Crostini ai funghi selvatici con pancetta croccante Wild mushroom crostini with crunchy pancetta

This morning, with the weather locally shifting from damp autumnal to Indian summer, I went foraging. Driving into town, I’d spotted a pasture two minutes from home dotted with field mushrooms, so I stopped and quickly gathered half a kilo of very fresh fungus.

Mushrooms sauted with pancetta or bacon, onion and garlic is a universal classic. What makes this version Bolognese is the finishing touches – balsamic vinegar and grated parmesan. I would serve it on crostini – griddled bread – smeared with olive oil.

Or you could use streaky bacon

One tip: fry the mushrooms hard so that they begin to caramelise. You don’t want mushy soft funghi for this dish. All the ingredients should remain distinct – this is cooking alla italiana. If you like, you could finish off the dish with a couple of tablespoons of thick cream.

Ingredients for 4

150g pancetta or bacon

4tbl olive oil

1 medium onion

2 cloves garlic

4 slices sour dough bread

350g wild mushrooms

2tbl balsamic vinegar

2tbl double or thick cream (optional)

4tbl finely chopped parsley

4tbl finely grated parmesan

salt and pepper



Method

1. Cut the pancetta or bacon into slivers or tiny cubes and fry rapidly in half the olive oil so they become crunchy. Remove and set aside.

2. Finely chop the onion and garlic and fry it in the pancetta or bacon fat. Remove and set aside.

3. Heat a griddle or heavy frying pan, brush both sides of the bread with the remaining olive oil, and toast on both sides until crisp.

4. Clean with a damp cloth the mushrooms and coarsely slice, discarding damaged and muddy parts.

5. Quickly sauté the mushrooms until they begin to brown, then add back the onion and garlic and stir in the balsamic vinegar. Add freshly ground black pepper and salt if necessary. If you are using cream, this is the moment to stir it in.

6. Put a generous spoonful of the mushrooms onto each slice of toast, sprinkle with the crunchy bacon, the parsley and the parmesan.

Sformato di porri, salsa di peperoni - Leek and red pepper custards

This is an antipasto dish in the Bolognese tradition, invented in England. The sfomato, essentially a baked custard, is a very versatile way of preparing almost anything. Accompanied by a red pepper sauce, it looks and tastes delicious. When I cooked this at Locanda dell’ Castello, Sasso Marconi, Marcello dall’Aglio suggested that a few grilled prawns would make a fine accompaniment. But I’ve left them out of this version of the recipe.

To make it easier to unmould the custards, try placing a small piece of waxed paper in the bottom of the moulds before you pour in the mixture. Jam making kits have just the object.

Ingredients

3 large red peppers

2 large leeks thinly sliced

50g butter

2 egg yolks medium

1 egg medium

300g double cream

50g grated parmesan

salt and pepper

1 clove garlic finely chopped

1 piece

1cm long ginger, finely chopped

4 shallots finely chopped

15ml olive oil

Method

1. Put the pepper to roast in a medium oven for 45 minutes

2. Sauté the leeks gently in butter until soft.

3. Place leeks, eggs, cheese and cream in a bowl or jug and use a hand held processor to create a smooth puree. Season to taste.

 

4. Spoon the mixture into four buttered moulds or ramekins, place in a bain marie, cover with foil and bake in a medium oven until just set.

5. Leave to cool then chill in the fridge.

6. Remove the peppers from the oven and place in a plastic bag to make it easier to remove the skin.

7. Fry the shallots until soft in the olive oil.

8. Make the sauce by removing the skin from the peppers when they are cool enough to handle and processing them with the garlic, ginger and shallots.

9. Run a warm knife around the moulds and unmould the custards, spoon some sauce alongside.

Ricotta and parmesan terrine

Terrines, moulds, sformati make simple and delicious starters. All you need is a set of well greased small dariole moulds. Choose a small size – about 6cm high and 7.5cm rim diameter - of these useful aluminium containers, or failing that use a ceramic ramekin. (Nigella Lawson recommends putting a small circle of greaseproof paper in the bottom to make it easier to slide out the terrine.) This one teams up ricotta with grated parmesan to make a very Bolognese dish. We’ve added a very un-Bolognese spice – green peppercorns – because they add contrast and piquancy, and because that’s how it was when we first tasted the terrine in the lovely café of the Danish Museum of Art and Design in Copenhagen. Best served chilled, when it is easier to un-mould, or even as a semi-freddo after a brief stay in the freezer. Goes well with a tomato and rocket salad as in the photo.

Makes 4.

250g Ricotta

100g Grated parmesan

2 Eggs

1 teaspoon Green peppercorns

1 tablespoon Olive oil (for greasing the mould)

Salt and pepper



1. Begin by greasing the moulds with the olive oil.

2. Mix together the remaining ingredients, adding salt and pepper to taste.

3. Carefully spoon into the moulds.

4. Place the moulds in a roasting tray and fill it with hot water to within 3 cms of the top of the moulds.

5. Place in the centre of a hot oven, 180 degrees centigrade, for 30 minutes. Cover the moulds with a piece of greaseproof paper to protect them from the heat.

6. After 25 minutes check the moulds with a skewer. If it comes out clean they are ready.

7. Remove and cool, or place in the freezer for 20 minutes for semi-freddo.

8. Run a hot knife around each mould and unmould carefully onto separate serving plates.

9. Add the salad.

Aubergine and prosciutto tartlets

These easily made tartlets could be the centrepiece of a light summer lunch with a tossed green salad with herbs. Makes 6.

For the Pastry

250g Plain flour

1 Medium egg, beaten

160g Chilled butter

Salt -a pinch

1 Egg yolk, beaten

For the Filling

1 Medium sized aubergine

2 tbl Olive oil

80g Prosciutto

4 Spring onions, finely chopped

150g Single cream

1 Medium egg

40g Parmesan, finely grated

Salt and pepper

You will need six tartlet cases, preferably with removable bases. Or if you only have four you will need to repeat the process of making the tartlet shells.

1. Sift the flour into a bowl with a pinch of salt. Rub in all but 10g of the butter cut into pieces the size of a finger nail. Add half the beaten whole egg. Amalgamate to form a dough. If it is too dry add the remaining whole egg. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead lightly into a ball. Wrap in cling film and chill.

2. Cut the aubergine into 2cms cubes. Combine with the olive oil and roast in an oven at 180 degrees for 25 minutes, making sure that it doesn’t burn.

3. Cut the prosciutto into slivers and, once it has cooled, combine with the aubergine, the cream, the egg, the parmesan and the spring onions, adding salt and pepper to taste.

4. Roll out the pastry. Form it into six tartlet cases, greased with the remainder of the butter, with the pastry hanging over the sides. Line the cases with silver foil into which you tip some baking beans. Blind bake on a baking tray for 10-15 minutes in a moderate (150 degrees C.) oven.

5. Leave to cook, and then remove the beans and the foil. Trim any excess pastry from around the top of the pastry cases. Paint the interiors with the beaten egg yolk to seal any cracks. Spoon in the filling, being careful not to let it run over the top of the pastry cases. Put the baking tray back in the oven for another 10-12 minutes or until the filling is just set. Leave to cool, then push up the base to remove the tartlets, take away the base, perhaps using a palette knife, and place each tartlet on a plate alongside the salad if that is how you decide to serve it.

Pancakes stuffed with jerusalem artichokes - Crespelle ai topinambour

When Jerusalem artichokes arrived in Italy from the New World, they were thought to resemble sunflowers – they are members of the same family - so they were called girasole which the Anglo-Saxons corrupted to Jerusalem. Artichoke refers to their similarity in flavour to the globe artichoke. Just to confuse things, these days in Italy they are called topinambour, the French name for the plant which is derived by an obscure route from the name of a Brazilian tribe who arrived on a visit to Paris about the same time as the vegetable. Anyway, this prolific tuber makes a terrific basis for a filling for pasta or, in this case, pancakes. We got the idea from Quercia, an agriturismo near Bologna, where they use them to make a kind of lasagne but they do equally well in pancakes.

Ingredients

1 Red pepper large

2 Red onions

4 Garlic cloves

250g Tomatoes

2tbl Red wine vinegar

7 tbl Olive oil

To taste Salt and pepper

70g Plain flour

200ml Milk

2 Eggs medium

1 Spanish onion

350g Jerusalem artichokes

50g Parsley flat leafed

160g Ricotta

60g Parmesan grated

¼ teaspoon Nutmeg grated

Method

Here’s what you do.

Begin by putting the tomatoes, 3 cloves of garlic, the red onions and the red pepper into a hot oven to roast.

Make the pancake batter by processing or mixing the flour, milk, eggs and seasoning it to taste.

Peel and slice the Jerusalem artichokes into chunks. Slice the onion thinly and chop up a clove of garlic. Fry them gently in 3 tablespoons of olive oil until they are soft and begin to colour. Add the ricotta, finely chopped parsley, nutmeg and half the grated parmesan and combine well.

Take the vegetables out when the skins begin to blacken, after about 30-40 minutes. Slip the onions out of their skin and with a knife peel away most of the skin of the tomatoes and the pepper, making sure that you catch the juices of all the vegetables. Squeeze the garlic out of its skin. Food process the roasted vegetables adding salt, pepper, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the red wine vinegar. Add water if necessary to make a pourable sauce, the consistency of double cream.

Make 9 pancakes (an extra one in case of accidents). Heat a frying pan with a teaspoon of olive oil and when it is hot but not smoking add a ladle full of batter and swirl it around to cover the base of the pan. Leave it until it begins to separate from the sides of the pan and flip it over. Do the same with the remaining seven, keeping them warm between two plates. Use more olive oil if the pancakes begin to stick. Reduce the heat if they start to burn or become rigid.

Place an eighth of the filling in a line down the centre of each pancake, roll them up and place them in a row join side down in a well oiled lasagne dish. Pour over the sauce so that it evenly covers the pancakes, then sprinkle with the remaining grated parmesan.

Place the dish in a medium oven and bake until the sauce begins to bubble and the cheese begins to brown, about 35-40 minutes. Remove, and serve two pancakes per plate.

Chicken risotto with butternut squash puree and crunchy bacon

Vegetarian variation: with roasted red pepper and aubergine

This is a delicious easy to make meal but as always with simple dishes the details are crucial. So, do use a well flavoured chicken stock (I add some star anise to the carcass when I’m making it), and take care to lightly brown the onion and garlic before adding the rice.

You can make a vegetarian version by replacing the chicken and bacon with roasted red pepper and cubes of fried aubergine. Roast the pepper with the squash, then skin it and cut it into 3cm by 1 cm pieces. Cut the aubergine into 1cm cubes and fry in olive oil over a high heat. Add the aubergine to the risotto at the end of the cooking, then the red pepper. When you serve up ensure that the pepper and the aubergine are visible.

Ingredients for 4

600-700g butternut squash
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
4 sage leaves
1 stick celery
2 skinned boneless chicken breasts or 4 thighs if you prefer
100g bacon or pancetta
50g parsley
40cl olive oil
Salt and ground pepper
50g butter
250g risotto rice (Arborio or similar)
600ml chicken stock
100ml white wine
50g parmesan grated

Method

1. Put the butternut squash into a medium hot oven to roast for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the other ingredients: chop the onion and celery finely; chop the sage finely; cut the chicken into small pieces about 3cms by 1 cm; chop the bacon into small shards; chop the parsley finely.
3. Make a parsley oil by liquidising the puree with oil and seasoning it. Pour it into a squeezy bottle.
4. Remove the squash from the oven, allow to cool and then cut it open to remove the seeds and hairy innards. Then remove the skin. You will need 300 grams of puree.
5. Chop the squash flesh roughly, place in a saucepan with the butter, sage, and mash with a fork until it becomes a puree. Season to taste with salt and ground pepper.
6. Saute the chicken in the butter until it begins to brown.
7. Soften and lightly brown the onion, celery and garlic in the oil.
8. Place the bacon in a small oven proof container and then in a moderately hot oven for 15 minutes until it has become crunchy.
9. Add the butter and the rice to the onion and continue to fry for two minutes, stirring the rice so that it is amalgamated with the onion, celery and garlic.
10. Add the wine and cook off the alcohol.
11. Begin to add the heated stock to the rice, allowing it to absorb the liquid before adding more.
12. Put the squash puree on a moderate heat for ten minutes, stirring occasionally so that it doesn’t burn.
13. Now add the chicken to the rice, and continue to add the stock until the rice is cooked but retains a bite. Then add the half the cheese and stir it in.
14. Put a spoon of squash puree on each plate and shape it into a flat orange circle. Put a heaped spoon of the risotto on top and then a few shards of the bacon. Finally, using the squeezy bottle, create a neat parsley ring around the butternut squash and risotto.
15. Call ‘service’ or if you are short staffed put the plates on the table yourself. Pass the remaining cheese for guests to help themselves to.