At times it has felt as if I run a kitchen help line. The calls always come just when the muddle of kids, work and minor emergencies are at their zenith. Mum is on the other end of WhatsApp asking me if I have any ideas for the glut of chard, courgettes and overgrown lettuce they are experiencing, as they’ve friends coming round. I do my best to advise and wait to hear how it went. There is a pretty high success rate, I’m pleased to report.
In this spirit I propose a seasonal feast for my parents in Italy. My route to this menu has been via Shepherd’s Bush market in London, which is groaning with good stuff at this time of year, if you know how to shop. It is a menu full of nostalgia for Kent and southern Italy without any specific tradition. Essentially, a tasty journey towards a pile of summer fruits with cream.
New potato and tomato salad
Uniting some of my favourite flavours, these thinly sliced summer tomatoes are given a boost with crushed potatoes, quickly seared and smothered in an excellent mustard, anchovy and chilli dressing with basil and capers. Serves 4
new potatoes (ratte would be nice) 400g
garlic clove 1
Dijon mustard 1 heaped tbsp
tinned anchovies 100g
lemon juice of ½
olive oil
fresh plum, or other large tomatoes 300g
sea salt
basil sprigs 4
capers 1 tbsp
black pepper
Boil the potatoes with the garlic in well-salted water for 15 minutes or so until cooked through. Drain and set aside.
Using a stick blender, blitz the mustard, anchovies and lemon juice. Top with 6 tbsp of olive oil and blend until smooth, adding 1 tbsp of water or so at the end to thin out. Cut the tomatoes into half-centimetre slices and season with a little salt. Arrange the potatoes, slightly crushing them, with the basil leaves and tomatoes on a large serving plate. Drizzle over the smooth sauce, capers, an extra flick of oil and a crack of black pepper.
Aubergine polpetti in yellow peppers
Perfect by itself or as part of this meal, I have enjoyed this with mozzarella on other occasions. Serves 4
aubergines 2
sea salt
garlic 2 cloves
fresh marjoram or oregano leaves 4 tbsp
breadcrumbs 6 tbsp
egg 1
olive oil
yellow peppers 3
onion 1
butter 60g
dried red chilli 1
flat beans 500g
wine vinegar 1 tbsp
fresh mint 3 sprigs
Slice the aubergines in thick, 1in slices. Salt and set aside for 30 minutes. Rinse and boil in salted water for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool, then squeeze in handfuls over the sink to get rid of much of their liquid.
Crush the garlic with a pinch of salt and mix with half the marjoram leaves, and the aubergines and then breadcrumbs and egg. Season, combine and then roll into 12 walnut-sized balls.
In a frying pan, cook the aubergine balls in several tbsp of olive oil over a medium-high heat. Turn them every few minutes until golden on all sides.
Deseed and dice the peppers. Slice the onion. Set in a wide pan with the butter, marjoram, chilli and a good pinch of salt. Turn the heat to medium-high and cook for 15 minutes.
Turn the heat to low, add a tbsp or two of water, and continue to cook covered for another 15 minutes. At this point the peppers should be much more giving and look darker and richer. Cut the beans into several pieces each and add them, with another splash of water, and cook covered for yet another 15 minutes. Add the vinegar and aubergine polpette.
Turn off the heat, cover and allow to sit for a little while before serving with the mint leaves torn over. Good hot or cold.
Polenta, fresh corn and ricotta
This polenta, paired with fresh corn in an Anglo-Italian flourish, is the colour of sunshine. Simple food like this needs good ingredients. Resist the temptation to use frozen or tinned corn or quick-cook polenta flour. Serves 4
red onions 2 small
olive oil
garlic 2 cloves
sea salt
white wine 1 glass
polenta 200g
fresh corn 4 cobs
pepper
basil 1 bunch
fresh ricotta 350g
Slice the onions in half and then into thin slices. Sweat the onions in 3 tbsp of olive oil with the peeled garlic cloves and a good pinch of salt until somewhat softened, about 5 minutes.
Add the wine and 1 litre of water and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down to medium and sprinkle in the polenta, whisking all the while. The polenta will quickly begin to bubble. Be careful not to let it splatter on to you as it’s hotter than boiling water. Turn down the heat to the lowest possible setting and cover with a lid. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring with a spoon twice.
After this time, cut the corn from the cob and add to the polenta with a little water if you think necessary. Re-cover and cook for another 15 minutes, again stirring from time to time.
Turn off the heat. Add another 3 tbsp of olive oil. Cover and set aside for 10 minutes or until it is time to eat. If you leave it any longer it may set, and you will need to gently reheat it.
When it is time to eat, lightly fork in a pinch of salt and pepper to the ricotta. Check the polenta’s seasoning and stir though some basil, saving a few leaves for garnishing. Serve on plates, making a well in the middle with a spoon in which to put the cheese, and drizzle over more olive oil.
Apricots, plums and raspberries with ‘raw’ cream and almonds
Any summer fruit is ennobled by this vanilla “raw” cream – the most excellent instant summery, custardy cream. Serves 4
raspberries 1 punnet
golden caster sugar 5 tbsp
cardamom pods 2
sea salt
fresh apricots 8
plums 4
olive oil
egg yolks 2 large or 3 small
vanilla pod 1
single cream 100ml
double cream 200ml
flaked almonds 40g, toasted
Sprinkle raspberries with 1 tbsp of sugar and set aside for 30 minutes.
While your grill is heating, squeeze the seeds inside the cardamom pods into a mortar and pestle. Crush the seeds with a pinch of salt and 2 tbsp of sugar. Cut the apricots and plums in half and remove the stones. Set them on to a baking paper-lined tray, brush with a little olive oil and set under the grill for 3 minutes.
Once the flesh is hot, sprinkle with the cardamom sugar and return to the grill. Remove after a few minutes more when they are hot, fizzing and slightly browned around the edges. Set aside to cool.
Beat the egg yolks with seeds scraped from the vanilla pod and 2 tbsp of sugar until pale. Whip the creams to stiff peaks before folding through the yolks to make a custardy “raw” cream.
Spread a serving plate with the cream. Cover with the fruits interspersed with toasted flaked almonds.
Joe Trivelli is joint head chef of London’s River Café (rivercafe.co.uk)
