Category: parmesan

Categories
leeks parmesan pasta pesto pine nuts ricotta spring onion

green pesto penne

If you don’t follow Gennaro Contaldo on Instagram, you’re missing out. He posts great food all the time. When he posted a picture of a lunch time special, I had to make it. He didn’t really describe a recipe so here’s my recipe for a green pesto penne inspired by Gennaro Contaldo.

JI Canary Wharf Docklands Another special of the day, our own freshly homemade mezzemaniche pasta with zucchini, mint, spring onion and pecorino pesto, topped up with buffalo baked ricotta and grated pecorino #zuchinni #pesto #buffalo #ricotta #courgette #jamiesitalian

A post shared by Gennaro Contaldo (@gennarocontaldo) on

Since employing Jamie Oliver in the Neal Street restaurant in the 1990s, the two have always had a close relationship. Gennaro looks on him like a son, and Jamie gives him credit for properly teaching him Italian cuisine. Hence, Gennaro has a mentor / ambassadorial role at Jamie’s Italian, roaming their branches spreading his love and knowledge of Italian food. What joy he must bring to their kitchens, with his infectious attitude and heavily accented English. I love him when he’s on TV, and he was just as genial when I met him in 2016.

Pesto is a great catch-all recipe and this spring pesto penne recipe is a good store cupboard standby. This recipe brings together great produce and turns it into a veg-packed sauce that glows with goodness. You could easily substitute the mint for another leafy one, or swap whatever greens you have on hand. Just blanch as needed to tenderise or quieten harsh flavours. Don’t skip the ricotta, the nutty creaminesss is a perfect foil to the herby flavours.

Apart from baking the ricotta, the whole thing can be done in under 15 minutes so is a great weekday dinner.

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green pesto penne

Course Main Dish
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 4 people
Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

  • 250 g ricotta
  • dried oregano
  • 1 lemon
  • 3 spring onions
  • 1 courgette topped and tailed
  • 1 small leek
  • 250g penne
  • 1 mint large bunch
  • 25 g pine nuts
  • 20 g parmesan freshly grated

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 200C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Put the ricotta on this, drizzle with olive oil, grate over the zest of half a lemon, sprinkle with salt and a pinch of oregano. Bake for 30 mins or until tinged brown at the edges.
  • Get a large pan of salted water on to boil. When boiling furiously, add the spring onions, courgette and leek and blanch for two minutes to take the harsh notes out of the onion and start tendering the veg. Don't discard the water, now use it to cook your pasta.
  • While the pasta cooks, add the veg, mint, pine nuts, a swig of extra virgin olive oil and a large pinch of salt to a food processor and blitz to pieces. When everything is broken down, trickle in some more oil to make a paste. Stop the motor and grate in plenty of parmesan, lemon juice and a big splash of the pasta cooking water. Taste and add more salt, lemon or oil as required until you have a loose sauce.
  • When the pasta is cooked, drain and return to the pan. Toss the sauce with the pasta until well-coated. Serve in bowls, garnishing with rough chunks of baked ricotta, pine nuts and parmesan.
Categories
parmesan polenta

crispy polenta fries

I felt like something different for a recent barbecue. Much as I like wedges or caesar salads sometimes it’s good to ring the changes. How about some crispy polenta fries? They go great with just about anything!

I use quick cook polenta, made up a little firmer than usual. Leave to set in the fridge, carve, breadcrumb and fry. One of the best things about this recipe is you can change what you mix the polenta in and the flavour changes drastically.

You can also make much of it in advance which makes it great if you’ve got people coming round.

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Bonus tip: these crispy polenta fries work really well with a dash of rosemary salt – just bash some chopped rosemary with some sea salt and sprinkle over. And if you want to really push the boat out, add a drop of truffle oil to pull the flavours together!

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crispy polenta fries

Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

  • 400 ml chicken stock
  • 100 g quick cook polenta
  • 10 g freshly grated parmesan
  • Pinch mixed dried herbs (I used oregano, rosemary and parsley)

For breading:

  • 2 eggs beaten
  • 100 g panko breadcrumbs

Instructions

  • Grease a 14cm square baking tray and line with baking paper.
  • Get the stock on to a fast boil. Mix the herbs, polenta and parmesan together and whisk into the stock in a steady stream. It will immediately thicken and keep whisking for another minute until smooth. Pour into the baking tray and smooth over. Leave in the fridge to set for at least an hour.
  • Get your eggs and breadcrumbs ready in separate bowls. Cut the polenta into finger shapes, and dip into egg then breadcrumbs. Put the polenta fingers in the fridge for another 30 minutes to keep firm.
  • Get a large frying pan over a medium heat and add a thin layer of oil. Fry the polenta fingers for a couple of minutes on each side until golden brown.

Looking for other unusual sides? Try my courgette fries, booze-braised sweetcorn or mushroom and herb polenta.

Categories
bacon broccoli egg parmesan tomato

bbt tortilla

What a great year it’s been for tomatoes. The plants in my garden have been raving with fruit, and they’ve been bursting with sweetness. A really bumper crop. Most of them have ended up in pasta sauce and pizza topping but these ones were deserving of a little more.

And so I happened across a recipe for a “BLT tortilla” in the SORTED cookbook but didn’t fancy rocket in mine, so some frozen broccoli jumped in instead. Coupled with refreshing, sweet tomatoes what you get is a portable and tasty lunch that’d be great in a picnic or easily upgraded to main meal status with a decent salad.

BBT tortilla (serves 4 – 6):

6 rashers smoked bacon, diced

About 12 frozen broccoli florets

8 eggs

A couple of handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

A handful of grated parmesan

  1. Get a frying pan over a high heat and preheat the oven to 180°C. Add a dash of oil to the pan and fry the bacon briskly until coloured, and then add the broccoli. Stir fry until the broccoli has started to soften.
  2. Mix the eggs in a bowl with the parmesan, a pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Pour this and the tomatoes into the pan, and take this opportunity to space the veg around the pan evenly. When that’s done transfer to the oven and bake for 15 – 20 minutes until the wobble has just gone. Leave to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out and serving.
Categories
black truffles food parmesan pasta

spaghetti with truffles

Some good friends gave me some Carluccio’s black truffles as a gift; the least I could do was serve it back to them. I thought this recipe would be one that Carluccio himself would be pleased with as it has minimal ingredients and ready in under 10 minutes. Mof-mof indeed.

Spaghetti with truffles (serves 4):

250g spaghetti (fancy bronze-die cut stuff if you can get it)

30g butter

30g parmesan, grated

1 black truffle

  1. Cook the spaghetti in plenty of salted boiling water until al dente. Like, proper toothy.
  2. As the spaghetti is nearly cooked, gently melt the butter. When the pasta is ready add it to the butter at the same time as the parmesan. Toss like crazy and add a real big punch of black pepper. Serve immediately, grating over black truffle to taste.
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