summer gnocchi

 

this dish was the result of my need to use up a tub of ricotta before it passed its sell-by date. i had bought it to stuff courgette flowers with but didn’t manage to cook with the flowers before they wilted beyond use, despite my best efforts – they really do need to be used on the day you pick/get them.

so, i turned to dennis cotter and decided to adapt his semolina gnocchi recipe, using ricotta in place of the goats cheese, adding a handful of herbs from garden – sage, oregano and thyme – and topping the gnocchi with a lightly cooked mix of green beans (again from the garden), peas and broad beans. i finished it with a lime cream, having run out of lemons.

the result was delicious – very light, summery and perfect if you want something a bit special, either as a treat or if you are cooking for friends. the gnocchi adapted well to having the ricotta added and was very forgiving of my use of twice as much cheese as the original recipe called for. i also baked it for much longer than the original recipe suggests – 10-15 minutes each side, having turned them over once, rather than the suggested 10 minutes in total. this gave me golden slight crunchy gnocchi which went really well with the lightly cooked vegetables.

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broad and green bean pasta with lemon and pink peppercorns

 

i had a wonderful treat earlier this week, i received my first broad beans of the season, squeaky fresh and completely delicious, courtesy of food4london.

my immediate temptation was to have them in a salad with the peas and courgettes which accompanied them but i had a real pasta craving so decided to try draw inspiration from an ottolenghi recipe which pairs them with lemon and pink peppercorns.

i added thinly sliced courgette discs and green beans to the mix and the result was a lovely pasta dish full of the flavours of summer. i am sharing this with graziana of erbe in cucina who is this week's host of presto pasta nights.

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orrechiette with asparagus, feta and chorizo

 

chorizo makes frequent appearances in my cooking but, unless there is a pizza involved, it rarely appears in its pre-sliced form. however, a pack of mildly-flavoured chorizo slices which i was sent by abel & cole got me thinking.

i spoke to various friends who had lots of great ideas for using chorizo (or salami for that matter) slices but the idea that caught my fancy simply involved dry-frying it so that the edges crisp up, much as it would on a pizza. i added the juice of a lemon to the pan when it was done, to make a dressing from the oil which the meat released, and then used this to garnish a fresh summery pasta dish of broad beans, asparagus and feta cheese.

this was a really good use of the chorizo (which i’d otherwise have nibbled on with a glass of red wine) and is a nice way to lift a gentle and mildly flavoured dish. i particularly liked the way the chorizo took on a slight lemony tang which made it particularly mouth-watering.

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white chilli

when i saw simon rimmer’s recipe for white chilli in last week’s ofm magazine i was intrigued.

to make this vegetarian chilli you start by boiling together beer, stock, onion, garlic, chilli, peppers and cumin. add fresh coriander, beans and vinegar. boil a bit more then finish with some final herbs and spices.

so, that’s no frying of lovely garlic and onion, instead you boil it. in beer. then add vinegar. there are no tomatoes. what a weird intriguing combination of ingredients and method. and what a delicious result!

the dish is wonderfully light and mexican in flavour with a deep smokey undertone (i was lucky enough to have a stash of smoked chillies which my friends mark and phil bought me when they were last in the yucatan) and a balancing freshness from the vinegar, coriander and lime (that is squeezed over just before serving).

it’s also fabulously healthy as the only fat in it comes from the cheese which you (can choose to) grate over as a final garnish.

i ate a bowl of this as a simple supper but it’d be great with rice and i really fancy boiling most of the liquid off so i can try it with tortillas, guacamole etc.

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chorizo, bean and butternut squash salad

like most people, i’m caught up in the january drives to “be healthy” and “save money” which inevitably equals packed lunches.

i don’t have access to a microwave or fridge so whatever i bring in has to be happy sitting on my desk during the morning and taste good at room temperature.

this salad managed both of those criteria and tasted fantastic to boot. i probably need to work on the healthiness factor though!

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