“ボルロッティ豆のピュレとパッパルデレ”
This humble pasta was once made as staff food by a Tuscan chef when I worked at a trattoria in London.
In Italian, crema means cream and is often used to describe a smooth purée made from cooked vegetables or legumes. Peas, chickpeas, courgettes, potatoes, pumpkins — the possibilities are endless, depending on what’s in season. The ingredients are sometimes cooked with onion or stock before being blitzed into a smooth purée.
I was fascinated by how simple vegetables could be turned into such delicious pasta sauces. This pappardelle with borlotti bean purée is the very essence of the resourcefulness of Italian cooking that I adore: transforming humble ingredients into something unexpectedly delicious. Coming across dishes like this was most rewarding and reassuring an uncertain period in my kitchen career.
Ingredients for 2
Cooked borlotti beans, drained 150g
Olive oil 3tbsp
Garlic cloves, large, crushed 2
Chilli to taste
Baby plum tomatoes, halved a handful
Spinach a handful
Pappardelle
Parmesan cheese, grated
Blanch the spinach in boiling salted water. Drain, squeeze out the excess water and chop coarsely.
Blend the beans into a smooth purée, adding a little water if the mixture is too thick to blend.
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil for the pasta. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil, crushed garlic and chilli gently in a frying pan over a low heat. Once fragrant, discard the garlic before it burns. Add the tomatoes and cook until they begin to soften and lose their shape. Add a little water if needed to prevent them from sticking or burning.
Cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Add the bean purée to the frying pan and stir in a little pasta water to loosen the sauce.
When the pasta is almost cooked, transfer it to the frying pan. Add the spinach and toss everything together over the heat, adding more pasta water as needed to adjust the consistency of the sauce. Continue cooking until the pasta is al dente and the sauce reaches your desired thickness.
Serve with a drizzle of good-quality olive oil and grated Parmesan, if desired.
“洋梨のケーキ、ブルーチーズクランブル”
I love the appearance of each imperfect pear, standing proudly like a still-life painting, still reminiscent of the longing for Europe I felt during my pre-university art school days in Japan. I wanted to incorporate their natural beauty in this cake. I included whole pears in the cake batter, gently squeezing them in.
For a savoury twist, I added blue cheese to the mixture and topped it with more cheese and a crunchy oat crumble.
Ingredients for a 17cm x 5cm cake tin
Pear 2
Blue cheese 40g
Unsalted butter 80g(bring to room temperature)
Sugar 100g
Egg 2
Plain flour 100g
Almond flour 30g
Baking powder 1/2tsp
Salt a pinch
For the crumbles
Unsalted butter 10g
Sugar 10g
Plain flour 10g
Rolled oat 15g
Ground Cinnamon 1/4tsp
Ground Cloves 1/4tsp
Salt a pinch
Blue Cheese 20g
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line the cake tin with parchment paper.
Whisk the butter and sugar together until pale. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Sift the dry ingredients and fold them into the mixture.
Pour the mixture into the tin halfway. Press the pears into the mixture, leaving space between them. Arrange small chunks of blue cheese around the pears. Fill the gaps around the pears with more cake mixture. Drop the tin from a height of about 5 cm onto the worktop to release any air bubbles.
Melt the butter for the crumble in a bowl and mix with the remaining ingredients, except the cheese. Arrange small chunks of cheese on top of the cake and cover with the crumble, pressing it down so it sticks.
Bake for 60 minutes, or until a skewer can easily pierce the pear and comes out clean from the centre of the cake. After the cake has cooled, gently remove it from the tin.
“ローストビーツと山羊チーズのサラダ”
A sweet, lukewarm beetroot salad with creamy goat cheese and toasted walnuts. A taste of the coming winter.
Ingredients for 2
Beetroot 2
Soft goat cheese (such as caprine or chavroux )
Walnut A handful
Dill
Lemon (zest) 1/2
Honey 2tbsp
Aceto condimento 2tbsp
EVOO 1tbsp
Vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Wash the beetroots and cut off the leaves, reserving them to blanch and add to the salad later. Rub the beetroots with a little vegetable oil, wrap them individually in foil and roast for about 40 minutes, depending on their size. They are ready when a cocktail stick slides in easily. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
Drizzle the walnuts with a little vegetable oil and season with salt. Roast in the oven at 200°C for 5 minutes.
Once the beetroots are cool enough to handle, rub off the skins using kitchen paper. Slice the beetroots.
Mix the honey, aceto condiment, olive oil and lemon zest to make the dressing. Season with salt and pepper. While the beetroot slices are still lukewarm, toss them in the dressing to coat.
Arrange the beetroot on a plate. Top with the walnuts, crumbled goat cheese and dill.