Italian Lunch Club – Cooking Together
Cooking Together Italian Lunch Recipes
Our cooking together cookery classes are as much about learning to cook as they are a sociable experience. We hope you enjoyed your class 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:
- Starter: Spinach and Ricotta Tortellini, red pepper and Pomodoro puree, herb pesto;
- Main: Chicken Cacciatore with Garlic & Rosemary Sautéed Potatoes;
- Dessert: Click here for a link to the Food Sorcery favourites
Spinach & Ricotta Tortellini
Ingredients:
serves 2
For the pasta (makes more dough than needed for this recipe)
- – 2 medium eggs
- – 200g ‘00’ flour, plus extra for dusting
For the hazelnut pesto
- – 25g whole blanched hazelnuts
- – 15g Parmesan (or a similar vegetarian hard cheese), grated
- – 1 tbsp hazelnut oil
- – 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
For the filling
- – 75g ricotta
- – 150g grams of blanched spinach, water squeezed out of it
- – 2tbsp parmesan (or a similar vegetarian hard cheese), grated
- – 1 lemon, zest only
- – 1clove of garlic, grated
- – pinch grated nutmeg
- – salt and freshly ground pepper
- – knob of butter, to serve
Method:
- Put eggs and flour in a food processor and process until smooth. The mixture will look like breadcrumbs at this stage. Tip out onto a lightly floured board and bring together using your hands. Knead the dough until it’s no longer sticky. Cover and rest in the fridge while you make the filling and pesto.
- For the pesto, spread the hazelnuts on a baking tray and toast in the oven for 6–8 minutes, until golden brown, then set aside to cool.
- For the filling, mix the ricotta, parmesan, spinach, garlic, lemon zest, nutmeg and a pinch of salt and pepper until well combined. Transfer to a piping bag or a plastic food bag with the corner snipped off.
- To make the pesto, crush the hazelnuts in a pestle and mortar, then gently stir in the Parmesan and oils.
- To assemble the tortellini, roll the pasta dough through all the sizes on the pasta machine starting with the widest setting and finishing on the smallest setting when the pasta is very thin. Using a 9cm/3½in round cutter, cut out 10 circles. (Any leftover dough can be frozen to use another time.)
- Pipe a heaped teaspoon amount of filling inside each pasta circle and fold in half to create a half moon shape. Wet the edges and press down to help them stick. Pull the two narrow ends together to form a tortellini shape.
- Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Cook the pasta in the boiling water for 2–3 minutes, or until al dente. Drain well.
- Meanwhile, put a frying pan over a medium–high heat and add a knob of butter. Cook until lightly browned and starting to bubble. Then add the hazelnut pesto and gently heat through.
- Serve the tortellini with the pesto spooned over the top.
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.
- Preheat the oven to 190C. 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.
- Process with remaining.
Herb Pesto (optional nut free)
Ingredients – Serves 4:
- – 1 clove of garlic
- – 1/2 big bunch of fresh basil
- – Handful of chives
- – Handful of coriander
- – 1 handful of pine nuts
- – 1 good handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- – extra virgin olive oil
- – 1 lemon
Method:
- Peel the garlic, then pound in a pestle and mortar with a pinch of sea salt.
- Pick, roughly chop and add the basil, followed by coriander and chives, then blend in a food processor.
- Add the pine nuts (very lightly toast first, if you like) to the mixture and blend again, same with 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
Chicken Cacciatore
Ingredients – Serves 2:
- – 4 chicken thigh, skinless and boneless
- – 1 shallot, diced
- – 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- – 1 red pepper, de-seeded and sliced
- – 400g chopped tomatoes
- – Handful of sun blushed tomatoes
- – Handful of fresh cherry tomatoes
- – Handful of olives of your choice
- – 2tbsp of capers
- – 100ml of red wine
- – 1 tsp of sugar
- – 2 sprigs of thyme
- – 6 basil leaves
- – 1 bulb of mozzarella, shred into pieces
- – 1tbsp of olive oil
- – Seasoning
Method:
- Pre-heat your oven to 185C.
- Place a heavy skillet on medium heat with a splash of oil.
- Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper and sear of in the pan, remove from the pan and leave on side for now (chicken doesn’t need to be cooked through yet).
- Add another splash of oil in the same pan and sauté onions for a couple of minutes, followed by garlic.
- Next comes the red pepper, cook for another minute.
- Now pour in the red wine with sugar and reduce by half, followed by cherry tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, capers, chopped thyme and olives. Simmer for ten minutes, correct seasoning, place the chicken on top and bake for roughly 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Right before serving, place mozzarella on top and melt in the oven.
- Garnish with chopped basil leaves.
Garlic & Rosemary Sautéed Potatoes
Ingredients – Serves 2:
- – 300g of new potatoes
- – 2x clove of garlic
- – 1x sprig of rosemary
- – 1 tbsp pomace olive oil
- – Knob of butter to finish
- – Seasoning
- – Optional: red peppers, courgettes etc.
Method:
- Cut the potatoes in half, do not peel.
- Boil some salty water, potatoes will go in for about 5 minutes, depending on size. They need to be medium.
- Let airdry, this will finish cooking and will get rid of the excess moisture.
- Get a non-stick pan on medium heat, add oil and get it really hot.
- Sautee the potatoes until golden, add butter, crushed garlic, chopped rosemary, let the butter foam and serve immediately.
- If using any other vegetables, add after potatoes are golden and cook for extra five minutes.
Use the link above to explore the Food Sorcery favourite dessert recipes
We hope you enjoyed the class!
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