Zuppa Rapida

I was just finishing my latest blog, inspired by the one sunny day last week, on "Winter Salads" when it started snowing.  No-one wants salad when it is snowing, so I rummaged around in the fridge and found an abundance of onions, carrots, celery, leeks, some left over Butter beans, from one of my salads, three cabbages (oops!) and an "Unearthed" Chorizo de Leon, which was an obvious purchase of Hugh's, before he so rashly and somewhat unconvincingly decided that he was Vegetarian.  It all sang "soup" to me.  It just needed a little more bite. I love those sort of "Pasta e Fagioli" type soups that so brazenly break the "one carbohydrate is sufficient" rule. Potatoes or Beans or Pasta.  It is cold, I am hungry - so lets have them all!. So I went through the cupboards on the hunt.  I couldn't find any Barley, the kids had eaten the Orzo and I had used all the Farro in another of my Winter Salads but I was pleasantly surprised to find half a bag of Zuppa Rapida. This is a fabulous soup mix of pearl barley, lentils, green azuki beans and peas. Best of all, it does just what it says on the packet. It is fast. No need to soak and all the pulses are cooked perfectly in 30 minutes. 

All the supermarkets do their own mix of soup pulses but I also found a nice mix by Pedon of Spelt, Barley, Whole Rice, Kamut, Wheat and Oats which would work equally well in a salad or a soup but in this weather, I'll be sticking to soup.

Zuppa Rapida
This is not really a recipe so much as a use-up of everything in your fridge.  Use whatever vegetables you have to hand. There is no need to add meat but if you do any good Chorizo, Salami, Sausage or Bacon will do.
3 tablespoon(s) olive oil
2 onions, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 sticks celery, chopped
2 leeks, shredded, washed and drained
1 Fresh red Chilli
200g Chorizo, Sausage or Bacon (cut into bite-size chunks)
5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Herbs such as fresh Rosemary, Thyme or Basil or dried Oregano
1 tin good quality plum tomatoes
Smoked Paprika (to taste)
150g cooked Butter Beans (tinned or cook your own)
100g Zuppa Rapida or any good quality soup mix
Stock or just water.
Sea Salt and Freshly ground black pepper
1 Cabbage (Savoy, Pointed, Spring Greens, Kale, Cavalo Nero or Chard) Shredded
1 splash of extra virgin olive oil (to serve)

Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan heat the oil, add the onion, carrots, leeks, celery and a whole fresh red chilli. Soften over a medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes, without allowing them to colour. Really cooking the vegetables at this stage will help release the vegetables natural sugars and flavours and really add taste to your soup and avoid the necessity of needing stock. Add the Chorizo and allow it to release some of it's fat. Add the garlic and herbs and fry for a few minutes more before adding your tomatoes. Break up with the back of a spoon.  Add a little smoked Paprika to taste but go easy if your Chorizo was very smoky. Add the Butter beans and the soup mix. Season well with Sea Salt and Freshly ground black pepper and add some water or stock. Bring to the boil, and then turn down the heat. Cook for 30 minutes until you have a really lovely tasting soup. Finally add your cabbage, Cavalo Nero, Kale or Chard and simmer for about 10-15 minutes until cooked. Check seasoning. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil. This soup is even better the next day but you will find the pulses has absorbed all the liquid.  Just add a little more water or stock when you re-heat it.

Winter Minestrone

Christmas is all about the children.  Every year I mentally conjure up the perfect family scene; spending quality time with the kids, sharing those moments that memories are made of - decorating the tree, wrapping presents, eating mince pies.  Every year, I end up desperately struggling to keep a calm, smiling façade, inevitably thinking - this would all be so much less stressful, if only the kids were not "helping" quite so much.  The tree looks like it has suffered a hurricane   My tasteful, minimalist colour scheme has been sabotaged.  The presents have been so constantly prodded and fiddled with, that they have finally lost any allure, mystery or magic that might have once contained and, as for mince pies and kids - crumbs, sticky fingers and mess.  Never the scene in the magazines.  

At least dinner is sorted.  There are few things that my whole family will eat, without too many complaints on any one front and in our family it is Minestrone.  There is no set recipe for Minestrone and ours has been adapted to suit the family's many likes and dislikes, until it has eventually come a household staple.  I make a huge batch and keep it for emergencies - like Christmas preparations and spending quality time with the kids.  

I save all my Parmesan rinds and chuck them in for extra flavour and also I am very generous with the Pesto.  If you have used up all your home-made pesto, that you prepared with the last of the summer surplus of basil from your garden, harvested just before the first frost came, then just go and buy some.  A good quality one should contain nothing more than basil, extra virgin olive oil, Parmesan, pinenuts, Pecorino and salt.  Check the label.  This is a very seasonal soup.  A distant memory to the Summer Minestrone that I made back in June.  Use up whatever is in your veg box, in the fridge or maybe more to the point, what your kids will eat.  I am still excited about Winter Greens at the moment and in my opinion nothing is better in a Winter Minestrone than king of all cabbages, the Savoy.

Winter Minestrone

I would love to say that I am a girl who constantly has a pot of chicken stock on the back burner, using up all those bones that would otherwise go to waste, but I am not.  If I do make stock I do usually freeze some but when I haven’t, stock cubes are just fine.  Buy a good quality one.  I use Kallo Organic.  Check the ingredients. There really should not be anything dubious in there.  Obviously they are very high in salt, but just add less to your finished soup. 

5 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve

200g smoked streaky bacon, cut into lardons

2 onions, quite finely chopped

4 large carrots cut into 1cm dice

5 sticks of celery cut into 1cm dice

6 clove of garlic, crushed

2 tins cooked and drained Borlotti beans

2 tins good quality tinned tomatoes

Parmesan rinds. (Optional - You can collect these and keep them in the fridge for a few weeks).

1.5l good quality chicken stock (or good quality stock cubes)

200g pasta, either soup pasta such as Ditalini, broken spaghetti or alphabet pasta is quite fun for little kids.

Extra seasonal vegetables of your choice, (courgettes (finely chopped), peas, French beans (cut into 1cm lengths) or Cavalo Nero or Kale (striped from its stem, washed and chopped) or 1/2 a Savoy cabbage (shredded).

180g Pesto, homemade or bought.

Grated Parmesan.

Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan heat the oil, add the bacon and fry until golden brown.  Add the onion, carrots and celery. Soften over a medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes, without allowing them to colour.  If adding courgette, add it now and allow to soften slightly.  Add the garlic and fry for a few minutes more before adding your tomatoes.  Break up with the back of a spoon.  Add the Parmesan rinds if using.  Add the Borlotti bean and allow to cook to about 10 minutes more.  Add the stock, bring to the boil, and then turn down the heat.  Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Add the pasta and French Beans, Peas, Cavalo Nero, Kale or cabbage and simmer for about 15 minutes until the pasta is cooked. Check seasoning and stir in most of the pesto.  Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, a grating of Parmesan and the rest of the pesto. This soup is even better the next day but you will find the pasta has absorbed all the liquid.  Just add a little more water or stock when you re-heat it.

Winter Greens

One thing I love most about Winter is that the Brassicas are at their best and along with the more obvious broccoli and cauliflower, cabbages and of course brussel sprouts the markets, and my veg box, fill up with a variety of Kales including the wonderful Cavalo Nero. Kale grow excellently in our climate as they freeze well and actually tastes sweeter and more flavourful after being exposed to a frost. Fabulously good for you, they need nothing more than stripping from their stems, blanching for a few minutes in plenty of boiling salted water, draining and leaving to cool before squeezing out any excess water. Then fry plenty of garlic slithers in lots of extra virgin olive oil (preferably Tuscan), until golden brown and add your leaves, roughly chopped if you like. A quick stir, a little sea salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Delicious! I like mine on a piece of toasted Polaine (or sourdough) bread, drenched with a little more olive oil. So simple and you have one of the best and healthiest snacks around. I have a theory, though completely unsubstantiated, that winter greens act as some sort of natural anti-depressant. Winter greens beat the blues.

I have also been working with Russel on a particular fine Chicken, Chorizo and Butter Bean Stew. I have made this a couple of times but felt it needed refining.  I narrowed it down to the quality of Chorizo which I felt was laking, so I set about sourcing some better Chorizo, which can be quite hard to find.  In the end, I got some from Brindisa, who stock many local shops, as well as of course their own wonderful shop in Borough Market.  They and are also on-line. The finally addition to lift this dish from everyday to extraordinary was some Kale and on a cold winters day, I defy you to find a better stew.

Cabbages are another Brassica that are wonderful right now and the King of all Cabbages has to be the Savoy. One of my favourite recipes is this bizarre Italian mountain soup, Zuppa di Aosta. The combination of cabbage, stale bread, cheese and anchovy, sounds nothing short of  horrid. But somehow these flavours merge together to create a harmonious yumminess that is beyond words.  It is actually a big bowl of Umami. Almost addictive, just don't tell anyone what is in it!




Zuppa d'Aosta
The original recipe that I used to use was in the first River Cafe Cook Book, but Jamie Oliver adds bacon in his more recent version in Jamie at Home and I do rather like it, so here is his recipe.  Fontina is an Italian mountain cheese from Aosta.  If you cannot find it then use Gruyere instead.

3 litres good-quality chicken or vegetable stock
1 Savoy cabbage, stalks removed, outer leaves separated, washed and roughly chopped
2 big handfuls cavolo nero and/or kale, stalks removed, leaves washed
and roughly chopped
About 16 slices stale country-style or sourdough bread
1 clove garlic, unpeeled, cut in 1/2
Olive oil
12 to 14 slices pancetta or smoked streaky bacon
100g can anchovy fillets, in oil
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves picked
200g Fontina cheese, grated
150g freshly grated Parmesan, plus a little for serving
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F.
Bring the stock to the boil in a large saucepan and add the cabbage, cavolo nero and/or kale. Cook for a few minutes until softened (you may have to do this in 2 batches). Remove the cabbage to a large bowl, leaving the stock in the pan. Toast all but 5 of the bread slices on a hot griddle pan or in a toaster, then rub them on 1 side with the garlic halves, and set aside.
Next, heat a large 10cm deep ovenproof casserole-type pan on the stove top, pour in a couple of glugs of olive oil and add your pancetta. When the pancetta is golden brown and sizzling, add the anchovies, rosemary and cooked cabbage and toss to coat the greens in all the lovely flavors. Put the mixture and all the juices back into the large bowl. Place 4 of the toasted slices in the casserole-type pan, in 1 layer. Spread over 1/3 of the cabbage leaves, sprinkle over a 1/4 of the grated Fontina and Parmesan and add a drizzle of olive oil. Repeat this twice, but don't stress if your pan's only big enough to take layers - that's fine. Just pour in all the juices remaining in the bowl and end with a layer of untoasted bread on top. Push down on the layers with your hands. Pour the stock gently over the top until it just comes up to the top layer. Push down again and sprinkle over the remaining Fontina and Parmesan. Add a good pinch of salt and pepper and drizzle over some good-quality olive oil. Bake in the preheated oven for around 30 minutes, or until crispy and golden on top. When the soup is ready, divide it between your bowls.  Add another grating of Parmesan.

Chicken, Chorizo, Butter Bean and Kale Stew

If you do not have a slow-cooker just cook on the stove top, covered, for about two hours.

8 Chicken Thighs or 4 Chicken legs, Free-range or Organic
Olive oil
3 sticks of celery, finely chopped
3 medium onions, finely chopped
6 fat cloves of garlic, very finely chopped
Fresh Rosemary, Thyme or Dried Oregano
200g of Chorizo, Picante, chopped into cubes
2 tins of plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 tsp Smoked Paprika 
2 tins of Butter Beans, drained
2 large handfulls of Kale or Cavalo Nero, stripped from the stem, washed and dried.

Fry the chicken skin side down in hot oil.  If you do not like the skin, then skin the chicken and place in the slow-cooker.  In a large saucepan heat a good glug of olive oil and place just a medium heat.  Add the onion and celery and fry for about 10 minutes until soft and just beginning to go golden. Add the garlic and herbs and fry for a few minutes more.  Next add the chorizo and then the tomatoes, some salt, freshly ground black pepper and the paprika.  Bring to the boil and tip the whole lot over the chicken in the slow-cooker.  Add the butter beans, put on the lid and cook for 5 hours high or 7 hours low.  If you do not have a slow-cooker, cook covered on the stove top for 2-3 hours, very slowly, checking regularly to make sure that it does not catch.  15 minutes before the end of cooking time, remove the lid and check the seasoning.  Add more salt, pepper or Paprika to taste.  Roughly chop the Kale/Cavalo Nero and add it to the slow-cooker or saucepan. Make sure it is submerged in the liquid. Cook for another 5 minutes.  Turn off the cooker leave to sit for a further 10 minutes or so before serving.

Some Asian Influenced Vegetables

We have just had that fantastic mackerel again for dinner but Hugh, the other half, said that he wanted something a bit more substantial than cucumber salad and why did I not make the Char-grilled Broccoli with Chilli and Garlic, which is always a favourite in our family.  I first made this at Baker and Spice, which unfortunately has now been bought out by Patisserie Valerie and has gone hideously downhill, so don't go there! But it was famously where Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi of Ottolenghi met each other ,so it is no surprise that you can find the recipe in their first book.  It really is one of those recipes that somehow manages to taste so much more than its sum of ingredients.  I wish there was a term for that!  Although I am not one to change a classic recipe, I have often made a little addition to this recipe by adding a little sesame oil and a dash of soy, and for this occasion I thought the oriental flavours would lend themselves to the mackerel.  The adapted recipe is below. 

I also have been on a mission to find other uses for the large tub of beautiful Miso in my fridge, so I was thrilled when I discovered Ingénue no goma-ae.  This is a Japanese recipe for green beans in sesame and Miso dressing and is delicious.  I also have a huge supply of sesame seeds, so this is a great way of using them up too.  Incidentally both white and black Sesame seeds are meant to be wonderfully good for you and have made it onto "TheWorlds Healthiest Foods" website!

Next, a very simple dish of Wok-fried Choi Sum is really delicious. Chop the Choi Sum, flowers and all and fry in a little oil. You can add garlic, ginger or chilli to the pan before hand, if you like. Finish with a drizzle of Tamari. Really lovely with some Soba noodles dressed lightly with sesame oil.

Finally, I did mention earlier that I had once had Aubergine baked with Miso. This actually was at a restaurant in Willesden called Sushi-Say, and was a very long time ago, but I still remember it and have been working hard to recreate it for you.  It is well worth the effort.

Char-grilled Broccoli with Chilli, Sesame, Garlic and Soy.

You can try this with purple sprouting broccoli but it does not grill quite as well.  You can toast the broccoli in a hot pan if you do not have a griddle pan or barbeque.

2 heads of broccoli

Glug of olive oil

4 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced

2 mild red chillies, thinly sliced

Coarse sea salt and black pepper

Soy sauce to finish

Few drops sesame oil

Prepare the broccoli by cutting lengthways through the stalk in wedges.  This is important as when you char-grill the pieces it needs to have the most surface area possible.

Fill a very large saucepan with plenty of salted water and bring it to the boil. Throw in the broccoli and blanch for 3 minutes only. Don't be tempted to cook it any longer! Using a large slotted spoon, quickly transfer the broccoli to a bowl full of ice cold water. Drain in a colander and allow to dry completely. In a mixing bowl, toss the broccoli with 45ml of the olive oil and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Place a ridged griddle pan over a high heat and leave it there for at least 5 minutes, until it is extremely hot or use your barbecue. Depending on the size of your griddle, cook the broccoli in batches. Turn them over so they get char marks all over.

 While grilling the broccoli, place the rest of the oil in a small saucepan with the garlic and chillies. Cook them over a medium heat until the garlic just begins to turn golden brown. Be careful not to let the garlic and chilli burn - remember they will keep on cooking even when off the heat. 

Pour the oil, garlic and chilli over the hot broccoli and toss together well. Taste and adjust the seasoning.  Now drizzle with Tamari Soy and Sesame oil to your taste.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Asian Cabbage and Sesame Slaw

I love all sorts of "slaws", especially with barbecued food.  This salad does not look that beautiful but it really tastes great.  I like to use Savoy Cabbage when in season but you can use Pointed Cabbage, White Cabbage or Chinese cabbage.

Ingredients

1 small white cabbage or 1/2 a large one, finely shredded

6 shallots, finely sliced

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Handful of finely chopped coriander

Dressing:

3 tablespoons Tahini (sesame paste)

1 tablespoons sunflower oil

2 teaspoons wasabi paste

2 tablespoon rice vinegar

3 tablespoons soy sauce

Juice of 1 lemon

1 inch ginger, peeled and grated

1 small clove garlic, crushed

1.5 tablespoons sesame oil

5 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Marinate the shallots in the wine vinegar in advance, ideally for 1-2 hours. Mix together all dressing ingredients except the water - a blender or electric beater is useful - then adds the water to thin. Mix dressing into salad, add the marinated shallots and sprinkle over sesame to garnish.

Ingen no goma-ae

175g / 6 oz green beans

A pinch of salt

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

1 tablespoon caster sugar

2/3 tablespoon Dashi stock

1/2 tablespoon Miso paste

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Toast the seeds for this recipe. Simply put them in a frying pan without oil then heat while stirring until the seeds have puffed up and you can smell the distinctive aroma of sesame. Sometimes they make a popping sound.  Grind the sesame seeds in a pestle and mortar or in a coffee grinder. Add the sugar, Dashi, Miso paste and soy sauce and mix together well. Boil the beans in a pan of salted water for 5 minutes or until tender. Finely toss the green beans in the sesame dressing and serve.

Aubergines Baked with den Miso

3 medium aubergines

200g shiromiso (white Miso)

4 tablespoons sake (Chinese rice wine is good here if you have no sake)

4 tablespoons sugar

4 tablespoons Mirin

Sesame oil

Sesame seeds

Start by slicing the aubergines into two lengthways. Cut the surfaces diagonally as far as you dare, without cutting the skin. Brush with Sesame oil and bake for 15 minutes at 170C.  While the aubergine is baking, make the den Miso by combining the Mirin, sugar, sake and Miso.  Stir well to make a thick paste.  Spread this on the cooked aubergines, all over their upper surface, making sure the paste gets into the slashes. Sprinkle with Sesame seeds. Return to the oven for a further 10 to 15 minutes making sure that they do not burn. You can eat hot or cold.   It is delicious both ways but very rich.