Risotto of Peas

Risotto of Peas

Risotto of Peas, Anchovies, Salad onions and Herbs

Ingredients:

• 900 gr fresh peas in the pod
• 12 Special selection fillets of anchovies in oil, drained and chopped
• 100 gr salads onion, trimmed of most of their green parts and roughly chopped
• 1 level tablespoon chopped fresh mint
• 1 level tablespoon snipped fresh chives
• 725 ml fresh chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 75 gr butter
• 200 gr rice
• 150 ml dry white wine
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve :
25 gr butter
A few parmesan shavings

Methods:

1. Pod the peas, saving their shells. Put the stock in a large saucepan, alon with bay leaves, then wash and chop the pea pods and add them to the stock. Allow to simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes, then strain through a sieve into a second saucepan, making sure you predd down well on the mushy pods to extract maximum flavour. Discard the pea pods and bay leaves and keep the stock on a low heat.

2. Meanwhile, in a large, heavy-based pan, melt the butter and fry the salad onions over a medium heat until they are soft and translucent. Add the peas and allow them to stew for a minutes before adding the rice, then stir over a meagre flame until everything is well coated with the butter. Pour in the white wine and allow it to bubble gently, until it has been absorbed by the rice. Now, keepin the pan on a low heat, start to add the hot pea and chicken stock, 1 ladleful at a time, allowing each addition of liquid to be fully absorbed before introducing the next. Keep stirring gently with wooden spoon.

3. Check the texture of the rice as you go along-it should be cooked through yet firm but not chalky in the middle- as you may not need to add all the stock. The resultant texture should be sloppy but not soupy.

4. Add the mint , chives and anchovy fillets, and stir them in. Check for seasoning before adding salt, but grind in plenty of pepper. Before serving, take the pan from the heat, stir in the extra butter and cover for 5 minutes. Scatter a little parmesan on top of the risotto.

Plums on Panetton

Plums on Panetton

Ingredients:

• 8 ripe Victoria plums
• 1 slice panetton, pandoro, brioche or good quality white bread
• 25 g muscovado sugar
• 1 tablespoon flaked almonds
• 25 g unsalted butter, softened
• 10 g caster sugar

Way to make it :
1. Cut a small slit in the side of each plum and extract the stone, trying to keep the plums whole. Pinch up some muscovado suar and put a clump into the middle of each plum where the stone was. Now gather up up a pinch of flaked almonds and plant them a little way into the sugar. once all the plums have been filled, leave them to one side.

2. Spread half the softened butter thickly over the slice of panetton, then sprinkle half the caster sugar over the top. Place the plums on top of panetton, almond-side upwards, then sprinkle over the remaining 5g of caster sugar and dot over the remaining butter, along with any muscovado sugar you might have left over.

3. Put the plums and panetton on to the buttered baking tray and bake in the hot oven f0r 25-30 minutes-the timing very much depends on how ripe the fruit is. When the plums have started to wilt a little, but are still holding their shape, remove from the oven.

4. Serve with double creame or mascarpone as you pleasure.

Piperades Peppers

Piperades Peppers

Ingredients :

• 4 large peppers ( total weigh = 900g )
• 3 large onions (225g)
• 450 g ripe tomatoes
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons extra virgine olive oil
• 4 gloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 3 level tablespoons finely chopped parsley
• salt and freshly round black pepper

To serve :
150 gr wild rice
1 vegetable stock cube

Preheat oven 230'C

Way to make it :
1. Put the whole pepper in a large bowl and pour boiling water over them. Leave them to stand for 5 minutes, drain and refresh under cold running water. Slice off their tops and scoop out the insides, keeping the pappers cases intact but removing all pith and pips.
Pat them dry inside and out, place upside down on a roasting tray and cook in the oven for 20 minutes. This process makes them soft and more digestible. Place them on a serving dish, with the open ends pointing upwards, and keep warm.

2. Cook the rice (see instruction on the box), adding a crushed vegetable stock cube. ( Use rice cooker )

3. Meanwhile, peel and chop the onions. Make a small cross on the underside of each tomato and leave to stand in boiling water for 1 minute. Peel, chop them in a small dice , discarding the seeds. Cut up the good bits of the leftover pepper tops. In a clean bowl, whisk the eggs with plenty salt and pepper.

4. When the rice is cooked,heat the olive oil in a large nonstick frying pan over a medium heat and cook the shallot ( or onions), garlic and chopped pepper for 10 minutes or so, until cooked but retaining some bite. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring everything around with a wooden spatula, for a further 5 minutes.

5. Turn the heat up to high then pour the eggs into the pan and scramble quickly, until cooked to your liking. Add the parsley, some extra ground pepper, and spoon the mixture into and around the peppers. To serve, spread the rice around the stuffed peppers, too.

6. The meal is perfect rounded off with a piece of cheese and some pungent leave such as watercress or rocket.

Bake Polenta

Bake Polenta wrapped in Pancetta with parsley and garlic

Inredients:

• 175 gr Audisio polenta, weighed into a bowl or jug
• 280 gr sliced pancetta
• 20 gr flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced as thinly as possible
• 50 gr unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 2 level tablespoons freshly grated parmesan

You also need 8 wooden satay sticks (presoaked in warm water for 10 minutes before using)

Methods:

To make the polenta :

Bring 1 litre of sated water to the boil in a large, heavy bottomed pan. Take a large hand whisk and start to stir the water. With other hand allow the polenta to flow from the bowl in a fine and steady, sand-like stream. Do not stop whisking until the polenta has been added.

Turn the heat down to low and continue whisking for a few moments, then turn the heat down to the lowest, preferably using a diffuser pad.

Change the whisk for a wooden spoon and continue stirring with this. Be careful as the polenta has a tendency to bubble and spit.

Once the polenta starts to come away from the sides of the saucepan, stir in the unsalted butter, until it is fully incorporated. Pour the polenta into the lightly oiled dish, smooth the surface with a spatula and leave to one side until cold and set (it will take about 1 hour).

When the polenta is ready, preheat the oven to 190'C. Then turn out the set polenta, trim the edges and cut into 40 evenly sized pieces. Roll the pieces in the chopped parsley.

Place 1-2 slices of the garlic on top of each piece of polenta, then wrap each one in pancetta: you will have 20 round slices of pancetta, so cut each slice into 2 as you come to use it, making enough slices to wrap each piece of polenta.

Secure each piece by threading them on to the presoaked satay sticks, making sure the sticks runs through the join of the strip of pansetta. Allow 5 pieces to each stick.

Place the sticks on the rack suspended over the oven tray and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until the pancetta is crisp and golden, sizzling and crusty. Serve with a dusting of grated parmesan and a few lightly bt sharply dressed crisp salad leaves, such as hearts of cos lettuce.