These are recipes for a post-holiday back-to-school and back-to-work period, which means you'll need to shop quickly and locally with less planning than usual.
All of these recipes use ingredients available at many corner stores. Yay! This means I won't skimp on a delicious dinner, despite my busy schedule and my holiday-churned brain.
Lamb Involtini
In my family, we serve this often for dinner guests, usually with a sauce made with pasta first, followed by meat and salad. Pecorino cheese seems to go well with lamb, but feel free to use whatever cheese you have on hand. Serves 4. Ready in 1 hour 30 minutes
Ram Champ 8 steaks (1cm cubes) (total approx. 700g)
Yellow pepper 1/2
Pecorino 40g or other hard cheese
Red onion ¼
Garlic 2 cloves
olive oil For frying
Plum Tomato 400g can x 2
Salt and pepper
Sage 8 leaves
On a cutting board, use a rolling pin to gently pound the steak until it is reduced to half its thickness, removing all thick sections of fat.
Slice the peppers into 8 x 1cm strips, 8 slices of cheese and 8 slices of onion. Thinly slice the garlic. Place a clove of garlic on top of each meat and garnish with a sage leaf. Season and roll up. Tie both ends with string.
Heat a little olive oil in a saucepan over high heat and fry the involtini until lightly browned on all sides (do not burn). Then add the remaining garlic and immediately add the tomatoes. Season, stir and reduce heat to low. Reduce heat until the pot is just barely moving, cover and simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes, checking occasionally.
Cut and unravel the involtini before serving: the meat will be tender, fragrant and sweet, and the sauce will be rich.
Potato gnocchi with mushrooms
To make the best tasting gnocchi that's not sticky, not chewy, but soft and satisfying, use a little flour, work lightly and quickly, and don't add eggs. Once mastered, perfect potato gnocchi will become an everyday treat. A fantastic dish with just two ingredients.
Serves 4. Ready in 1.5 hours
Big Red Potato 250g (peeled, boiled and mashed)
Salt and pepper
Regular wheat flour 50g, add to tray
Chestnut mushroom 200 grams
Dried porcini 3 pieces, rehydrated in hot water (optional)
Garlic 1 clove
olive oil For frying
Anchovy fillets 3
olive 25 grams
basil 1 bunch, leaves picked
butter 60 grams
lemon 1/2 finely chopped peel
Parmesan 2-3 tablespoons grated, plus more for garnish
Wash the potatoes and boil them in heavily salted water. Boiling will probably take about 40 minutes, maybe longer. Drain the water. Once cool enough to handle, peel and mash them finely. I have a potato ricer which is super handy, but be careful to make sure the mash is smooth.
Sprinkle half the flour on a clean work surface and place the warm potatoes on top. Press down on the potatoes to roughly spread them out and sprinkle on the remaining flour. Using your hands like a shovel, rotate the dough from the bottom to the middle like you're closing a book. Repeat in all directions until the flour is completely incorporated. The reason for mixing like this is to prevent over-kneading.
While the dough is still warm, divide it into 4 pieces and roll each piece into a 1cm diameter sausage. Lightly flour the pieces and cut into gnocchi pieces about 2.5cm long. You can make them smaller if you like, but I like them this way. Dust a tray with flour and place the gnocchi on it while you prepare the sauce.
Slice the chestnut mushrooms and rehydrated porcini (if using) and finely chop with a knife. Dice the garlic. Lightly fry the garlic in a heavy-bottomed frying pan with olive oil and a little salt for 2 minutes, then add the mushrooms and cook over high heat for 5-6 minutes, stirring constantly. Next add the anchovy fillets, the olives and most of the basil leaves. Once the anchovies have melted add the butter, lemon zest and plenty of pepper. Turn off the heat.
Cook the gnocchi in boiling salted water for 2 minutes and when the gnocchi rise to the surface, scoop them with a slotted spoon directly into the sauce. Add another half a ladle of the cooking water, the remaining basil, and about 2 tablespoons of Parmesan. Stir carefully, taste, and serve with more cheese.
Bell peppers and eggplant
This veggie dish is super easy to prepare and can be eaten quickly, but tastes even better if left in the fridge overnight.
Serves 2. Ready in 1 hour and 15 minutes
Red bell pepper 1 large or 2 small
eggplant 1 big
Red onion 2
olive oil
salt
Dried red chili peppers 1/2
Garlic 1 clove
parsley 3 twigs, leaves picked
Wine vinegar 2 tablespoons (red or white)
Salted Capers 1 tablespoon, 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 stop it exploding. Cut the onion in half, leaving the root attached, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Arrange the vegetables on a baking tray and bake, onion skin side down, for 50 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the dressing: crush the chilli pepper in a mortar and pestle and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Add the garlic and beat until smooth. Then add half the parsley leaves. Mix the vinegar, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, the capers and the remaining parsley leaves.
Once the vegetables are cooked, place the pepper in a bowl and steam the other upside down. Allow to cool enough to handle but still warm to cut the eggplant in half, remove the top and carefully scrape the flesh from the skin, placing the pulp on a plate, trying to waste as little as possible. Remove the skin and tough root of the onion and add the flesh to the plate.
Bell peppers require a bit more care. Tear them off from the bottom to allow the juices to collect in the bowl. Add these to the dressing. Then remove the seeds and skin. Resist the temptation to rinse the flesh under water as you will lose not only the seeds but also the flavour. Tear them into strips and add to the remaining ingredients.
Pour the sauce over the vegetables, preferably while they are still warm, to let the flavors soak in. You can eat them right away, but I like to wait until the veggies are marinated and have cooled.
rice cake
I always have half a packet of pudding rice left over from Christmas and I have to use it.
10 servings. Duration 1 hour 30 minutes
milk 750ml
Pudding Rice 150g
cinnamon ¼ stick
salt Just a little
Whole almonds 120g
Golden Sultana 60 grams
lemon 1/2 avocado, peel finely grated
Polenta flour 1 tablespoon (for cans)
egg 5
sugar 100 grams
Powdered sugar Dust off
Place milk in a saucepan, add rice, cinnamon and salt and heat over medium heat. Simmer for 40 minutes, stirring frequently. When it starts to thicken, gradually reduce heat and simmer until it becomes porridge-like, being careful not to burn. Transfer to a plate and let cool.
Grind the almonds until fine. Steep the sultanas in boiling water for 5 minutes, drain and add to the rice along with the lemon zest and almonds.
Heat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Line a 20cm cake tin with greased baking paper and sprinkle with polenta (or other flour).
Beat the eggs and sugar until tripled in volume (this is easiest with an electric mixer), then gradually whisk in the rice (if you're using a stand mixer, turn the speed down first).
Bake for 30 minutes. Cool completely before removing from the tin and sprinkling with powdered sugar.
Joe Trivelli is from London. River Cafe
