Sally Serves It Up

I think crostini are a fabulous and easy alternative to doing individual starters. On Saturday night I made three options and served before the main course with some salami and olives. There are a million different combinations to try but they should all start out with some thinly sliced ciabatta, toasted and rubbed lightly with a cut garlic clove. The ones I made were:

Buffalo mozzarella with truffle oil - This is pretty self explanatory but make sure you get the best quality mozzarella you can afford.

Buffalo mozzarella with basil, mint and chilli - Finely chop some basil and mint and sprinkle on top of the mozzarella with some chilli and a drizzle of olive oil.

Pea, ricotta and mint - In a small blender, blitz about two cups of cooked peas with a handful of chopped mint & basil, two tbsp olive oil and two tbsp of ricotta. Stir in the zest and juice of one lemon and season well with salt and pepper.

Some other ones you could try are lightly blended chickpeas or any other bean that you’ve cooked in stock drizzled with some garlic oil; sauteed mushrooms with garlic, parsley and butter; or try cooking some cavolo nero in some salted boiling water with a couple cloves of garlic and then blend with a little olive oil & serve with some parmesan shavings on top. The combinations are endless but Jamie is always a good place to start.

I’ve said before how much I love my new Simon Hopkinson book and this recipe did nothing to stop the love from turning into a full blown obsession. It was simple, delicious and easy. It was also a lovely alternative to the traditional Sunday roast. The cider sweetens up the rather bitter chicory but it still retains its distinctive flavour to balance the sweet shallots and pork.

I served it up with the crispiest roast potatoes. Frank had these left over in the freezer from Christmas which was Sainsbury’s magazine’s top tip for crispy potatoes. Simply par boil them in salted water for about 8 minutes and then pop them into a plastic bag in the freezer. You can do this in batches and have them on reserve. Roast as usual from frozen in a hot tray with some olive oil for about an hour.

Ingredients - Serves 4

700g pork loin (rind removed and seasoned with salt and pepper)

4 chicory (remove the inner core with a small knife)

300ml dry cider

Dash of cider vinegar

2 shallots, finely chopped

Knob of salted butter

Olive Oil

Salt and Black Pepper

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C. In a solid bottomed pan (e.g. Le Creuset) heat some olive oil and brown the pork on all sides. This should take about 10 minutes to get it really lovely and crispy. When done, take the pork out and put to one side. Meanwhile, heat the butter until frothing and add the chicory. Brown them in the butter until they caramalise a bit - for about 4-5 minutes. Then add the shallots and toss them around. Push the chicory to the sides of the pot and put the pork back in the middle. Pour in the cider and vinegar and put in the oven (without the lid). After 30 minutes, turn the pork over and cook for another 30 minutes. It should be ready by this point. Take out of the oven and put the pork and endive onto a heated plate. Meanwhile, put the pot onto the hob and heat on a high flame to reduce the liquid a bit until you’ve got the consistency you want.

Spoon the sauce over the pork and serve it up with the roast potatoes.

Pasta is probably my favourite food in the entire world. Saying that, I don’t eat it all the time so when I do, I want it to be good. Much to my boyfriend’s annoyance, I’ve started buying the extra super duper posh pasta from Waitrose. Even he admits you can taste the difference and I honestly believe it’s worth every penny. It does cost about £4 for 250g which is pretty expensive in pasta pounds but it’s incredible. It also means you don’t have to make overly complicated sauces - just enjoy the pasta itself.

This dish focuses on the quality of the papardelle and pairs it with some delicious truffle oil I bought in Florence. It tasted pretty spesh, if I say so myself.

Ingredients - Serves 2

200g papardelle

Small handful of basil, finely chopped

Small handful of parsley, finely chopped

About 2 large portobello mushrooms per person, sliced 1/2 cm thick

Truffle Oil - I would say about 3-4 tbsp but do it to your taste

2 thin slices of salted butter

Freshly grated parmesan

Salt and Black Pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Meanwhile, heat a large frying pan with some butter and fry the mushrooms, making sure the pan is hot and you don’t overcrowd it. Season with some salt and pepper and turn off the heat when they’re cooked through. Cook the pasta per packet instructions. Drain and toss through the herbs, truffle oil and knob of butter. Taste and add seasoning or more oil if you like. Serve with the mushrooms on top and some freshly grated parmesan.

p.s. Here’s the link to the pasta on Ocado.com
http://www.ocado.com/webshop/product/Pasta-Di-Aldo-Pappardelle-All-Uovo-Dried-Pasta/45542011?from=search&tags=|20000&param=papardelle&parentContainer=SEARCHpapardelle_SHELFVIEW

My mother cooked me this delicious meal last night by my beloved Jamie Oliver. I loved the taste of the cooked basil and olives with the melting anchovies and sweet tomatoes. It’s healthy and satisfying.

Ingredients - Serves 2

100g green beans

10 cherry tomatoes

1 tbsp olive oil

2 salmon fillets

6 anchovy fillets

1 lemon

Handful of basil

Salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees. Blanch the greens beans in some salted, boiling water. Drain and put into a roasting tray, keeping them to one end of the tray. Toss through with the tomatoes, olives, basil, a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Then lay the anchovies on top. Rub the salmon fillets in some olive oil, salt and pepper, and put at the other end of the tray. Squeeze the lemon over everything. Cook in the oven for about 10 minutes and serve it up with a wedge of lemon.

I won’t lie, this is the yummiest, most exciting thing I’ve had for supper in a while. Inspired by a recipe I saw in Simon Hopkinson’s book, I made venison steaks with anchovy mayo, sprouting broccoli and asparagus. Calorie wise, it isn’t too bad: venison is the leanest steak you can have and instead of full fat homemade mayo, I used Hellman’s light (NOT lighter than light which reminds me of some sort of marshmallow formation). I know there are some really punchy flavours going on here, from the gamey venison to the salty anchovies, but somehow everything works beautifully together. Please try it out.

Ingredients - Serves 2

2 medium venison steaks

Sprouting broccoli, green beans or asparagus - as much as you’d like!

4 tbsp mayonnaise

4 anchovy fillets

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large garlic clove, crushed

1 lemon

For the mayo: In a pestle and mortar, crush the anchovy fillets into a paste. Add the mayo with the juice of the lemon and a dash of pepper. Stir everything together and set aside until ready to serve.

For the veg: Cook the veg in salted boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain and run under some cold water. Put aside until you’ve cooked the steaks. When you have and you’ve wrapped them up to rest, heat a wok with 1 tsp oil and then add the garlic and veg. Toss everything together and fry for about 2 minutes until the garlic is cooked and the greens have taken on a bit of colour.

For the steaks (medium-rare): Heat a frying pan with 1 tsp oil until really hot and then add the steaks. Fry on one side for 3 minutes and turn over and cook on the other side for 2 minutes. Wrap them up in some foil and let them rest for 5 minutes while you fry the veg.

Serve the steak and greens on a plate with a big dollop of the anchovy mayo. Delish.

This is my much trusted recipe for paella from Olive magazine. It’s incredibly easy and pretty healthy since I’ve cut out the oil and slightly reduced the amount of rice per portion. Try it out for a romantic date a deux or increase the quantities for a dinner party - it will definitely impress your guests and it’s not like risotto where you have to stand there stirring, you can let it cook by itself while you enjoy a glass of wine with your friends. Be liberal with the lemon - it gives everything a really fresh flavour.

Ingredients - Serves 2

1 red pepper, copped into bite sized chunks

1 white onion, sliced

100g sliced chorizo

125g bomba rice

125g cooked prawns

Pinch of saffron

400ml chicken stock

1 lemon

Large handful of parsley, finely chopped

Cooking spray

In a large frying pan (which has a lid), heat some cooking spray and cook the onion and pepper for about 5 minutes. When soft, add the chorizo and fry for a few minutes until it has released some of its paprika oils and crisped up a bit. Add the rice and coat it in the oils. Then add the stock with the saffron and put the lid on. Cook for 15 minutes until the rice is tender. When ready, add the prawns and let them heat through for about 1 minute. Stir in the lemon juice and parsley and serve.

Frank got me the new Simon Hopkinson book for Christmas. It’s a beautiful book with some really fabulous recipes and interesting ideas. Tonight, I tried the tandoori chicken, which was actually chicken tikka since Sainsbury’s didn’t have any tandoori spice. It was fantastic, easy and quick (aside from the marinating…), plus there’s no oil involved which is an added New-Year-health-regime bonus. Get the oven really hot so that the skin crisps up properly. Serve it up with some plain basmati rice, spinach and mango chutney.

Ingredients - Serves 4

1.5kg chicken thighs and drumsticks, skin scored quite deeply

3-4 tbsp tandoori or tikka spice

1 tbsp salt

2 small lemons

500g natural yoghurt

In a large bowl, mix the chicken with the salt and lemon juice. Mix the spice mixture with the yoghurt and add to the mixing bowl, making sure everything is nicely coated in the sauce. Cover with clingfilm and marinade for as long as possible - at least 2-3 hours.

Preheat the oven to 230 degrees C. Take a roasting tray and cover with foil. Then place a cooking rack on top. Arrange the chicken over the rack and cook in the oven for about 25 minutes until the skin has gone really crispy - you want it almost black in places. Pop it under the grill if you’re not getting the desired effect.