SPINACH AND BASIL GNUDI
The first time I had gnudi was at the Spotted Pig in New York, where the incredible April Bloomfield has made them since day one – and can’t take them off. And I can see why. Loosely translated to mean ‘naked’ in Italian, gnudi are little ricotta dumplings, a bit like the filling in ravioli, just minus the pasta. They’re delicate, pillowy and light, and make a fantastic starter or light meal. Be warned that although making gnudi couldn’t be easier or quicker, they do need a long time to rest in the fridge.
SERVES 6
350g ricotta
a bunch of basil
75g baby leaf spinach
125g Parmesan
nutmeg
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
500g semolina flour
50g pine nuts
25g butter
1 lemon
Drain the ricotta in a sieve, gently pressing out any excess water. Pick the basil leaves, put most of them into a food processor with the spinach, and blitz till roughly chopped. Add 100g of the ricotta and pulse until you have a purée, then spoon it into a large mixing bowl. Add the rest of the ricotta, finely grate in 100g of Parmesan and a good few gratings of nutmeg. Season generously, and beat thoroughly until light in texture. If the mixture feels soft, place the bowl in the fridge for 20 minutes to firm up.
Take a large roasting tray and pour in half the semolina flour. Using a teaspoon, scoop up pieces of the ricotta mixture and lightly roll them into balls, about 2½cm in size; the mixture will be very damp, so don’t worry if they are not perfect – the more rustic the better. Pop them into the tray and continue until all the mixture has been used up. Cover the gnudi with the remaining semolina flour, so they are all completely covered and not touching each other. Put the uncovered tray into the fridge for 36–48 hours; the longer you leave them the more robust they will be – it will give the gnudi enough time to form a good semolina crust.
When you are ready to cook your gnudi, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Put a large non-stick frying pan on a low heat and toast the pine nuts. When they are golden, add the butter to the pan with the remaining basil leaves. Finely grate in the lemon zest, stir and keep on a low heat.
Once the pan of water is boiling, add the gnudi. They only need a minute or two to cook, and will rise to the surface when ready. As soon as they rise, scoop them out of the pan with a slotted spoon straight into the basil butter. Remove the frying pan from the heat and toss everything together for 30 seconds, until glossy and shiny. Finish by finely grating over the reamining Parmesan and serve straight away.
Spinach and Basil Gnudi
JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE AND THYME BARLEY RISOTTO
When I was a vegetarian I got lumbered with a lot of risottos and stuffed peppers over the years (we are talking many moons ago, and times have definitely improved for our non-carnivorous friends since then). Don’t take me wrong, both are potentially beautiful things, but both are now dishes that make me shudder slightly. So when I first had risotto made with barley I was over the moon. Slightly nuttier than its rice counterpart, barley risotto is less creamy and more forgiving and the grains make for a much more interesting texture. I adore this dish, and feel free to use whatever is in season, switching the Jerusalem artichokes for celeriac, wild mushrooms or even parsnips.
SERVES 6
2 leeks
2 onions
350g Jerusalem artichokes
1.5 litres good vegetable stock
30g butter
olive oil
½ a bunch of thyme
300g pearl barley
80g strong hard cheese (a mature Cheddar, Lincolnshire Poacher or Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire are perfect)
2 heaped tablespoons crème fraîche
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ a lemon
Trim, wash and finely slice the leeks. Peel and finely chop the onions. Peel the Jerusalem artichokes and cut into 1cm pieces. Heat the vegetable stock in a pan and keep it warm on the hob.
Place a wide casserole-style pan on a medium heat and add the butter and a little olive oil. Add the Jerusalem artichokes and fry for 8-10 minutes, until lightly golden all over. Add the leeks and onions and pick in the thyme leaves. Reduce the heat a little and sauté gently for around 15 minutes, until soft, sweet and sticky but not coloured. Stir in the pearl barley and 800ml of the stock and bring to the boil. Place the lid on the pan, reduce the heat to low and cook for around 30 minutes.
After the 30 minutes you want to start cooking the barley like a traditional risotto; lots of ladling in stock and stirring. Slowly ladle in the remaining hot stock and keep stirring for around 40 minutes, until it has all been absorbed and the barley is slightly creamy and cooked through. If the barley still has a bite, add a little more hot stock and stir and cook for a further 5–10 minutes.
When the risotto is ready, grate in the cheese and stir in the crème fraîche. Season to taste and finish by finely grating over the lemon zest.
Jerusalem Artichoke and Thyme Barley Risotto
PORK AND PRAWN GYOZAS
My dear colleague Pete Begg (aka the food oracle) taught me how to make gyozas and I guarantee once you make these dreamy dumplings you’ll be sold too. They are so easy, and the more practice you have the speedier you’ll become. Once you’re in the gyoza-making zone (and it’s a wonderfully calming zone to be in), it’s easy to make a whole load, so just freeze any extras – they make a perfect rainy-day lunch or snack.
MAKES 30
30 gyoza skins (shop-bought or homemade – see below)
½ a red chilli
2 garlic cloves
a 3cm piece of ginger
2 spring onions
150g white cabbage
150g pork mince
100g raw prawns, deveined
1 teaspoon sesame oil
½ tablespoon low-salt soy sauce
groundnut or vegetable oil
soy sauce, rice vinegar and sweet chilli oil, to serve (or whatever you like!)
TO MAKE YOUR OWN GYOZA SKINS
300g strong white bread flour
150ml boiling water
½ teaspoon salt
If making your own gyoza skins, follow the instructions here. If using frozen gyoza skins, make sure they are defrosted before you use them – they only need about an hour out of the freezer. Either way, cover them with a slightly damp piece of kitchen paper to stop them drying out.
Deseed and roughly shop the chilli. Peel and roughly chop the garlic and ginger. Trim and chop the spring onions. Place them all in a food processor and blitz until finely chopped (alternatively you can do this by hand). Roughly chop the cabbage and add to the food processor with the pork, prawns, sesame oil and soy sauce, and blitz again until it is all chopped and you have a coarse paste. Scrape the mixture into a bowl. Alternatively just chop everything together by hand as finely as you can and mix. You don’t have to use a food processor if you don’t want to.
Making gyozas is really easy, and the more you make the quicker you’ll get. Most important is to get your ‘gyoza-making station’ ready. You’ll need your pork and prawn filling, the gyoza wrappers, a little bowl of cold water and a clean tray ready to line up the gyozas once they’re made. Take one of the skins (keeping the pile covered with damp kitchen paper to keep them from drying out) and place it in the palm of your hand. Spoon a teaspoonful of the prawn mixture into the middle of the round (don’t overfill the gyozas or you’ll struggle to seal them), then damp the edge of the wrapper with a little water. Fold the wrapper in half and pleat the edges, pressing them down to seal completely. I fold the wrapper in half, pinch it in the middle and then pleat outwards one side, followed by the other. But anything goes, as long as they’re well sealed. Keep going until you’ve used up all your filling. If it’s taking you a while to get the hang of it, make sure to refrigerate any gyozas you’ve made to keep them from spoiling.
Choose a non-stick frying pan o
r saucepan that is big enough to hold the amount of gyozas you want to cook in a single layer. Place it on a medium heat and drizzle in a tablespoon of groundnut or vegetable oil. As soon as it starts to get warm, place the gyozas in the pan, so that they are sitting upright, and fry them lightly so they start to turn golden underneath. As soon as they look a little crisp, after about 3 minutes, pour in enough water to come halfway up the side of the gyozas. Turn the heat up, bring to the boil, then cover with a lid. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 8 minutes (you’ll see the pink from the cooked prawns through the wrapper).
As soon as the gyozas are cooked, remove the lid and turn the heat up a little. The water should have almost completely evaporated and now you want the bottoms to get nice and crisp. Fry for a few more minutes, checking to make sure they don’t burn, and serve. I like to serve them with soy sauce, chilli oil and rice vinegar, but you can use whatever you like.
TO MAKE YOUR OWN GYOZA SKINS
Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl and stir in the 150ml of boiling water with a spoon. Keep stirring, adding a splash more water if it feels a little dry. As soon as the dough comes together and is cool enough to handle, start kneading with your hands. After 5 minutes you should have a nice smooth dough (and a nice clean bowl). Divide the dough evenly into 3, then each of those pieces into 2. You should end up with 6 evenly sized bits of dough. Roll each out into a sausage shape (this will make rolling out the skins later easier) and leave on a board, covered with a lightly damp tea towel, for 30 minutes to rest.
Once the dough has rested, cut one of the logs into 5 even pieces. Turn each nugget of dough on its side and roll into a round. Roll as evenly as you can, a little bigger than 8cm, then cut with an 8cm round pastry cutter to make it as even as possible (and discard the excess). Stack the pastry rounds and keep going with the dough logs until you’ve rolled them all out. You should end up with 30 gyoza skins.
Pork and Prawn Gyozas
HEARTY FISH STEW WITH ALMOND SKORDALIA
This recipe is wonderfully balanced and manages to be hearty and indulgent, yet delicate at the same time. The key is in the base; take the time to sauté the veg slowly, and reduce the wine to give it the depth it needs, before adding the fish at the end.
SERVES 4
1 onion
5 garlic cloves
2 sticks of celery
1 bulb of fennel
1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley
a good pinch of saffron
Extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1 tablespoon tomato purée
175ml dry white wine
2 fresh bay leaves
1 litre good-quality fish stock
1 × 400g tin of plum tomatoes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
125g fregola or risotto rice
1 thick slice of good white bread, around 150g
50g almonds or walnuts
2 lemons
250g sea bass or bream fillets, skin on, scaled and pin-boned
300g monkfish or other firm white fish, trimmed
200g squid, cleaned
Peel the onion and 2 of the garlic cloves and chop finely. Trim and finely chop the celery and the fennel, reserving any fennel fronds for serving. Pick the parsley leaves and leave to one side, and finely slice the stalks. Put the saffron into a small bowl, cover with 50ml of boiling water and leave to one side.
Place a large casserole or stew-pot on a medium-low heat and pour in a good drizzle of olive oil. Add the chopped veg and and parsley stalks and sauté for 15 minutes, until softened but not coloured. Crush the fennel seeds in a mortar and pestle until finely ground, then add to the pan along with the chilli flakes and tomato purée, and fry for a couple more minutes. Add the wine to the pan along with the bay leaves and gently bring to the boil. Keep on a rolling boil for 5–8 minutes, until reduced by half, then add the fish stock, saffron water and tinned tomatoes. Season, turn up the heat and bring to the boil. As it starts to bubble, reduce the heat and cover with a lid. Simmer for around 30 minutes, then blitz a little with a stick blender. You don’t have to do this, you can leave it as a chunky stew, but I like mine a little creamy too.
Add the fregola or rice to the pan, bring back to the boil, then leave to simmer for another 30 minutes uncovered, adding boiling water if it looks like it’s thickening too much.
While the stew is ticking away, make the skordalia and prepare the fish. Trim the crusts off the bread and tear into small pieces. Blitz in a food processor until you have breadcrumbs, then spoon into a bowl. Peel and roughly chop the remaining 3 garlic cloves, pop them into the food processor with the almonds, half the parsley leaves and a good pinch of salt, and blitz until finely ground. Put the breadcrumbs back into the processor with 125ml of water and blitz while slowly pouring in enough extra virgin olive oil to give you a creamy texture, around 4-5 tablespoons. Squeeze in the juice of half of a lemon and season to taste.
Cut the fish and squid into 2½cm pieces, and when the stew has had 30 minutes, pop them on top. I like to poke the squid into the stew, along with the monkfish, and lay the sea bass on top. Cover with the lid and leave to poach for 10 minutes, until the fish is tender and just cooked through.
Finely chop the remaining parsley leaves and stir through the stew along with the juice of the remaining lemons. Check the seasoning and serve, ladled into bowls and topped with a spoonful of almond skordalia and any reserved fennel fronds (and a chunk of fresh bread on the side).
Hearty Fish Stew with Almond Skordalia
SLOW-COOKED CHICKEN RENDANG WITH GENTLY SPICED RICE
I’m not in the habit of substituting red meat with chicken – however, it really works here and makes for a slightly lighter version of an incredibly hearty meal. It’s straightforward to make, too; once you’ve made the paste there isn’t a lot to do other than stir and watch. You want the chicken to be sticky and gnarly, but don’t leave it unattended or it’ll catch.
SERVES 6
300g basmati rice
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a 2cm piece of ginger
4 garlic cloves
4 shallots
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 ½ tablespoons dried chilli flakes
2 sticks of lemongrass
a 2cm piece of galangal (if you can’t find galangal, use extra ginger)
groundnut or vegetable oil
1 star anise
1 × 400g tin of coconut milk
4 kaffir lime leaves
1kg chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
1 tablespoon soft light brown sugar
75g desiccated coconut (ideally unsweetened)
a knob of butter
1 cinnamon stick
nutmeg
If you can bear it, cook your rice the day before, or well in advance. Cold cooked rice is easier to stir-fry and flavour. Fill a large saucepan with water, add a generous pinch of salt and place on a high heat. Rinse the rice in a sieve, under cold running water, then spoon into the boiling water. Reduce the heat to medium-low, so it is gently bubbling away, and cook for around 9 minutes, or according to the packet instructions. When the rice is just ready, drain it, rinse under cold water again and spread it out on a tray to cool. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until needed.
Peel and roughly chop the ginger, 2 garlic cloves and the shallots. Put into a food processor with the turmeric and chilli flakes. Add a splash of water and blitz the spices to a paste. Trim the lemongrass and bash them gently in a mortar and pestle. Peel and finely chop the galangal.
Put a large casserole-type pan on a medium heat and pour in a glug of groundnut or vegetable oil. Add the star anise and lemongrass and fry for a minute. Spoon in all the spice paste from the food processor and the chopped galangal, and reduce the heat a little. Gently sauté for 12–15 minutes to soften, stirring often so it doesn’t catch. Add the coconut milk
to the pan along with the kaffir lime leaves, then turn the heat up a little and gently bring to the boil.
Chop the chicken into large pieces and add to the pan. Stir in the brown sugar and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then cover the pan and cook on the lowest heat for around 40 minutes.
While the chicken is cooking, toast the coconut. If your desiccated coconut is sweetened, soak it in a small bowl in boiling water for a few minutes, then drain it in a sieve to remove the excess sugar. Toast the coconut in a dry frying pan over a low heat until lightly golden, then keep to one side.
When the chicken is ready, remove the lid and stir in the toasted coconut. Turn up the heat and bring the rendang back to the boil. You want to cook it over a medium-high heat for a further 35-40 minutes, so that the liquid completely cooks away and you are left with sticky and gnarly chicken, coated in the coconut spice mix.
For the rice, place a large frying pan on a medium heat and add the knob of butter with a slight drizzle of groundnut or vegetable oil. Peel and finely slice the remaining 2 garlic cloves and add to the pan along with the cinnamon stick. Fry for a couple of minutes, until golden, then add the cold cooked rice to the pan. Finely grate over a quarter of the nutmeg, season the rice generously and fry for 5–7 minutes, stirring often, until piping hot throughout. Serve alongside the chicken rendang, with a bowl of steamed beans or greens.
ROAST HARISSA BUTTER CHICKEN AND CRACKED WHEAT
This is a perfect Sunday dinner if you want something a little different but still really special. Once you’ve cooked your chicken this way I guarantee you’ll be converted, and any leftover buttery chicken is epic in a sandwich the next day.
SERVES 4
4 garlic cloves
1 preserved lemon
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
Stirring Slowly Page 9