Burrata with salad
Burrata is a soft, very creamy cheese that has a delicate flavour and goes well with summery vegetables. This salad takes only a couple of minutes to prepare, but the flavours speak for themselves.
You will need:
- Oak leaf lettuce
- Rocket
- Pachino cherry tomatoes
- Olio D'Olivia olive oil (for a stronger flavour try Planeta or Selvapiana olive oils)
- Squeezed lemon juice
- Maldon sea salt
- Wynad white pepper
- Fresh Burrata cheese
Refresh the leaves by placing them in iced water for 10 minutes, rinse well and spin if possible, removing as much moisture as you can. Chop the pachino tomatoes into quarters. Combine a couple of tablespoons of olive oil with a teaspoon of lemon juice, sea salt and freshly ground white pepper. Keep the dressing and leaves seperate until ready to serve to avoid them losing their crispness.
Take the Burrata and slice into small strips - it is very soft so you will find the pieces need to be fairly thick to stay together. Arrange the leaves in the serving dish, pointing the stalk of each leaf towards the centre of the bowl. Add the tomatoes and cheese and drizzle with the dressing. How easy is that!
Frittata for picnics
Frittata is the perfect picnic food. In fact it's the perfect food and somehow appeals at any time of the day. You can eat it for breakfast, in a panino for elevenses, warm with light salad for lunch, or with boiled potatoes and greens for supper.
It is the easiest and most versatile dish to cook. Use good eggs, organic if possible, and keep it simple. I usually use two or three ingredients to flavour the eggs. You need a good, heavy-bottomed non-stick frying pan. Use enough eggs to fill the frying pan so the frittata is nice and thick and cooks slowly. A small 20cm frying pan will make a frittata for two, using five eggs.
You will need:
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil and a good blob of butter
- 2 medium onions, peeled and very finely sliced
- 2-3 cold, cooked potatoes, diced (saved from the day before)
- 5 organic eggs
- Maldon sea salt and black pepper
Warm the oil and butter and cook the finely sliced onions until they are soft and slightly singed at the edges. Add the diced potatoes, heat them through and turn the heat up to let them crisp up a little at the edges.
Beat the eggs and season them well. Turn the heat down to medium and add the eggs, moving them around so they coat the potatoes and onions. Now let the frittata cook slowly in its own time. As it solidifies at the bottom, tip the frying pan to let the liquid egg seep underneath but other than that let it be.
When it has almost completely solidified and is dry on top, put a large plate over the frying pan. Tip the frittata on to it and slide it, upside down, back into the frying pan. Let it cook for a further 5 minutes or so on the bottom just to finish the underside, and it's done. Serve warm or cold, not piping hot.
Frittata with courgettes, pecorino and mint: Slice 2 medium courgettes finely and cook them in the butter and oil, browning them a little at the edges. Add the eggs, 3-4 tablespoons grated pecorino and a tablespoon of chopped fresh mint.
Frittata with Fonteluna sausage and potato: Skin the sausage by running a sharp knife down the side and sliding off the skin. Cut the sausage thinly and cook it in the butter and oil. Add a couple of chopped cold, cooked potatoes and cook them until they brown a little too. Add the eggs and cook as above.
Tiramisu
The classic 'pick-me-up' pudding, flavoured with liqueur and coffee
You will need:
- 2 large organic, free-range eggs, separated
- 4-5 tablespoons icing sugar
- 4 tablespoons Marsala or Kahlua
- 400g mascarpone cheese
- 100ml strong espresso coffee
- ½ packet Savoiardi biscuits (lady's fingers)
- Some chocolate to grate on top
Beat the egg yolks to fluff them up and whisk in three-quarters of the icing sugar. Add a tablespoon of the liqueur to give the eggs some flavour. With a hand whisk, start to add this mix to the mascarpone. A little at a time will loosen it and start to make it easier to work with. When it is all added, whip the egg whites in a separate bowl and fold these in. Taste for sweetness and adjust the flavour.
Mix the coffee and remaining liqueur in a shallow plate and dip the biscuits briefly in to moisten them. Lay them in a layer along a shallow dish. Add half the mixture and then repeat with a separate layer of biscuits. Spread the rest of the mix over the top. Sprinkle the surface with grated chocolate and refrigerate for 2-3 hours. Eat the same day.
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