nduja and rocket pizza

i tried using the nduja i bought last week as a pizza topping, along with a cheese mix of gorgonzola and mozzarella plus a rocket garnish. sadly, i wasn’t thrilled by the end result.

the nduja slightly crisped up to create little spicy nuggets of meaty flavour but that wasn’t enough to make it a fabulous pizza – the second version i made used fennel salami in place of the nduja and that was far superior.

i think it’s down to texture. the nduja has none so you enjoy the flavour of your pizza slice but all you notice is crispy chewy crust and soft toppings (with a fresh rocket crunch) whereas sliced meats such as salami or chorizo add something extra, which really does make a difference.

so, i still need to find a way to make my nduja shine. back to the drawing board, as i have plenty left.

cheese on toast - how do you make it?

i’ve become a bit obsessed with cheese on toast.

i often have it as a breakfast treat, usually with a smear of hp sauce and cracked black pepper on top of the melted cheddar, but it was reference to “cheese and marmalade on toast” that set me off this time.

the thin layer of seville marmalade added an interesting flavour but it’s not really something i’ll have time and again. unlike the version with chopped jalapenos underneath the cheese. i think this version would also benefit from some sundried tomato pesto or tomato jam but have yet to try this.

what else should i try? how do you have your cheese on toast?

scarlet chard and lemon mozzarella bruschetta

 

ever since i made that amazing tomato and mozzarella salad, with the mozzarella rolled in parmesan, black pepper and lemon zest, i’ve been thinking about other, more autumnal, ways to eat the cheese in this way.

bruschetta is a much-loved starter and when i picked up a beautiful bunch of scarlet-stemmed chard the other week i was reminded of a bruschetta we ate in siena, which was topped with cavolo nero and black-eyed beans. so, my decision was leaves on toast, with cheese in place of the beans!

i’d never cooked chard before and found a useful piece of advice from skye gyngell – whatever dish you are making, chard is always prepared in the same way (see below for details). i dressed the cooked chard with olive oil, seasoned it and then piled this on garlic-rubbed toasted ciabatta. the mozzarella (a beautifully soft fresh buffalo version) was prepared as described above and placed on top. a drizzle of olive oil finished it off.

the combination of flavours works well – the chard had an earthy almost beetroot flavour which was lifted by the creamy mozzarella, the salty parmesan and fresh zingy lemon. the basic idea would work well with other winter leaves too – i fancy having a go with cavolo nero.

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black pepper and taleggio risotto

“light-yet-powerful black pepper, sage and taleggio risotto, made with aged carnaroli: a collection of separate grains suspended in the most brilliantly flavoured and textured liquid with dollops of molten cheese and micro-shavings of lemon zest.

brilliant simplicity of the made-to-order risotto marrying the richness of taleggio with the punch of black pepper."

doesn’t that sound amazing? i read this about a dish cooked by australian chef jonathan barthelmess and given i’m unlikely to make it to his restaurant any time soon i decided to try and create it myself.

i made a simple risotto, omitting any flavouring beyond garlic, onion, wine and stock until the end. when the risotto was ready i stirred in a heaped tablespoon of grated parmesan, the grated zest of a lemon and about a  teaspoon of roughly ground black pepper (keep tasting as you add it until you get a peppery kick that goes beyond the usually seasoning that you’d add). i then added the cubes of taleggio, stirred briefly, covered and left to rest for a moment while i fried some sage leaves in olive oil until crispy (it just takes a few second).

when i served the risotto the taleggio cubes were only just starting to melt, making it look and taste very decadent. this wasn’t the “light-yet-powerful” dish i read about – i think 150g of cheese between the two of us was a bit excessive! however, the flavours did work well together while still being distinct. i didn’t have enough sage to make this a real feature but would be interested to try and build this flavour up a bit more. i think some shredded cavolo nero stirred through would also work really well. 

cobnut, stilton and fig pasta

 

i first tried cobnuts last year - they are a type of hazel and are in season at the moment. their flavour is quite mild and creamy but distinctively hazel (although having said that i’ve seen them described as tasting a little like fresh coconut). last year i used them to make cobnut, apple and cinnamon cake. this year i fancied something savoury.

the pistachio orecchiette that i made a few weeks ago was fresh in my mind – i’d thought at the time about a walnut and blue cheese version but decided that i should do it with cobnuts so i could make something truly appropriate for british food fortnight. the cheese, also delivered to me by foodari, was stilton and i picked up the figs at lewisham market (these are obviously imported, but now is their season).

i toasted the cobnuts (see below for what they look like, out of their shells) so they had an extra depth of flavour. i also swapped the mint i’d used originally for sage which contrasted well with the pungent stilton. this is a much richer dish than the pistachio version and really benefits from the inclusion of fig to lighten everything up. again i think it’s best served with a  green salad dressed with something sharp, to balance everything out.

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