Cooking Together – Cicchetti – little plates
Our cooking together cookery classes are as much about learning to cook as they are a sociable experience. We hope you enjoyed your evening and are ready to recreate the meals at home. The recipes work really well as delicious dinners and make a great combination for dinner party ideas.
You Cooked:
Gamberi ala busara bruschetta
Crispy lemon and parmesan chicken
Fennel and pesto potatoes
Roasted red pepper and tomato puree
Lemon posset, meringue, raspberry sorbet
Sourdough King Prawn Brushetta – Gamberi alla busarra prawns
Ingredients – Serves 6
- 6xChunky slice of sourdough, toasted and rubbed with fresh garlic
- 3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, crushed and peeled
- 1kg prawns, medium-sized, deveined
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 small onion, golden, peeled and finely chopped
- 60ml of dry white wine
- 200g of sun blushed tomatoes, finely chopped
- 1 dried chilli, crushed
- fine sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 handful of parsley leaves, minced
Method
- Heat the olive oil in a very large skillet set over a medium heat. Add the garlic and fry for a couple of minutes, until fragrant. Stir in the onion and cook until soft and translucent, stirring often so it doesn’t colour
- Add the prawns and cook for about two minutes per side, ensuring that they don’t overlap. Pour in the wine, increase the heat to medium-high and allow it to evaporate. Remove the prawns; transfer them to a plate while you carry on with the sauce
- Remove the garlic and add the tomatoes and crushed chilli. Lower the heat, cover and cook until the tomatoes have fallen apart and look saucy; add a splash of water if needed to help the sauce come together. Taste and season
- Now, put the prawns back into the skillet and stir to coat in the sauce. Increase the heat and sauté for about five more minutes, then remove from the heat and sprinkle with parsley.
- Serve on toasted sourdough rubbed with fresh garlic.
Rustic Basil Pesto
Ingredients – Serves 4
- ½ a clove garlic
- 1 big bunch of fresh basil
- 1 handful of pine nuts
- 1 good handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lemon, optional
Method
- Peel the garlic, then pound in a pestle and mortar with a pinch of sea salt.
- Pick, roughly chop and add the basil leaves, then bash to a paste (or pulse in a food processor).
- Add the pine nuts (very lightly toast first, if you like) to the mixture and pound again, then stir in half the Parmesan.
- Drizzle in some oil – you need just enough to bind the sauce and get it to an oozy consistency.
- Add most of the remaining cheese, then season to perfection with salt and black pepper. Have a taste and keep adding a bit more cheese or oil until you are happy with the taste and consistency.
- Add a squeeze of lemon juice at the end to give it a little twang, if you like, but it’s not essential.
Crispy parmesan and lemon chicken
Ingredients – Serves 6
- 4x chicken breast
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 30g of grated parmesan
- 200g of panko breadcrumbs
- 100g of plain flour
- 3x eggs, beaten
- Vegetable oil for frying
Method
Cut chicken breasts into thinner slices or even goujons.
Prepare three separate bowls and place flour in first, beaten eggs into second and mixture of breadcrumbs, lemon zest and parmesan into third.
Coat the chicken in flour, egg and breadcrumbs mix in that order.
Heat up a non-stick pan with the oil in it and fry the coated until golden and cooked through.
Fennel and pesto potatoes
Ingredients – serves 4
- 800g of new potatoes
- 2 bulbs of fennel, cut into quarter
- 1x red onion, sliced
- 2x cloves of garlic, crushed
- 2x tbsp of pesto
- Seasoning
- 500ml of dry white wine
- 1tbsp of vegetable oil
- Chopped parsley and basil for garnish
- 1x lemon
Method
- First, place the potatoes in a pan of cold water with some salt and bring to gentle simmer. Cook for roughly 25 minutes until al dente. Cool down completely.
- Bring the wine into boil in a small pan. Blanch the fennel for 2 minutes and cool down quickly in cold water.
- Slice the potatoes.
- Place a large frying pan on medium heat, add oil, sauté your potatoes until golden, remove from pan and set aside.
- In a same pan, sauté onions and garlic, add your potatoes, pesto, herbs, lemon zest and juice and correct seasoning.
Red pepper and pomodoro puree
Ingredients – Serves 6
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1-inch-thick slice of crusty bread, torn into pieces
- 1/2 cup blanched almonds, chopped or slivered (can substitute hazelnuts, peeled)
- 5-6 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 15-ounce can of crushed tomatoes, or canned whole tomatoes (including the juice) that have been de-seeded, or 1 pound fresh tomatoes that have been par-boiled, skins removed, and de-seeded
- 1 8-ounce jar of roasted red bell peppers, drained
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika (preferred) or sweet paprika
- 2-3 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
Method
- Sauté torn bread and almonds:
Heat the olive oil in a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, sauté the bread and almonds, stirring often, until they just begin to brown.
Add the garlic and sauté another 1-2 minutes, stirring once or twice.
- Remaining ingredients:
Place the contents of the sauté pan into a food processor with the remaining ingredients—salt, tomatoes, roasted bell peppers, smoked paprika, vinegar. Purée until smooth.
lemon Posset
This is an Italian classic, and is great for a dinner party – as it can be made in the morning.
You could crush up biscuits of your choice and put in the bottom of the glass. A classic Italian version would be an amaretti and serve a glass of amaretto on the side!
Ingredients: Serves 3- 4 Depending on dish size
- · 300ml of double cream
- · 60g caster sugar
- · 1 juicy lemon
Method
- 1. Squeeze the lemon
- 2. Bring the cream and sugar to the boil (careful it should just boil but not boil over). Once you see it boil – stay there and boil for exactly 3 minutes.
- 3. Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the lemon juice
- 4. Strain this into a jug and leave to cool for 20minutes.
- 5. If you wish to put a crumbled biscuit in the bottom of the receptacle – this is the time to do it. If not gently pour the cream into the glasses.
- 6. Refrigerate for 6 hours minimum.
- Serve with fruit and edible flowers
We hope you enjoyed the class!
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