Food To Love March 2019

As the weather finally starts to brighten, it turns the mind to planning summer holidays. So while you wait for that whoosh of heat as you get off the plane, we have been whipping up some sensational Italian fare to enjoy in the meantime. We have some tempting meal ideas, from layers of luscious lasagne to a batch of six glorious gnocchi recipes to help put the zing back into your midweek fare. By now we hope that your January diets are a distant memory and, to celebrate, we bring you nine magnifico ways to end your Mediterranean meals, savour the crumbly crunch of a biscotti, to the infinite creaminess of a zabaglione, there is something for every occasion and appetite. But lest we forget what keeps us sustained on a monthly…

LONG PASTA comes in a variety of widths. Wider ribbons include tagliatelle, fettuccine and pappardelle. The best partners for these, and thick-strand pasta such as spaghetti and bucatini, are heavier cream, tomato or meat sauces, such as creamy carbonara or a rich bolognese. THINNER STRANDS include vermicelli and angel hair. Olive oil-based sauces, such as pesto, are ideal as the sauce clings to the lengths of pasta. SHORT PASTA is available in dozens of shapes and sizes. Rigatoni and macaroni are great for baking, as are flat lasagne sheets and tubular cannelloni. Varieties such as penne, fusilli, farfalle and conchiglioni are wonderful served with chunky meat, vegetable and seafood sauces that fill the tubes and grooves of the various shapes. FILLED PASTA or small pouches, such as agnolotti, tortellini and ravioli, go best…

DRIED PASTA This is the most common, but mass production doesn’t mean lesser quality. Some of the best pasta is dried and packaged. FRESH PASTA Soft and pliable, it cooks more quickly than dried pasta. EGG PASTA Available fresh or dried, this is made with egg and flour. Egg pasta is often fresh and homemade. WHOLEMEAL PASTA Made with part wholemeal flour and part white flour, it has a higher fibre content and cooks more slowly than white flour-based dried pastas. FLAVOURED PASTA This is flavoured and coloured with ingredients such as spinach, tomato, basil, chilli and squid ink.…

COURGETTE & PROSCIUTTO ROTOLO PREP + COOK TIME 50 MINUTES SERVES 4 • 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil• 2 spring onions, chopped• 2 cloves garlic, crushed• 100g baby spinach• 400g can white beans, rinsed, drained• 120g (1 cup) blanched fresh peas or defrosted peas• 150g feta, crumbled• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill, plus extra, to serve• 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest• 80g (1 cup) finely grated parmesan• 400g jar arrabbiata pasta sauce• 4 large (600g) courgette, sliced into 28 ribbons (see cook’s notes)• 28 (300g) thin slices prosciutto• 75g (¾ cup) shredded mozzarella 1 Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan. Grease a 30cm round or 30 x 18cm (8-cup) rectangle baking dish. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook onion and garlic for 1 minute or until fragrant.…

The traditional home of the olive is land bounded by or close to the Mediterranean Sea. Most of the picturesque, gnarled olive tree specimens are hundreds of years old and still productive – but to cope with the expanding world demand for olive oil, massive new groves are being planted. Olives are now grown around the world and you could even grow them yourself as there are many cultivars to suit home gardens. Olives vary in size and colour and, together with olive oil, feature in Italian, Spanish, Greek and Middle Eastern cuisines. However, olives are not palatable straight from the tree; they have to be cured first. This can be done in various ways, but the key ingredients are brine or dry salt and then possibly olive oil for preserving (see…

In the journey from tree to table, you first have to cure your olives. This process uses one of the most common cooking ingredients – salt – to preserve the fruit, soften it and make it more palatable. WHAT IS CURING? Curing is an ancient method of food preservation, usually using salt. But, equally important in the case of olives, it doesn’t just preserve, it leaches out the glucosides – the chemicals that make the fruit bitter and inedible. You can apply the salt in one of two ways, either by totally covering the olives with a layer of dry salt, or by immersing them in brine. Brine is probably the easier of the two curing options. It’s also ideal for larger olives, to ensure maximum salt penetration. SELECT YOUR SALT Use a good-quality, non-iodised…