too weighty.

Tomato sauce with porcini mushrooms – serves 4

  • 2 tbsp finely chopped shallot or onion
  • 35g butter
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 tbsp pancetta/prosciutto cut in strips, we used cubed pancetta
  • 400g top quality plum tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
  • 25g dried porcini mushrooms, reconstituted (see below)
  • 450g pasta, we used penne, cooked to serve
  • freshly grated Parmesan, to serve

To reconstitute the mushrooms: soak the mushrooms in 500ml of barely warm for at least 30 minutes. Lift the mushrooms out of the water and squeeze out as much water as possible, do this over the bowl to catch the liquid. Rinse the mushrooms if needed to get rid of any soil, then pat dry with kitchen paper. Reserve the liquid.

Put the shallot into a saucepan with the butter and oil, over a medium heat. Cook until the shallot turns pale golden, then add the pancetta and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the tomatoes, the reconstituted mushrooms, the reserved mushroom liquid, salt and plenty of black pepper. Let the sauce bubble at a steady simmer for about 40 minutes, you want the fat and the tomato to separate and the sauce to reduce to a nice consistency. Turn it up and bubble a bit faster to reduce if you need.

Toss the pasta with the sauce and serve with grated Parmesan.

(Original recipe from The Essentials of Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan, Macmillan London Limited, 1992.)

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Red Onion, Mushroom & Blue Cheese Pizza

Posted in Cheese, Food, Italian, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 5 February 2020| 1 Comment »

Red Onion, Mushroom & Blue Cheese Pizza

We’ve been experimenting with our new Ooni Pro pizza oven. This is the very first pizza we made and it turned out pretty good. The recipe is by Gill Meller (of River Cottage fame) and we’ve since seen that he’s working with Ooni – a match made in heaven!

Wine Suggestion:  a joyful red, preferably Italian to match the mood. Tonight the Rocca delle Macie Chianti Classico, but we’ve equally enjoyed wines from Abruzzo, Piedmont and Sicily to name a few with pizzas like these. Just make sure it isn’t too heavy or alcoholic though – light to medium bodied.

Gill’s Favourite Pizza – makes 3 large pizzas

FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE:

  • 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
  • 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes (good ones!)
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 bay leaf

FOR THE BASE:

  • 500g strong bread flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 10g salt
  • 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for greasing
  • 1 tsp instant dried yeast
  • 320ml lukewarm water

FOR THE TOPPING (PER PIZZA):

  • 3-4 tbsp tomato sauce
  • 1 ball of mozzarella, torn
  • 100g chestnut mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • ½ small red onion, thinly sliced
  • 75g blue cheese, crumbled
  • 2 or 3 thyme springs, leaves picked

To make the sauce, heat a medium pan over a moderate heat. Heat the olive oil in the pot, then add the garlic. Sizzle for about 30 seconds, then add the tomatoes,  half a tin of water and the bay leaf. Cook for 30-40 minutes, stirring now and then. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

To make the base, put the flour, salt and olive oil in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a dough hook. Combine the yeast and water in a jug and whisk to dissolve. Pour this over the flour and allow the machine to run for 4-5 minutes or until the dough is soft and smooth. You can also knead by hand but it will take a lot more effort and about 10 to 12 minutes.

Lightly grease a bowl with olive oil and place the dough inside. Cover with a damp tea towel and allow to prove for 3-4 hours at room temperature or overnight in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 240C/475F/gas mark 9½ (or if you have a pizza oven you can get it going).

Heat a baking sheet or pizza stone inside the oven.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, knock it back, then left it rest for a few minutes. Dust the dough with more flour, then roll each ball out thinly. Remove the hot baking sheet or pizza stone from the oven and lay on the pizza dough. Top the pizza as quickly as you can. Gill suggests tomato sauce followed by mozzarella, mushrooms, onion, blue cheese and thyme. Trickle some olive oil over the top and season well. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until crispy and golden. Serve straight away and repeat with the remaining dough.

(Original recipe from Time: A Year & a Day in the Kitchen by Gill Meller, Quadrille, 2018.)

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Pork & Beef Polpette with Tomato Sauce

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 28 March 2019| Leave a Comment »

Pork & Beef Polpette with Tomato Sauce

This is a great tomato sauce and of course can be made without meatballs and used in all sorts of things. We like to make the entire recipe and freeze the leftover meatballs in the sauce for tasty meals for kids or when we don’t have time to cook. They’re good served with linguine –  toss the pasta with the meatballs and sauce before serving with some grated Parmesan.

Wine Suggestion: with the higher proportion of pork in the meatballs we think a medium bodied red works better than richer, fuller-bodied wines with this. We went with a Chateau Manoir du Gravoux from Castillon in Bordeaux. A Merlot, Cabernet Franc blend with a lovely freshness and pure, mineral character made a good match.

Pork & Beef Polpette with Tomato Sauce – makes about 40 meatballs and 1.5 litres of sauce

FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE:

  • 100ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely sliced
  • 1 garlic clove, chopped
  • scant ½ tbsp fine salt
  • ¾ tsp black pepper
  • small pinch of chilli flakes
  • 750g fresh tomatoes, quartered
  • 3 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 small handful of oregano, chopped
  • caster sugar, if needed

FOR THE POLPETTE:

  • 1kg minced pork
  • 500g minced beef
  • 3 medium eggs
  • scant ½ tbsp fine salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 150g breadcrumbs
  • small pinch of dried chilli flakes
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • ½ handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
  • cooked linguine pasta and grated Parmesan cheese, to serve

Heat half the oil in a saucepan on a medium-low heat and sweat the onion, garlic, salt, pepper and chilli for 15 minutes. Add the fresh tomatoes and the rest of the oil and cook gently for another 15 minutes.

Add the tinned tomatoes and simmer on a very low heat for an hour.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the oregano. Season with a little sugar if needed, then whizz using a hand-blender or food processor for a few minutes.

Preheat the oven to 220°C/Gas 7.

Combine all of the meatball ingredients and mix together well with your hands, then roll into golf ball sized meatballs. They should weigh about 45g each. Place on a large greased baking tray and roast for 10 minutes, turning once, until starting to brown.

Add the meatballs to the hot sauce and poach for 10 minutes with the lid on.

Serve with linguine and grated Parmesan.

(Original recipe from Polpo by Russell Norman, Bloomsbury, 2012.)

 

 

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Chicken with Tomatoes, Mozzarella and Basil

Posted in Chicken, Food, Gluten-free, tagged , , , , , , , , on 20 November 2018| Leave a Comment »

 

Chicken with tomatoes, mozzarella & basilWe love easy ideas like this for adding extra interest to some chicken fillets mid-week. Serve with warm crusty bread and green salad.

Wine Suggestion: your choice of youthful, lighter Italian red; our choice tonight was the refined and under-rated Poggio ai Ginepri Bolgheri Rosso, but almost chose a Chianti. Both would be good.

Chicken breasts with tomatoes, mozzarella & basil – serves 4

  • 4 chicken skinless, boneless chicken breasts
  • 6 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
  • 2 x 400g tins cherry tomatoes
  • 10 basil leaves, plus a few extra to garnish
  • 3 x 125 mozzarella balls, drained and sliced (don’t use buffalo mozzarella for this)

Slash each of the the chicken breasts four times with a sharp knife, cutting to the middle.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and gently fry the garlic and chicken for 2 minutes on each side or until golden all over.

Tip in the cherry tomatoes with the basil and season with salt and pepper.

Cook, uncovered, over a medium heat for 12 minutes, turning the chicken breasts over halfway through.

Meanwhile, preheat the grill to its highest setting.

Take the pan off the heat and put the mozzarella slices on top of the chicken breasts. Grind over some black pepper and put the pan under the grill for a minute or until the cheese starts to melt.

Pour some sauce onto each plate, top with a piece of chicken and garnish with the extra basil.

(Original recipe from Pronto! by Gino D’Acampo, Kyle Books, 2014.)

 

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Tortellini with Creamy Tomato & Mascarpone Sauce

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , on 22 August 2018| Leave a Comment »

Creamy marscapone tortellini

Because we had leftover marscapone … we love using leftover ingredients. It’s ok to cheat sometimes with some shop-bought fresh tortellini and the result is dinner in minutes!

Wine Suggestion: this works with young, fresh red wines. If you feel like Italian then the Rocca delle Macie Chianti Vernaiolo which is unoaked and vibrantly full of fruit is a good choice. We, however, threw a Pike & Joyce Rapide (unoaked) Pinot Noir from the Adelaide Hills into the fridge for 30 minutes. A good match too.

Tortellini with Creamy Tomato & Mascarpone Sauce – serves 2-4

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tsp vegetable stock powder (we never are without Marigold Swiss Bouillon) or ½ cumbled stock cube
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • few basil leaves
  • 2 tbsp mascarpone plus a bit extra
  • fresh tortellni – we used spinach & ricotta

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

Heat the oil in a pan, add the garlic and gently fry for 1 minute. Add the tin of tomatoes, the stock powder, tomato purée and sugar, then bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Tear in the basil leaves and stir in the 2 tbsp of mascarpone.

Meanwhile, cook the tortellini in boiling salted water as per the timing on the pack, then drain well and tip into a small ovenproof dish.

Pour the sauce over the tortellini and top with a few more spoonfuls of mascarpone, then bake until bubbling at the edges.

(Original recipe by Gareth Morgans IN: BBC Good Food Magazine, August 2008.)

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Rigatoni with Tomato & Rosemary Sauce

Posted in Food, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 19 February 2018| 2 Comments »

There is a rosemary bush in our front garden and it often comes to the rescue when we have pretty much nothing for dinner. Provided you have a rosemary bush at your disposal this is pretty much a store cupboard dish and also handy for using the end of a jar of cream. This is surprisingly tasty and a great throw together weeknight dish.

Wine Suggestion: this dish suits a rustic red wine with a bit of “garrigue”, the southern French earthy, herby, spice that is a bit wild and untamed. This time we opened a wine that has this in spades, the Mas Conscience “le Cas” which is 100% old vine Carignan, which is all black fruits hints of hot rocks and earth, and wild Languedoc spices. Not shy in character but a good match nonetheless.

Rigatoni with Tomato & Rosemary Sauce – serves 4

  • 4 sprigs of rosemary, leaves finely chopped and stalks discarded
  • 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
  • a pinch of chilli flakes
  • 400g rigatoni or penne
  • 100ml double cream
  • 1 tsp sugar

Fry the chopped rosemary in a tablespoon of olive oil for about a minute. Stir in the tinned tomatoes and the chilli flakes, then simmer hard for 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in lots of salted boiling water according to the time indicated on the pack.

Stir the double cream into the sauce along with the sugar and plenty of seasoning, then mix in the drained pasta and serve.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food Magazine, February 2011.)

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Sausage Pasta

Posted in Food, Pasta, tagged , , , , , , on 6 February 2018| Leave a Comment »

Sausage pasta

Jules has been cooking this dish for years. Far from fancy but really tasty and super quick. Also popular with kids but leave out the chilli if they’re not that way inclined.

Wine Suggestion: A robust Italian, more than likely a Sangiovese, is our wine for this type of dish. Today it was the Tenuta Sant’Alfonso Chianti.

Sausage Pasta – serves 4

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 8 good quality pork sausages cut into chunks
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 300g short pasta

Put a large saucepan of water on to boil for the pasta.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the sausages until they are nicely browned. Turn down the heat and add the onion and garlic, then cook until softened.

Stir in the chilli powder and tomatoes, then bring to the boil before turning down the heat and leaving to bubble for about 10 minutes while you cook the pasta.

Cook the pasta in the boiling water according to the pack instructions, then drain. Tip the cooked pasta into the frying pan with the saucy sausages and mix well.  Serve with crusty bread.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

 

 

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Chicken Parmigiana

Posted in Cheese, Chicken, Food, tagged , , , , , , , on 13 December 2017| 2 Comments »

Chicken parmigiana

This is an absolute crowd pleaser and should please most children and other fussy eaters. It is easy but there are  a few steps so leave yourself plenty of time. We liked this way more than we expected to! Good with garlic bread and a big salad.

Wine Suggestion: you mustn’t overwhelm this dish with a heavy, powerful wine. It can have character though and the youthful Rocca delle Macie Chianti Vernaiolo was a good match. Unoaked and fruit driven this is a lighter red and all freshness and vitality. Other alternatives that work are light Pinot Noir, Gamay or Barbera.

Chicken Parmigiana – serves 4 (generously)

  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chop 2 and peel the other
  • 100ml red wine
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 4 chicken breasts (ask your butcher to butterfly if possible)
  • 100g plain flour
  • 2 eggs beaten
  • 75g Parmesan, grated
  • 75g breadcrumbs
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • pinch sugar (optional)
  • 2 balls mozzarella, sliced
  • handful fresh basil leaves

Start by making the sauce. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan and fry the onion until soft and translucent, then add the chopped garlic. Cook for another couple of minutes, then add the red wine. Allow to bubble until the wine is reduced by about half, then add the oregano and tomatoes and season well with salt and black pepper. Bring to the boil, then cover with a lid and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Taste the sauce at this point and season with a pinch of sugar if necessary, then continue to simmer for a further 10 minutes, without the lid, until the sauce is well reduced – you want it to be fairly thick.

Preheat the oven to 200C Fan/180C/Gas 6.

Butterfly the chicken then put between two sheets of cling film and flatten slightly with a rolling pin. Season the chicken with salt and black pepper. Mix the Parmesan with the breadcrumbs, oregano and a few finely chopped basil leaves. Put half the flour onto a plate and season. Beat one of the eggs in a bowl and spread half the Parmesan mixture on another plate.

Dip each chicken breast in the flour and dust off any excess, then dip into the egg. Coat the eggy chicken in the breadcrumb & Parmesan mixture – pressing it firmly onto the chicken. Repeat this again with the next chicken breast. Now you may need to start the process again with the rest of the ingredients on fresh plates. Arrange the coated chicken on a baking tray and drizzle with a little olive oil, then bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until just cooked through. Remove from the oven but leave the oven on.

To finish the dish you will need a large shallow oven dish that can take all 4 chicken breasts in a single layer. Cut the remaining garlic clove in half and rub the dish all over with it. Spread the tomato sauce over the base of the dish, place the chicken on top and arrange the mozzarella over the chicken so it’s mostly covered. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the mozzarella is melted and browned. Scatter some basil leaves over the top before serving.

(Original recipe from The Hairy Bikers Chicken & Egg by Si King & Dave Myers, Orion Publishing Co., 2017.)

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Turkish Kofte Kebab with Tomato Sauce & Yoghurt

Posted in Food, Lamb, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 19 May 2015| 1 Comment »

Kofte kebab

This Turkish kebab dish, from Claudia Roden’s wonderful book Arabesque, is very simple to make but you need to be organised and assemble the dish at the last minute so the layer of crunchy pitta bread at the bottom of the dish stays crisp. Claudia’s tips are to serve the tomato sauce and meat very hot but the yoghurt at room temperature.

Yogurtlu Köfte Kebabi or Turkish Kofte Kebab with Tomato Sauce & Yoghurt – serves 4

  • 2 pitta breads
  • 750g minced beef or lamb
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 50g flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp sumac plus an extra pinch
  • 500g full-fat natural yogurt
  • 2 tbsp butter or extra virgin olive oil
  • 2-3 tbsp pine nuts

FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE:

  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1 chilli pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 750g tomatoes, peeled and chopped (if it’s not tomato season use the equivalent of good quality tinned tomatoes instead)
  • 1-2 tsp sugar

Start with the tomato sauce. Fry the onion in the oil until soft. Add the garlic and chilli pepper, and stir for a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes, season with salt, pepper and sugar, and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes until they soften.

Open out the pitta breads, toast until crisp, then break into small pieces with your hands.

Next make the kofte kebabs. Season the mince with salt and pepper, and use your hands to work into a soft dough. Add the onion and parsley and work into the meat. Shape into sausages, about 2cm thick and 7cm long. Arrange on an oiled sheet of foil on a baking sheet and cook for about 8 minutes under a pre-heated grill, turning once, until well browned but still pink and moist on the inside. Or if you prefer (as we do) you can grill on a barbecue.

Spread the toasted pitta pieces over the bottom of your serving dish and sprinkle over a pinch of sumac. Pour the hot tomato sauce all over and top with a layer of yoghurt beaten with a fork.

Heat the butter or oil with the pine nuts and stir in the teaspoon of sumac. When the butter or oil sizzles, sprinkle all over the yoghurt, arrange the meat on top and serve immediately.

(Original recipe from Claudia Roden’s Arabesque, Michael Joseph, 2005.)

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The essentials: River Café Tomato Sauce

Posted in Food, Italian, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on 8 May 2015| Leave a Comment »

River Café tomato sauce

 

We have two tomato sauces in our repertoire that we rely on; both are delicious but have a slightly different character. This is the one we have adopted from the River Café in London which is quicker (though we wouldn’t describe it as quick exactly) and incorporates a rich onion base. We keep a stack of takeaway tubs full of tomato sauce in the freezer for whenever pizza, pasta, or any other tomato-flavoured dish calls. Top quality tinned tomatoes are essential and we find the Italian brands are best.

Sugo di Pomodoro a Fuoco Lento or Slow-Cooked Tomato Sauce

  • 2 x 800g tins plum tomatoes, drained of their juices
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 medium red onions, peeled and sliced very thinly
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and cut into slivers

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, then add the onions. Reduce the heat and cook until very soft, at least 40 minutes. Add the garlic about 5 minutes before the end.

Add the tomatoes and stir to break up. Season with salt and pepper and cook slowly for at least 90 minutes, giving it a stir every now and again. The oil will eventually come to the surface and the sauce will be dark red and very thick with no remaining juice.

(Original recipe from The River Cafe Cookbook by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers, Ebury Press, 1995.)

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Dried Porcini & Tomato Penne

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , on 5 January 2015| 2 Comments »

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From the geniuses at River Café is this deeply delicious and flavoursome pasta which keeps on reprising itself on our menus. We love that the ingredients list is simple and short and yet the dish is packed full of flavour and style. Don’t shy away from the generous quantity of butter – it’s what gives the dish its richness.

We’ve given a separate recipe for the tomato sauce. You will have too much for this recipe but it’s good served as it is with some tagliatelle and freezes well.

Wine suggestion: earthy, medium bodied red wines work well with this and we returned to an old favourite, the very smooth Selvapiana Chianti Rufina which is pure elegance in a glass. Really fine and supple tannins make this sing with a freshness that adds depth to the food.

Penne, tomato and dried porcini – serves 4 

  • 320g penne
  • 40g dried porcini
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
  • 1 tbsp flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
  • 50g Parmesan, grated
  • 5 tbsp tomato sauce (see below)
  • 100g unsalted butter
  • extra virgin olive oil

Soak the porcini in 200ml boiling water for 10 minutes.

Drain the porcini, straining the liquid through muslin or a paper towel, reserving the water. Rinse the porcini and chop coarsely.

In a thick-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter and add the garlic. Add the porcini and fry until soft. Add a little of the porcini liquid and simmer until absorbed. Stir in the parsley. Add the tomato sauce and season.

Cook the penne in plenty of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and stir into the pasta sauce.

Drizzle with olive oil and serve with the Parmesan

Tomato sauce – serves 4

  • 2 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 x 400g tinned tomatoes

Heat the oil in a thick-bottomed pan and fry the garlic until soft but not coloured. Add the tomatoes and season. Cook over a medium heat for 20-30 minutes or, until the sauce is very thick and the oil comes to the top.

(Original recipes from Italian Two Easy: Simple Recipes from the London River Cafe by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers, Random House, 2006.)

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Cheat’s Chilli

Posted in Beef, Food, tagged , , , , , , , on 18 November 2013| Leave a Comment »

This is a doddle to whip up after work and it’s not a bad chilli for very little effort. Serve in warmed tortillas with some rocket and sour cream or in a baked potato.

Cheat’s Chilli – to serve 4

  • 500g minced beef
  • 350g jar of tomato and chilli sauce (we use our own tomato sauce which we always have a supply of in the freezer)
  • 400g tin of red kidney beans

Fry the mince in a non-stick pan until well browned. Pour in the sauce, then fill the empty jar about a third full of water and rinse out into the pan. Bring to the boil then simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Drain and rinse the beans before adding to the meat and heat through for about 5 minutes or until the beans are hot and the sauce is thick.

 

 

 

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