These are some recipes for this post-holiday, back-to-school period and my return in earnest to work. This means that I need to be able to shop quickly and locally with even less planning than usual.
All these recipes use ingredients that you can find in many corner shops. Hoorah! This means that – despite the rush of a hectic schedule and my disorganised holiday brain – we won’t skimp on delicious suppers.
Lamb involtini
In my family we very often serve these to dinner guests, usually using the sauce created with pasta first and then the meat with salad to follow. Pecorino feels appropriate for lamb but use whatever cheese you have. Serves 4. Ready in 1¾ hours
lamb chump 8 x 1cm steaks (about 700g total)
yellow pepper ½
pecorino 40g, or other hard cheese
red onion ¼
garlic 2 cloves
olive oil for frying
plum tomatoes 2 x 400g tins
salt and pepper
sage 8 leaves
On your chopping board, gently beat out each steak with a rolling pin until they are half as thin again. Remove any thick strips of fat.
Cut 8 x 1cm strips of pepper, 8 pieces of cheese and 8 slices of onion. Slice the garlic thinly. Place pieces of each across each piece of meat and add a sage leaf to each. Season, then roll them up. Use bits of string to tie them closed at either end.
Heat some olive oil in a saucepan over a high heat and sear the involtini on all sides, until just browned a bit (not charred). Then add the remaining garlic, quickly followed by the tomatoes. Season, stir and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat down so that the pot is barely ticking over, cover and cook for 1¼ hours, checking in every so often.
Snip and untie the involtini before serving. The meat will be giving, aromatic and sweet, and the sauce rich.
Potato gnocchi with mushrooms
To make the best, not gluey, not bouncy but soft and satisfying gnocchi use little flour, work lightly and quickly and don’t add egg. Once mastered, perfect potato gnocchi will become a regular treat. Something great with only 2 ingredients.
Serves 4. Ready in 1½ hours
large red potatoes 250g (peeled, cooked and mashed)
salt and pepper
plain flour 50g, plus extra for the tray
chestnut mushrooms 200g
dried porcini 3 slices, reconstituted in hot water (optional)
garlic 1 clove
olive oil for frying
anchovy fillets 3
olives 25g
basil 1 bunch, leaves picked
butter 60g
lemon ½, finely zested
parmesan 2-3 tbsp, grated, plus extra to serve
Wash the potatoes and boil them in heavily salted water. They will probably take a good 40 minutes to cook – maybe longer. Drain. Once they have cooled just enough so that you can handle them, peel and finely mash. I have a potato ricer which makes life easy, but just make sure the mash is smooth.
Scatter half of the flour on your clean work surface and place the warm potatoes on top. Press them down so they are very roughly spread out, then sprinkle over the rest of the flour. Using your hands like shovels, turn the dough from under into the middle, as if you are closing a book. Repeat from all directions until the flour is fully incorporated. The reason for mixing like this is to avoid overkneading.
While the dough is still warm, divide into 4 and roll each piece out into a sausage 1cm in diameter. Lightly dust with flour before cutting into gnocchi roughly 2.5cm long. You can make them smaller if you like, but I prefer this size. Dust a tray with flour and leave the gnocchi on it while you prepare the sauce.
Slice the chestnut mushrooms and rehydrated porcini (if using), then run your knife over them to chop finer. Dice the garlic. In a heavy pan gently fry the garlic in olive oil with a pinch of salt for 2 minutes, then add the mushrooms and proceed to cook for 5 or 6 minutes over a lively heat, stirring all the time. Then add the anchovy fillets, olives and most of the basil leaves. Once the anchovies have melted, add the butter, lemon zest and a generous grind of pepper. Turn off the heat.
Cook the gnocchi in boiling salted water for 2 minutes, until they float to the surface, then scoop them out with a slotted spoon straight into the sauce. Add also half a ladle of the cooking water, the remaining basil and a good couple of tbsp of parmesan. Stir carefully, check the seasoning and serve with more cheese.
Peppers and aubergines
Very simple to prepare and ready right away, this vegetable dish will, however, benefit from a night in the fridge.
Serves 2. Ready in 1¼ hours
red peppers 1 large or 2 small
aubergine 1 large
red onions 2
olive oil
salt
dried red chilli ½
garlic 1 clove
parsley 3 sprigs, leaves picked
wine vinegar 2 tbsp (red or white)
salted capers 1 tbsp, rinsed
Heat the oven to 220C/gas mark 7. Wash and dry the peppers and aubergine. Prick the aubergine several times with a fork, to avoid it exploding. Cut the onions in half, keeping them attached at the root, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place the vegetables on a baking sheet side by side, with the onions skin side down, and roast for 50 minutes.
In the meantime, make the dressing. Smash the chilli in a mortar and pestle with a sprinkle of salt. Add the garlic and bash smooth, then add half of the parsley leaves. Stir in the vinegar, 3 tbsp of olive oil, the capers and the remaining whole parsley leaves.
When the vegetables are cooked, set the pepper aside in a bowl with another placed upside down on the top to steam. When cool enough to handle but still warm, halve the aubergine, remove the top and carefully scrape/tear the flesh away from the skin, trying to waste a little as possible, and place the strips on to a serving plate as you go. Remove the skins and tough root from the onions and add the flesh to the platter.
The pepper requires a bit more care; tear it at the bottom so that any juices are caught in the bowl. Add these to the dressing. Then remove the seeds and skin. Resist the temptation to wash the flesh in water as flavour as well as seeds would be removed. Tear into strips and add to the rest.
Dress the vegetables with the sauce, hopefully while they are still warm to soak up the flavour better. Eat straight away, if you like, but I prefer to wait until they have marinated and cooled.
Rice cake
We always have a leftover half-packet of pudding rice from Christmas that needs using.
Makes 10 slices. Time 1¾ hours
milk 750ml
pudding rice 150g
cinnamon ¼ stick
salt a tiny pinch
whole almonds 120g
golden sultanas 60g
lemon ½, zest finely grated
polenta flour 1 tbsp, for the tin
eggs 5
sugar 100g
icing sugar for dusting
Heat the milk in a saucepan over a moderate heat with the rice, cinnamon and salt. Cook stirring frequently for 40 minutes. As soon it starts to thicken, turn the heat down little by little until it is the consistency of a thick porridge. Be mindful that it doesn’t catch. Turn it on to a plate to cool.
Blitz the almonds until quite fine. Plump the sultanas in a cup of boiled water for 5 minutes; drain and add to the rice with the lemon zest and almonds.
Heat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Line a 20cm cake tin with greased baking paper and sprinkle with polenta (or any other flour).
Whisk the eggs with the sugar until tripled in volume, this is easy with an electric whisk. Then whisk in the rice, a little at a time. If you are doing this in a stand mixer, first turn down the speed.
Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool completely before turning out and dusting with icing sugar.
Joe Trivelli is joint head chef of London’s River Café
