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“This scrumptious savoury tart is made for the spring, when asparagus is plentiful and at its greatest,” says Gennaro Contaldo.
“In case you don’t have parma ham, use cooked ham or, when you don’t eat meat, omit altogether. Serve with a potato salad.”
Torta salata di asparagi
Welcome in spring with this seasonal dish
(David Loftus/PA)
Serves: 4
Elements:
375g ready-made shortcrust pastry
200g asparagus
150g ricotta
4 eggs
30g grated parmesan
100g parma ham, roughly torn
Sea salt and freshly floor black pepper
Crunchy combined salad, to serve
Methodology:
1. Preheat the oven to 180C fan/200C/gasoline mark 6. Grease and line a 22 centimetre (8½ inch) spherical tart or quiche tin and line it with baking paper.
2. Roll out the pastry and use it to line the underside of the ready tin. Cowl the pastry with baking paper, prime with baking beans and bake blind for about quarter-hour, till the edges of the pastry have cooked by and are golden.
3. Utilizing a big spoon, take away the beans after which the baking paper from the pastry case and return the pastry to the oven for an extra 5 to 10 minutes, till the bottom is a pale golden color.
4. Take away from the oven and put together the filling.
5. Cut back the oven temperature to 130C fan/150C/gasoline mark 2.
6. Finely chop many of the asparagus, reserving seven or eight spears, then carry a pot of salted water to the boil and prepare dinner the asparagus for about three minutes till simply tender, then drain nicely and go away to chill.
7. In a bowl, mix the ricotta, eggs, parmesan, parma ham, a little bit salt and pepper and the chopped asparagus. Fill the pastry case with this combination, then organize the entire asparagus spears excessive. Bake within the decrease third of the oven for about 40 minutes, till the filling has set.
8. Take away from the oven and go away to relaxation for 5 minutes earlier than serving with a crunchy combined salad.
Gnocchi di spinaci
Jamie Oliver’s mentor Gennaro Contaldo champions spinach on this tasty dish
(David Loftus/PA)
“This scrumptious potato-less gnocchi is made with the basic mixture of spinach and ricotta,” says Contaldo.
“Easy to organize, simply bear in mind to squeeze out the surplus liquid from the cooked spinach earlier than mixing with the remainder of the substances. Serve with tomato sauce for a hearty meal.”
Serves: 4
Elements:
250g frozen spinach
1 x 250g tub ricotta
1 egg
40g grated parmesan, plus additional for sprinkling
Pinch of grated nutmeg
Sea salt
250g ‘00’ flour, plus additional for dusting
For the tomato sauce:
2 tbsp additional virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
Sea salt
Methodology:
1. First make the tomato sauce. Warmth the olive oil in a heavy primarily based pan over a medium warmth and sweat the garlic for a minute or so, then add the tomatoes with a little bit water (rinsed from the can) and a little bit salt. Cowl with a lid and prepare dinner over a medium-low warmth for about 25 minutes.
2. In the meantime, make the gnocchi. Deliver a pot of salted water to the boil and prepare dinner the frozen spinach for about 5 minutes till defrosted and cooked by. Drain nicely, squeezing out the surplus liquid together with your fingers, then place on a chopping board and finely chop.
3. Place the spinach in a big bowl with the ricotta, egg, parmesan, nutmeg and a little bit salt, and regularly add within the flour. Combine nicely till you get hold of a easy, tender dough.
4. On a evenly floured work floor, roll the dough out into an extended sausage form. Utilizing a pointy knife, lower into two-and-a-half-centimetre lengths. Proceed doing this till all of the dough has been used up.
5. Deliver a big pot of salted water to the boil and drop the gnocchi into the water in batches, simmering for a minute or so till they rise to the highest.
6. Utilizing a slotted spoon or a spider strainer, raise the gnocchi out of the water and switch to a dish. Pour over the tomato sauce and gently combine. Serve instantly with a sprinkling of grated parmesan, when you like.
Torta di carote e mandorle
Methods to do morning tea, the Italian means
(David Loftus/PA)
“Delicately gentle and wholesome, this simple carrot cake could be good with a morning espresso or at teatime,” says Contaldo.
“I like to make use of the Italian elevating agent referred to as Paneangeli, with its delicate vanilla flavour, and it needs to be obtainable from Italian delis and worldwide retailers. In any other case, common baking powder will work simply superb.”
Serves: 8
Elements:
4 eggs, separated
225g caster sugar
130g plain flour, sifted
2 tsp Paneangeli baking powder, sifted (or common baking powder)
150g floor almonds
275g carrots, grated
Slightly icing sugar, sifted
Handful of flaked almonds
Methodology:
1. Preheat the oven to 160C fan/180C/gasoline mark 4. Grease a 20-centimetre spherical springform cake tin and line it with baking paper.
Every chapter in ‘Verdure’ is devoted to a special vegetable
(Pavilion)
2. In a big bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar collectively for about 10 minutes, till good and creamy. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites till stiff.
3. Fold the flour, Paneangeli (or baking powder), floor almonds and grated carrots into the egg yolk combination, then fold within the stiffened egg whites.
4. Pour the combination into the lined cake tin and bake within the oven for 55-60 minutes, till risen and cooked by. In case you insert a picket skewer, it ought to come out clear.
5. Take away from the oven, then go away to chill utterly earlier than rigorously eradicating it from the tin. Place on a plate and mud the highest with icing sugar and a handful of flaked almonds, earlier than serving.
Tip: This cake is greatest eaten contemporary, however will hold in an hermetic container at room temperature for as much as three days.
‘Gennaro’s Verdure: Huge And Daring Italian Recipes To Pack Your Plate With Veg’ by Gennaro Contaldo (Pavilion Books, £26).
