Tony & Giorgio. Tony Allan
Serves 6
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
700g/1lb 9 oz chuck steak, cut into
2cm/¾ inch cubes
225g/8 oz lamb’s kidneys, rinsed and cut into 2cm/¾ inch cubes
3 tablespoons plain flour
350ml/12fl oz beef stock
250ml/9fl oz Guinness or ale
1 tablespoon HP sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon tomato purée
1 teaspoon chopped thyme large knob of butter
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the pastry:
450g/1lb self-raising flour
225g/8 oz suet
pinch of salt
Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the onion and cook gently for a few minutes. Toss the steak and kidney in the flour and add to the onion, tossing well. Cook until browned all over. Pour in the beef stock and beer, then add the HP sauce, Worcestershire sauce, tomato purée and thyme and season well to taste. Bring to the boil and simmer very gently for 1 hour, until the meat is tender. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
For the pastry, place the flour in a large bowl and stir in the suet and a good pinch of salt. Mix in enough cold water to form a soft dough, using your hands towards the end to bring it all together in a smooth, elastic dough that leaves the bowl clean. Leave for 5 minutes. Cut off and reserve a quarter of the pastry for the lid. Roll out the rest on a lightly floured work surface into a large circle. Use the butter to grease a 1.5 litre/2½ pint pudding basin, then line it with the pastry and fill with the steak and kidney mixture.
Roll out the remaining pastry and cut out a lid from it. Brush the edges with a little water and place in position on the pudding, pressing the edges well to seal. Cover with a double sheet of foil, pleated in the centre to allow room for expansion while cooking, and secure with string.
Place the pudding in a large saucepan and pour in enough boiling water to come half-way up the sides of the basin. Cover the pan and steam for 40 minutes. Remove from the pan and leave to cool for about 5 minutes. Take off the foil and release the pudding by running a knife between the pastry and basin. Invert the pudding on to a serving plate, cut into wedges and serve immediately.
Insalata di spinaci e ricotta salata
Spinach di salted ricotta salad
Salted ricotta is available from Italian delis. It is different from normal ricotta because the salting and maturing process hardens the cheese, giving it a character rather like feta. The distinctive flavour of the ricotta brings the delicate spinach leaves to life. Giorgio
Serves 4
1 large red onion
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus a little extra for cooking the onion
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
large handful of baby spinach leaves
5 tablespoons Giorgio’s vinaigrette (see page 243)
5 slices of salted ricotta cheese
sea salt and freshly ground black peppe
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Wash the red onion but don’t peel it. Rub it with a little olive oil and place in a small roasting tin. Cover the tin tightly with foil and roast for 1 hour, until the onion is soft. Leave to cool, then carefully remove the skin and slice the onion into rings.
Mix the red wine vinegar with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a non-metallic dish and add the onion rings. Cover and leave to marinate for about 1 hour, until ready to serve.
Toss the spinach leaves with the vinaigrette. Sit one or two of the onion rings on each serving plate and pile the spinach leaves on top, leaf by leaf, to give a ‘flower’ shape. Break up the ricotta slices and sprinkle them on top of the spinach. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil, grind over some black pepper and then serve.
Slow-roasted belly pork with apple sauce and baked cabbage
Pancetta di maiale arrosto lentamente con salsa di mele e cavolo al forno
Belly pork has a lot more going for it than the traditional roasting cuts. For a start, there is a nice flat expanse of rind to turn into much-loved crackling, while the layers of fat mean that the meat is virtually self-basting as it cooks. Tony
Serves 6-8
1.25kg/5 lb piece of boned belly pork
2 carrots, sliced lengthways into quarters
1 large onion, thickly sliced
2 celery stalks, thickly sliced
1 large leek, thickly sliced
800ml/1½ pints chicken stock
600ml/1 pint white wine
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the apple sauce:
6 dessert apples, peeled, cored and sliced
50g/2 oz caster sugar
large knob of butter
juice of ½ lemon
For the baked cabbage:
1 small Savoy cabbage
1 streaky bacon rasher
large knob of butter
Score the rind of the pork with a very sharp knife (a Stanley knife does the job well), being careful not to cut right through the fat to the meat. Place the pork in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 40 minutes, then drain and pat dry well.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Place the carrots, onion, celery and leek in a large roasting tin and put the pork on top, skin-side up. Pour 100ml/3½fl oz of the chicken stock into the tin, place in the oven and roast for 10 minutes. Turn the oven right down to 140°C/275°F/Gas Mark 1 and cook for 3 hours. If the crackling browns too quickly, cover loosely with a sheet of foil.
For the apple sauce, place the apple slices in a saucepan with a few tablespoons of water, then cover and cook gently until soft and pulpy. Beat them to make a smooth sauce, adding the sugar, butter and lemon juice to taste.
For the cabbage, remove the outside leaves and trim the core.