Giorgio Locatelli’s pasta with breadcrumbs and anchovies
This is so simple it hardly needs a recipe, but it really shows that no matter what the poverty and suffering of the Sicilian people at various points in their history, they have always been really clever at using whatever they had.
Let’s not forget we are talking about a land that the ancient Greeks could not believe when they landed: such a paradise of luscious food, but because of the massive inequality of rich and poor, there were times when many people had very little to eat. So you baked bread and used the breadcrumbs instead of cheese, and if you were lucky you had a few anchovies, preserved in salt, to add to your pasta.
At home making breadcrumbs is such an easy thing to do. If you have cooked something in the oven, when you switch it off, cut your stale bread into slices, put it on a baking tray and leave it in the oven overnight to dry out. Or you could just set your oven to 80C and put the bread in for an hour. Of course, you need good bread, not the remains of a doughy, sliced loaf – those are only good for the ducks. When the bread has dried out, it is ready for grating.
Serves 4
salted anchovies 10
breadcrumbs 240g
sea salt
spaghetti 400g
extra virgin olive oil 60ml
Rinse and dry the anchovies. Run your thumb gently along the backbone to release it, and you should be able to easily pull it out.
Toast the breadcrumbs in a dry pan over a medium heat until they are quite a dark golden brown. Take care not to burn them.
Bring a pan of water to the boil, add salt, then put in the spaghetti and use a fork to curl the pasta around the pan, so that it is all submerged under the water quickly.
Cook for about a minute less than the time given on the packet, so that it is al dente. Drain, reserving some of the cooking water.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a pan and add the anchovies, stirring and crushing them with a wooden spoon so that they ‘melt’ into the oil and make a little sauce – but take care not to let them burn.
Drain the pasta and toss with the anchovy sauce, adding a little of the cooking water from the pasta if necessary to loosen it.
Serve sprinkled with the breadcrumbs.
From Made in Sicily by Giorgio Locatelli (HarperCollins, RRP £30). To buy it from the Guardian Bookshop for £22.50, click here
Uyen Luu’s seabass congee
With kale, ginger and dill Congee is a soup usually made from leftover cooked rice and is a breakfast favourite in Vietnam. It is also fed to those who are feeling under the weather because it is light and delicate. However, it can be enjoyed any time of the day and a cook can be creative in the kitchen by using it as a base and adding any available ingredients to construct a quick and delightful meal.
Makes 4 bowls
sea bass 1, cleaned, filleted and skinned (keep the bones and head from the fishmonger)
Basmati rice 250g, cooked
chicken/vegetable or fish stock 1.5l or water with 1 stock cube
fresh ginger 50g, peeled and finely chopped
premium fish sauce 3 tbsp
kale 150g, sliced and destemmed
dill 10g or 5 stalks
black pepper
Place the fish head and bones into a large saucepan of boiling stock or water. Add cooked rice, fish sauce and chopped ginger and cover with a lid to cook on a medium boil for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the fish into 1cm widths and prepare the kale and dill.
After the rice has been boiling for 15 minutes remove the fish head and bones from the pan and discard. Add the kale to the pan and stir through.
When the congee has come back to the boil add the dill and the strips of fish and gently stir, being careful not to damage the delicate flesh. Cook for a final 2 minutes, then serve immediately with a pinch of black pepper.
If using uncooked rice, use 80g, wash the grains then add to boiling stock and cook for 7–10 minutes then commence the other stages.
Uyen Luu is a Vietnamese chef and food writer, uyenluu.com
Nigel Slater’s paprika, mustard chicken goujons
Smoky, crunchy chicken.
For 2
chicken fillets, smoked paprika, Dijon mustard, breadcrumbs
Mix 3 heaped tablespoons of Dijon mustard with 2 teaspoons of hot smoked paprika and a little salt and pepper. Season 400g chicken fillets. Put 25g panko or other crisp white breadcrumbs on a plate. Press the fillets first into the mustard and paprika, then into the crumbs. Shallow-fry in sunflower oil till crisp, then drain briefly on kitchen paper. Serve with mayonnaise and wedges of lime.
From Eat: The Little Book of Fast Food by Nigel Slater (HarperCollins, RRP £26). Click here to buy a copy from the Guardian Bookshop for £17.50
Jose Pizarro’s duck breast with sherry vinegar and olive oil mashed potatoes
Serves 4
floury potatoes 900g, peeled
garlic 4 whole cloves, peeled
bay leaf 1
black peppercorns 10
olive oil 6 tbsp
salt and pepper
sugar 25g
sherry vinegar 4 tbsp
palo cortado sherry 6 tbsp
dried apricots 50g, finely chopped
arrowroot ½ tsp
duck breasts 4 x 200g, kept cold in the fridge right up until the time you need to use them
For the mash, cut the potatoes into large chunks and place in a large pan with plenty of cold water. Boil for around 20 minutes or until soft with the garlic cloves, bay leaf, peppercorns and 2 tablespoons of olive oil, then add a pinch of salt. When the potatoes are cooked, skim off the olive oil and reserve. Drain the potatoes and remove the garlic, peppercorns and the bay leaf. Mash the potatoes with the rest of the olive oil and the reserved portion, then season. Keep warm.
In a small saucepan mix the sugar with 1 tablespoon of water and dissolve over a medium heat. When it is dissolved increase the heat and boil until it turns into a nice golden syrup. Turn off the heat and add the vinegar, sherry, and the dried apricots. Return to the heat and simmer for around 8–10 minutes or until the alcohol evaporates. In a separate pan, dissolve the arrowroot in 2 tablespoons of water and simmer for 1 minute before adding to the vinegar and sherry sauce. Keep warm on a very low heat.
Whilst the sauce is simmering, score the duck breast skin in a diamond pattern. This should be easy as they will be very cold. Heat a heavy frying pan over a high heat. Place the duck breasts with the skin down and reduce the heat to medium, then cook them for around 4 minutes. We are looking for a golden brown and crispy skin. Turn the breasts and cook for another 5 minutes for a rare cook; keep them in a bit longer for medium. Take out of the pan and rest for 5 minutes on a chopping board. Slices the breasts diagonally in long slices.
Divide the olive oil mash amongst four warmed plates, then place the meat on top and spoon over the sauce. Serve with a green salad.
José Pizarro is chef and owner of Jose and Pizarro, London SE1; josepizarro.com
Nigel Slater’s steak with miso
Steak with deeply savoury juices.
For 2
rib-eye or rump steak, white miso paste, shallot, tarragon, chervil, cider vinegar, butter
Fry 2 rib-eye or rump steaks in a little butter and olive oil in a shallow pan, turning and basting regularly (I turn mine every 2 minutes and baste almost continuously). When the meat is done to your liking, lift from the pan and set aside to rest on a warm plate. Add 60g butter to the pan, let it sizzle briefly, then stir in a shallot, finely chopped, and let it soften for a minute, stirring occasionally and scraping the browned steak juices from the pan. Add 2 tablespoons of white (shiro) miso and a tablespoon of cider vinegar and whisk. (If it looks like the sauce is splitting, add a spoonful of hot water and whisk.) Stir in a tablespoon of chopped tarragon and a tablespoon of chopped chervil.
From Eat: The Little Book of Fast Food (HarperCollins, £26). Click here to buy a copy from the Guardian Bookshop for £17.50
