Italian Fennel and Orange Salad
Posted: 01 September '10 by Niall
Italian fennel and orange salad
As the temperature in Northern Ireland soared to a stifling 23° last week, we were in the mood for a lighter meal when we got home from work. What better than a zesty Meditteranean salad!
Kelly is a big fan of citrus flavours so this Italian Fennel and Orange salad was a sure-fire winner.
I have to admit, I’ve only braised fennel before, never eaten it raw, so this was a bit of a revelation. The secret lies in slicing the fennel into very thin slivers. The lemon and orange juice effectively “cooks” the fennel in citric accid, so you don’t get overwhelmed by the aniseed – it’s actually very subtle.
All in all the salad is so light, clean and fresh you’ll feel very virtuous after your meal.
Although the salad can be eaten on it’s own I served ours with some butterflied and griddled chicken breasts – the salad made a very tasty accompaniment.
Serves 2
You can see more photos hereImage 2Image 3Image 4Image 5
Ingredients
- 2 good-sized fennel bulbs
- 1 Navel orange
- 1 lemon
- 3 tbs of pine nuts
- some good olive oil
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
- Drizzle a drop of olive oil into frying pan and add the pine nuts, toasting them over a low heat.
- Trim the fennel bulbs by removing any wilted or unsightly outer shoots or flesh from the bulb, and keeping the delicate fronds from the fennel.
- Slice the fennel bulb in half and cut an inverted “V” in the bulb so you remove the central, woody core.
- If you have a mandolin you can easily slice the bulbs into wafer-thin pieces – otherwise you need to use a sharp knife.
- Place the sliced fennel into a bowl and add the zest of the lemon and the zest of the orange.
- Peel the remaining skin from the orange, removing as much of the white pith as possible.
- Using a sharp knife, slice the orange into segments by running the blade down the flesh inside each vertical membrane – you should end up with lots of nice, wedge-shaped orange pieces. Place these segments into the bowl.
- Squeeze the juice from half of the lemon over your salad.
- Roughly chop the fennel fronds and add these to the fennel along with the toasted pine nuts, a splash of olive oil, and the salt and pepper.
- Toss the salad ingredients together and serve immediately.
Enjoy!
More information
There are both male and female fennel bulbs. The shorter, round bulb is the female while the taller, more slender bulbs are the males. Some think that there is a subtle difference in flavour, with the female bulbs slightly more preferred to the male.
Categories: Featured Post > Italian Food > Recipes > Side Dishes > Starter Course > Vegetables
No Comments - Click to Add Yours
Pasta by Theo Randall
Posted: 13 August '10 by Niall
Pasta by Theo Randall
Just looking back through our recipe-list it’s pretty obvious that Italian cuisine is a big favourite of ours. I think I’ve bought most of what Antonio Carluccio, Giorgio Locatelli, and Elizabeth David have written on the subject.
So it says a lot about Theo Randall’s abilities that we became such huge fans of his so quickly. I can’t quite remember the point at which we became converts, but it’s probably the first time we came across him on “Market Kitchen”. Despite regular appearances in fron tof the camera he still seems quite reserved and even shy on camera, unusual in these days of flamboyant and out-spoken TV chefs, and allows his cooking to command the viewer’s attention (a cookery programme about cooking!?! What next?!).
Theo’s recipes and cooking-style smack of authenticity, a no-nonsense approach that focuses on flavour and practicality rather that fussy chef-y flourishes, and a clear love of all things Italian. It sounds strange to say it but his recipes actually made me excited about getting back into the kitchen to try them out – I don’t think I’ve been able to say that before!
Needless to say there was a certain degree of expectation in our house when Theo Randall’s cookbook “Pasta” was published – the book really did have a lot to live up to..
What’s in the book
After a short two-page introduction to Theo Randall and his love of pasta, the book takes a quick look at fresh and dried pasta: how to make it, how to cook it, how to serve it, and how to eat it. It’s a logical start to a book about pasta, particularly when we don’t really know that much about the subject in the chilly British Isles. The tone is nice and breezy and makes easy reading, with just a slight slap on the wrist for our habit of plating up mountains of pasta for our main courses rather than a starter-sized portion, all’italiana.
Suitably chastised, we’re taken without further ado to the recipes. There are 110 of them which are divided into ingredient-based sections: Tomatoes, Vegetables, Fungi, Fish, Seafood, Meat, Poultry and Game, and Cheese.
There is a world of pasta know-how in this book, and something for everyone, for every kind of mood. If the egg- and cream-based Spaghetti Carbonara is too much for you there’s always Ravioli with Sweet Potato, Fennel and Chilli or Tagliatelle with Creme Fraiche, Parmesan and Asparagus.
The photos deserve a special mention – they are glossy, high-coloured, and well-chosen. Our evening meal has been decided by these loving close-ups even more than the recipes themselves on more than one occasion.
Details
- Title: Pasta (hardback)
- Author: Theo Randall
- Pages: 224
- Publisher: Ebury Press
- ISBN: 978-0091929008
- Cost: RRP. £18.99 (now £10.96 on Amazon)
- Where to get it: From www.amazon.co.uk
Our verdict
Pasta by Theo Randall has immediately become a treasured book in our house.
The range of recipes is impressive and the photos even more so. I’ve cooked three of these recipes so far and each one has been an absolute winner – the wonderful aromas from the kitchen, the delicious flavour of the food, the contented sounds of a meal much-enjoyed.. “Pasta” delivers all of these things.
If you even think that you might enjoy an Italian dish some night or have even a fleeting interest in Italian food, buy the book.
Other information
After 10 years as head chef at the acclaimed Italian restaurant “River Café”, Theo opened “Theo Randall at The InterContinental” in 2006. He continues to cook seasonal Italian food here to this day.
You can find out more about Theo Randall and his restaurant by visiting: www.theorandall.com.
Categories: Books for Cooks
No Comments - Click to Add Yours
Pappardelle with crème fraîche, parmesan and asparagus
Posted: 23 July '10 by Niall and Kelly
Pappardelle with creme fraiche, parmesan and asparagus
Kelly’s love of Italian food knows almost no bounds, and one of her favourite chefs is Theo Randall. I’d have to agree – his dishes always seem so flavoursome, often quite simple, and smack of authentic Italian cooking. Perfect for the home cook.
With the publication of his new book Pasta there’s now a great resource for some of his best recipes. This is one of our favourites which appears typically simple, but which delivers a satisfyingly tasty meal – Pappardelle with crème fraîche, parmesan and asparagus.
Made using egg yolks, crème fraîche and Parmesan, the sauce is particularly rich but the asparagus is a great counterbalance, cutting through the robust flavours and adding a fresh dimension – grassy and slightly bitter. The asparagus is also a fantastic visual ingredient – little shards of apple-green amidst the deep yellow of the pasta and the creamy-gold of the glossy sauce.
I’ve tinkered with the recipe a little, preferring the thick ribbons of pappardelle to tagliatelle and changing some quantities to match what was readily available at the supermarket. I’ve also used a little lemon zest and juice to give the final dish a little kick.
Serves 4 as a main course or 6 plus as a starter.
You can see more photos hereImage 2Image 3Image 4Image 5
Ingredients
- 300ml crème fraîche
- 2 egg yolks
- 150g parmesan cheese, freshly grated, plus extra to serve
- 500g fresh pappardelle (you could use tagliatelle)
- 200g young asparagus spears, trimmed and finely sliced at an angle
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lemon, zested and squeezed
Method
- Put the crème fraîche, egg yolks and a tablespoon of lemon juice in a large bowl and set it over a pan of simmering water, making sure the water does not touch the base of the bowl.
- Whisk vigorously with a balloon whisk until the mixture is the consistency of yoghurt and then sprinkle in the grated parmesan, whisking continuously.
- The sauce is ready when it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon – Check the seasoning and then leave to one side.
- Put the pappardelle and asparagus in a saucepan of boiling, slightly salted water and cook until both the pasta and asparagus still have a little stiffness to them. It should take between 3 and 5 minutes.
- Drain the pasta thoroughly and add the sauce – as much as you want, but remember that the dish really doesn’t need to be swamped in the sauce – tossing the pasta to mix the sauce through.
- Serve with some freshly ground black pepper, some lemon zest and more parmesan.
Enjoy!
Categories: Featured Post > Italian Food > Pasta > Recipes > Starter Course
No Comments - Click to Add Yours
Chicken Parmigiana
Posted: 10 June '10 by Niall
Chicken Parmigiana
I honestly can’t remember where I came across this recipe, but I always thought that it would make a quick and easy mid-week meal.
We were housing-sitting for Kelly’s Mum and Dad recently and had to come up with a menu that Kelly’s sister would also enjoy. Katie has very exacting standards when it comes to meal-times, so there was some doubt whether this recipe would ever be made. There was no need to worry though – the Chicken Parmigiana was a resounding success! So much so that it got a mention in Katie’s phone-call to her parents that night – if that isn’t a sign of approval, I don’t know what is.
If you’re thinking of adding this dish to your repertoire, I have a word of advice – you need a sharp knife to butterfly the chicken breasts. While this may not present a stumbling block to most, my experience is that when you’re cooking in your mother’s house a sharp knife is impossible to find (this is based on a study of 2 out of 2 mothers). To save yourself a lot of heartache, come prepared..
Serves 4 (or a very hungry 2)
You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image 4Image 5Image 6Image 7Image 8Image 9
Ingredients
- 4 bone-less and skin-less chicken breasts
- 1 cup of plain flour
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil, for cooking
- 2 tablespoons of butter, for cooking
- 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 3/4 glass of red wine (optional)
- 2 tins of chopped tomatoes
- 250g of grated mozzarella
- 100g of grated parmesan
- A handful of fresh basil
- 450g packet of spinach (or a 260g packet if you’re cooking for 2)
- A packet of Stirato bread
Method
- Trim any fat from the chicken breasts
- We need to make the chicken breasts nice and flat, and thin enough so that they will cook quickly. To butterfly the chicken breasts delicately slice at the start of a thicker piece of the meat, angling the blade to 45 degrees. If the knife is sharp you won’t need to exert any pressure, and one stroke will have a nice, shallow slice in the meat. Repeat this procedure until you have a flat piece of chicken breast.
- Mix the flour, salt, and pepper together on in a deep bowl.
- Dredge the flattened chicken breasts in the flour, making sure that the meat has been covered. Now, set the chicken aside on another plate.
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°
- Place the olive oil and butter in a non-stick pan and heat over a medium heat. When butter is melted and the mixture is foaming and hot, fry chicken breasts until nice and golden-brown on each side.
- Remove chicken breasts from the frying-pan and place on a clean plate.
- In the same pan, add the finely chopped garlic and allow to sweat until it has become translucent.
- If you’re using the red wine, pour the wine into the pan and allow the liquid to reduce by half.
- Pour the chopped tomatoes into the pan and cook until the watery juice has virtually disappeared and you’re left with a thick sauce.
- Add the chopped basil to your sauce and stir thoroughly.
- You’re ready to cook the spinach – place the spinach leaves in a large saucepan with a little water in the bottom of the saucepan, and place over a medium heat.
- Pour your tomato sauce into a deep casserole dish and carefully place the chicken breasts into the sauce, making sure that the surface of the chicken stays well above the sauce.
- Sprinkle the grated mozzarella on top of the chicken breasts, followed by the grated parmesan.
- Place the casserole dish in the oven – along with the Stirato bread – and allow the Chicken Parmigiana to heat through until the mozzarella has melted.
- Once the spinach has fully wilted, press the back of a spoon against the spinach leaves until the water in the leaves has been released. Drain the liquid.
- Spoon the spinach onto the plate and, using a large spoon, scoop a chicken breast (along with plenty of the sauce) onto the dish.
- Roughly tear off a portion of the bread and place it on the side of the plate – you’ll need this to mop the sauce up!
- Sprinkle any remaining parmesan over the chicken and serve.
Enjoy.
Categories: Chicken > Featured Post > Italian Food > Main Course > Recipes
1 Comment
Pasta al nivuro di siccia
Posted: 21 May '10 by Niall
Pasta al nivuro di siccia
Ever since I managed to find some sachets of squid ink I’ve been dying to make pasta al nivuro di siccia – pasta in squid ink sauce.
I’d never seen the dish in person and I’ve only managed to track down a few photographs online, which only added to the mystique. It’s always seemed like the most exotic attack on the senses – delicate rings of squid mixed through a healthy serving of pasta, drenched in a midnight-black sauce – you have to overcome some subsconscious barrier which tells you that, despite the marvellous aroma, nothing that looks like that should be in your mouth.
With St. George’s market still several days away we paid a flying visit to the Chinese supermarket on Donegall Pass to locate the last elusive ingredient, the squid.
Finally, and with a growing sense of trepidation, I was ready to attempt the recipe..
You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image 4Image 5Image 6Image 7
Serves 3-4
Ingredients
- 2 large squid tubes
- 2 sachets of squid ink
- 1 can chopped tomatoes
- 1 medium red onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 500g long pasta (such as spaghetti or linguine – we used the latter)
- 120g grated pecorino cheese (parmesan will do at a pinch)
- Flaked red chilli
Method
- After washing the squid tubes, carefully peel off the outer membrane, taking care not to tear the soft, white flesh.
- Slice the squid tubes into 1cm-thick rings and leave to one side.
- Finely chop the red onion and garlic.
- Cook your pasta in a separate saucepan with some lightly salted water – drain and leave to one side when the pasta is al dente.
- Pour a good glug of olive oil into a deep saucepan and sweat the onion and garlic over a low heat.
- When the onion has softened and become translucent, add the chopped tomatoes and stir thoroughly.
- When the tomato sauce has heated through, add the squid rings and allow them to cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the squid ink and watch your sauce transform from a vibrant red to an inky black.
- Add the chilli flakes (as much as you think you could handle) and stir thoroughly.
- Take your cooked pasta and tip the pasta into your sauce, stirring the sauce through the pasta.
- Serve each portion of your pasta and squid ink sauce in deep dishes, grating the pecorino and drizzling some good olive oil over the pasta at the last moment.
Enjoy!
Thought for food
Traditional Italian cookery dictates that it’s sacrilege to add cheese to any seafood dish – but seafood with pecorino (well, anything with pecorino) is our guilty pleasure. Kelly and I just love the flavour far too much to leave it out. Whether you add cheese to this dish or not is between you and your conscience.
Squid ink is an intense black colour and has a strong iodine taste which is strangely addictive. I just couldn’t get enough of the pasta in squid ink sauce – it was on my mind for hours after our meal, and I found myself making excuses to visit the kitchen for another nibble.
Other information
Image 7 is taken from another, excellent blog – FX Cuisine (just until we get a decent one ourselves!).
Categories: Featured Post > Italian Food > Main Course > Pasta > Recipes > Seafood
