RICOTTA, LEMON AND MINT RAVIOLI FILLING
250g ricotta cheese
100g parmesan cheese, freshly grated
grated zest 1 lemon
large handful mint leaves, roughly chopped
Mix all the ingredients together with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, then use to fill the ravioli.
POTATO, PECORINO AND BASIL RAVIOLI FILLING
1 × 400g baking potato
½ garlic clove, crushed
3 tablespoons freshly grated pecorino cheese
small bunch basil, leaves chopped
Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Bake the whole potato for 1 hour, or until tender and cooked through. Carefully cut open and scoop the flesh into a bowl with the garlic, pecorino and basil. Mash together and add some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Set aside to cool before using to fill the ravioli.
SALSA VERDE
Pesto is a favourite recipe, for the simplest but most satisfying of reasons: what child doesn’t eat pasta pesto? For some reason it seems to break through the ‘no green’ rule. So, stir these through pasta for the bambini, or serve for grown-ups with hot grilled meat or cold leftover roasts. Salsa verde is great with fish, and roasted pepper and almond pesto was put on this earth to be eaten with sausages.
SERVES 4–6
1 tablespoon capers, drained and chopped
2 anchovy fillets, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
small bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
small bunch chervil, finely chopped
grated zest ½ lemon
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra if storing
½ teaspoon red wine vinegar
Stir all the ingredients together in a bowl and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Set aside for 1 hour to allow the flavours to develop.
If not using straight away, spoon into a container, pour in enough olive oil to cover by 0.5cm and seal with a tight-fitting lid. Keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.
PARSLEY AND WALNUT PESTO
SERVES 4–6
50g roasted walnuts, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
4 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
large bunch flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra if storing
Mix together the walnuts, garlic, parmesan and parsley in a bowl, until well combined. Add some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper then stir in the olive oil.
If not using straight away, spoon into a container, pour in enough olive oil to cover by 0.5cm and seal with a tight-fitting lid. Keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.
PISTACHIO AND CHILLI PESTO
SERVES 4–6
50g roasted pistachios, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
small bunch mint, roughly chopped
small bunch flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
50g parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1 red chilli, finely chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra if storing
Mix together the pistachios, garlic, herbs, parmesan and chilli in a bowl, until well combined. Add some sea salt and stir in the olive oil.
If not using straight away, spoon into a container, pour in enough olive oil to cover by 0.5cm and seal with a tight-fitting lid. Keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.
ROASTED PEPPER AND ALMOND PESTO
SERVES 4–6
4 roasted red peppers in olive oil, drained and roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
50g roasted almonds, roughly chopped
4 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
125ml olive oil, plus extra if storing
Put the red peppers, garlic, chilli flakes and almonds into the bowl of a food processor. Whiz to a rough paste then stir in the parmesan, olive oil and some sea salt.
If not using straight away, spoon into a container, pour in enough olive oil to cover by 0.5cm and seal with a tight-fitting lid. Keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Friday night is pizza night in the Granger household. I love pizza – crispy pizza with fresh toppings, rather than something slightly soggy that arrives in a cardboard box by motorbike. Scattering a little polenta over the pizza base is a simple trick to crisp it up.
BASIC PIZZA DOUGH
MAKES DOUGH FOR 4 PIZZAS
2 teaspoons dried instant yeast
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for greasing and brushing
½ tablespoon honey
375g strong white bread flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
Pour 250–300ml tepid water into a small bowl, sprinkle in the yeast, add the olive oil and honey and whisk with a fork until dissolved. Set aside.
Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the yeast mixture. Bring together to form a soft dough, then turn out onto a dusted work surface and knead well for 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
Place the dough in a lightly greased large bowl and brush the top with a little olive oil. Cover with oiled cling film and leave the dough to rise in a warm place for 45 minutes, or until doubled in size.
MOZZARELLA, ROASTED PEPPER AND CAPER PIZZA
MAKES 4 PIZZAS
polenta, for dusting
plain flour, for dusting
basic pizza dough (see recipe)
4 tablespoons passata
4 roasted red peppers in olive oil, drained and cut into wide strips
2 × 125g balls mozzarella cheese, sliced
2 tablespoons capers, drained
handful rocket leaves
extra-virgin olive oil, to drizzle
Preheat the oven to 250°C/gas mark 9 and dust four 30cm pizza trays or two large oven trays with polenta. Dust