The First-Time Cook

Italian Bean and Vegetable Soup

This is a brilliant, filling chunky soup just like the ones mama makes all over Italy.

Serves 6–8

BASE INGREDIENTS

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, peeled and chopped

3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

2 carrots, peeled and diced

AROMATICS

2 sprigs each of thyme and rosemary

4 tablespoons chopped parsley

MAIN INGREDIENTS

200g (7oz) dried cannellini beans, soaked overnight, or 1 x 400g can cooked cannellini beans

450g (1lb) potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 cm (3/4in) cubes

about 300g (10oz) prepared weight of at least 2 of the following: courgettes, winter squash such as butternut, turnips, fennel, celery, leeks (see opposite)

1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes

110g (4oz) peas, fresh or frozen and thawed

LIQUIDS

1.2 litres (2 pints) water

SEASONINGS

salt and pepper

DRESSING UP

freshly grated Parmesan cheese (or Cheddar or Gruyère)

the very best extra virgin olive oil

1 If cooking the beans yourself, drain after soaking. Cover with 1.8 litres (3 pints) fresh water, add half the aromatics, and bring to the boil. Boil hard for 5 minutes, and then simmer until the beans are just cooked and tender, around 40 minutes.

2 Drain the cooked or canned beans. If you have cooked them yourself, save the cooking water.

3 Sauté the base ingredients in a good large, heavy-based pan until soft and lightly browned. Don’t rush this. Allow a good 10–15 minutes and keep on stirring, so that the full sweet, caramelised flavour has time to develop.

4 Add the remaining aromatics and all the remaining main ingredients except for the beans, peas, courgettes or leeks (or whichever vegetables you are using). Pour in the liquid (use the bean cooking water if you have it). Season with salt and pepper and bring up to the boil.

5 Simmer gently until the potatoes are almost cooked (around 15 minutes), then stir in the peas and courgettes and leeks if using, along with the beans. Simmer for a further 4–5 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

6 Serve in big bowls, passing the cheese and olive oil around the table so that everyone can add just the amount they like to their soup.

Italian Vegetable Soup with Pasta

Follow the recipe for Italian Bean and Vegetable Soup opposite, replacing some, all or none of the beans (depending on how much carbohydrate you crave), with a handful or two of small macaroni, or other small pasta shapes. Throw the pasta into the soup when it has been boiling for about 10 minutes, and check that it is cooked al dente (see page 65) before taking the pan off the heat. You may need to add a little extra water (say around 100–150ml/4–5fl oz) to the pan, as the pasta will absorb some of the liquid.

need to know

PREPARING VEGETABLES

COURGETTES: slice thickly and quarter each slice.

WINTER SQUASH (any from pumpkin to butternut squash, to onion squash and so on): cut away the hard rind and scrape out the seeds. Cut the flesh into 2cm (3/4in) cubes.

TURNIPS: if they are young and small there is no need to peel. Older chunkier turnips have older thicker skin, so it’s best to remove it. Cut what remains into 2cm (3/4in) cubes.

FENNEL: trim off the stumps of the stalks, which tend to be stringy. Cut a thin slice from the base, and if the outer layer is damaged and browned, discard that too. Quarter from base to stalk end, then slice each quarter.

CELERY: wash and slice, removing as many strings as possible.

LEEKS: slice off the tougher dark green leaves, and trim off the roots. Make a cut through the centre of the leek, from the leaf end, down its length for around 7.5cm (3in), and then make a second cut, the same length, at right angles to it. Fan this end of the leek out under running water to clean out any trapped particles of earth. Shake off excess water. Now slice the leek into rings about 5mm (1/4in) thick.

Smoked Haddock and Shrimp Chowder

Chowders are big, hearty soups, quick to make and a delight to eat. Essential items are potatoes, carrots, celery, bacon and milk, and from then on you can extemporise. Fish of some sort is usual in a chowder – it was, after all, originally a fisherman’s on-board meal – but not absolutely critical (see below). Smoked haddock gives a particularly fine flavour (buy the undyed, pale honey-tan fish, not the garish yellow), while a handful of shrimps or prawns lifts it above the ordinary.

Serves 4 as a main course, 6 as a starter

BASE INGREDIENTS

1 onion, chopped

30g (1oz) butter

4 rashers back bacon, cut into small strips

AROMATICS

1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

MAIN INGREDIENTS

2 large carrots, peeled and thickly sliced

2 celery stalks, thickly sliced

1 green pepper, deseeded and cut into postage-stamp squares

2 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm (1/2in) cubes

30g (1oz) plain flour

250g (9oz) skinned smoked haddock fillet

110g (4oz) peeled, cooked shrimps or prawns

LIQUIDS

600ml (1 pint) milk

150ml (5fl oz) water

SEASONINGS

salt and pepper

DRESSING UP

a handful of freshly grated Cheddar cheese

1 Fry the onion and bacon gently in the butter in a large saucepan until the onion is translucent and soft.

2 Now add the aromatics, using only half the parsley, and all the vegetable main ingredients. Stir around, then sprinkle over the flour, a little salt (not too much as both the bacon and the haddock may be salty) and plenty of pepper. Stir again for some 30 seconds or so to make sure the flour is more or less evenly distributed.

3 Now add a third of the milk and stir well, before adding the remaining milk, the water, and some more salt and pepper if needed.

4 Bring up to the boil, stirring frequently to prevent catching (i.e. burning) on the base. Turn the heat down low and simmer very gently for around 15–20 minutes until the vegetables are all tender. Stir frequently to prevent catching. If the mixture seems too thick, add a little more milk or water.

5 While the soup simmers, cut the smoked haddock fillet into chunks about 2.5cm (1in) square, discarding any bones you may come across. Stir the haddock and the shrimps or prawns into the chowder and simmer for a further 3–4 minutes until the haddock is just cooked through.

6 Sprinkle with the remaining parsley and plenty of cheese. Make a meal of this one, serving it in deep generous bowlfuls with warm bread.

Starters

This time, you’ve decided, you’re going for the full works. Entertaining proper, with starter, main course and pudding. Any time-challenged cook (and that’s most of us these days) needs a bevy of almost effortless starters up their sleeves for occasions like these. Starters that will look good, taste fabulous, and take the edge off hunger during the wait for the main course. This is where the deli counter, be it at the supermarket or a proper delicatessen shop, comes into its own, able to provide the makings of a superb first course that demands little more effort on your part than a spot of arranging on pretty plates.

It’s worth pointing out, too, that any of these ideas below would also make a nifty light lunch. All you need do to flesh them out is add a couple of salads: maybe a green salad or a tomato salad, and a potato salad (see pages 188–89 and 191).

The one important thing to remember with these simple starters is that they all need to be served at room temperature (except for the grilled goat’s cheese, which obviously needs to be served hot), not straight from the fridge, as cold kills the taste of so many foods. So, lay them out at least half an hour before eating and cover with clingfilm until your guests congregate near the table.

Four Mediterranean Medleys

All around the Mediterranean, people love to start a meal with a selection of little dishes to get the gastric juices flowing. One up from a picnic, this mini-feast can consist of no more than two or three items, or stretch to a sea of bits and bobs to nibble on. The point is that they should all have lively, vivid flavours, so a selection will usually include cured meat or fish, cheese, and pickles of one sort or another. Now that our supermarkets stock so many Mediterranean ingredients, it is incredibly easy to put together the same sort of starter here, and the brilliant thing is that it requires next-to-no effort on the part of the provider.

How Much?

It’s almost impossible to be precise about quantities here, as so much depends on the rest of the meal, the appetites of your guests, and how many different bits and bobs you put on the table. As a rough guide, make sure that there is enough of each item for everyone to get a decent taste. The more different items you have, the less you need of each one. Provide plenty of bread as well, and don’t worry.

Presentation

You have two options here. Option A is to make up individual platefuls of hams and cheeses and whatever for each of your guests. That way no-one is going to squabble over the last slice of Parma ham. And if you are worried that quantities may be a little skimpy, you can pad each plateful out with a small handful of rocket or watercress or other salad leaf, or even just an artful sprig or two of fresh parsley, basil or other herb if you happen to have some to hand.

Option B, which happens to be the one that I prefer, is to lay your collection of delicacies out on serving plates or platters and arrange them in the centre of the table so that everyone can help themselves. This way everyone can take what they like and ignore what they don’t without feeling embarrassed. And it’s wonderful how a bit of passing this or that around can get the conversation flowing, and invoke a cheery atmosphere.

Provençal Hors d’Oeuvre

In the south of France, they do the pick’n’mix starter with much grace. A classic hors d’oeuvre selection may include pâtés and cured hams, or delicious pungent dips and spreads.

Tapenade Buy a jar of this blend of olives, capers and anchovies. Pile it into a pretty little bowl, and finish with a sprig of parsley.

Fromage frais aux fines herbes As a complete contrast, make up your own bowl of creamy pale cheese flecked with green herbs. Buy a pot or two of creamy young goat’s cheese (chèvre frais) and beat in either a little crushed garlic or finely chopped shallot, lots of chopped fresh herbs (parsley, mint, tarragon, chives or whatever you have to hand) and a few spoonfuls of cream or milk if the mixture is still too thick to work as a dip. Then scrape into a bowl and place on the table.

Crudités Serve these with the two dips – in other words, carrot sticks, strips of pepper, celery sticks, pink and white radishes and so on.

French bread The ready-to-bake half baguettes are usually better than the ubiquitous French stick.

French olives These are easy to find. Amongst the best are small, dark, wrinkled Niçoise olives and green picholine olives.

Silvery marinated anchovies Although these may actually have come from Italy or elsewhere, they fit nicely into this southern French ensemble.

Italian Antipasti

For a really special occasion, track down your nearest Italian deli for a classy selection of imports, but the rest of the time, scour the shelves of your local supermarket for some of the following:

Parma ham or San Daniele ham The most famous of Italy’s many cured raw hams (prosciutto crudo), sliced paper thin.

Bresaola Cured beef, thinly sliced and dressed with a squeeze of lemon juice and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Italian salami.

Pecorino A sheep’s milk cheese, which may be either hard or soft.

Provolone A softer cow’s milk cheese which may be young and mild (dolce) or more mature and punchy (piccante).

Buffalo mozzarella Mozzarella di bufala is the real thing, softer and milkier than cow’s milk mozzarella. It comes in packets in its own brine. Serve it drained, torn into pieces and dressed with lemon or balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and a little chopped parsley, mint, or even fresh tarragon. You could also add some sliced halved cherry tomatoes for contrast, or ‘bocconcini di mozzarella’, walnut-sized mini-mozzarellas, served whole and dressed as above.

Olives Choose whichever type you like best as long as they are not those ghastly stoned black olives that taste of soap.

Sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil.

Canned marinated grilled peppers.

Marinated baby artichokes These come in glass jars. Serve them sliced in halves or quarters.

Ciabatta bread Many supermarkets now sell ‘ready-to-bake ciabatta’ which comes out of the oven crisp and golden outside, soft and slightly chewy inside, with the most tantalising smell. Warm ciabatta always seems to disappear with remarkable speed, so buy a loaf or two more than you think you will need.

Spanish Chaciñas Plate

Over recent years we have been introduced to more and more of the excellent cured pork products and cheeses of Spain, via a handful of delicatessens and now the supermarkets. These are usually referred to as ‘chaciñas’, which translates more or less as ‘cold cuts’, but taste a good deal more exciting than that sounds. To make up a Spanish chaciñas plate, take your pick from:

Jamón serrano The Spanish equivalent to Parma ham, cured high in the hills.

Chorizo A spicy salami, with a reddish hue from generous seasoning of paprika. It can either be ‘dulce’ or mild, or ‘piccante’ or chilli-hot.

Manchego cheese Spain’s most renowned cheese with a gorgeous flavour, which can either be mild or mature and is often served with ‘marmelada’ or quince paste.

Caper berries The fruit of the caper plant that grows wild around the rocky shores of the Mediterranean. Capers are the buds, but the berries or seed-pods are like tiny maracas that have been pickled in vinegar – delicious.

Olives Spain specialises in huge ‘gordo’ green olives which are sometimes sold here, but any juicy, plump-looking olive, black or green, will look good on the plate.

Canned ‘pequillo’ peppers Something of a speciality in Spain, you can sometimes find them on supermarket shelves here. Look out too for the small green padron peppers which are just beginning to hit the shops in this country.

Bread Spanish bread hasn’t made much of a mark here, so choose any handsome-looking loaf of bread to accompany your chaciñas. A sourdough pain de campagne or sturdy rye bread, warmed through in the oven, would be a good choice.

Greek/Middle Eastern Mezze

From Greece and the Middle East come some of the best ready-made starters and snacks – from hummus and taramasalata to pitta bread and now the floppier, larger Arab bread. Put them all together and you can create a magnificent ‘mezze’, a pick’n’mix of a first course.

Hummus This is the obvious starting place for any Greek-inspired ‘mezze’ and a pot of two of bought hummus can easily be dolled up to look glamorous. First of all, add a little crushed garlic if you wish to liven up the flavour, then scrape it into a small bowl, and dust the top lightly with paprika or cayenne pepper, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. A small sprig of parsley in the centre adds a final splash of colour. If you have the time, you could also sprinkle over or stir into the hummus a handful of pine nuts, that have been dry-fried until golden brown for a sophisticated finish.

Taramasalata This has to be next on the list, but try to find some that has not been dyed a virulent bright pink. Natural taramasalata is a softer, honeyed colour. Again, scrape into a bowl and sprinkle over a little cayenne pepper and some chopped parsley.

Crudités Provide a selection of raw vegetables to dip into the hummus and taramasalata – carrot sticks, strips of pepper, celery sticks and so on, as well as plenty of warm pitta bread.

Gigantes beans in tomato sauce If you haven’t tasted these before, this is the moment to try them out. Usually sold in glass jars, they are similar to butter beans, bathed in a well-flavoured tomato, dill and olive oil sauce.

Canned dolmades Little parcels of flavoured rice wrapped in vine leaves, these are surprisingly good and just need to be transferred to a plate.

Purple black Kalamata olives are fat and juicy with taut skins and tip-tilted pointy ends.

Pickled green chillies These are a hot favourite in Greece, in both senses of the word – find them in jars, somewhere near the olives.

Some Classic Quick Starters

Here is a handful of quick and easy starters that never fail to please. Original? Well, maybe not, but the reason they’ve been enjoyed for so many decades is that they work so well, and cause so little angst to the cook!

Tuna and Bean Salad

This is a great (mainly) storecupboard stand-by that I often serve as a first course, or as part of a salad-based meal. It takes 10 minutes max to put together, and needs no more than some great, chunky bread as an accompaniment.

For four people you will need 1 x 400g can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed, and a 198g can of tuna (the stuff in oil tastes nicer, but is higher in calories), drained and flaked. Mix them together with 1 small garlic clove, crushed, 1 shallot that has been finely chopped (or you could use 1/2 small red onion), and about 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram or 1 level teaspoon dried oregano. Whisk together 11/2 tablespoons lemon juice, 3–4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, and stir into the tuna mixture. Make a bed of rocket on a serving plate, and pile the tuna and bean salad on to it. Serve at room temperature.

Bruschetta

At its most elemental, bruschetta (pronounced ‘broos-ket-ah’) is no more than a slice of griddled or char-grilled bread, rubbed with garlic and drizzled with olive oil. This most straightforward form of bruschetta is an ideal accompaniment to antipasti (see above). For a stand-alone bruschetta that is interesting enough to make a first course in its own right, the basic bruschetta is surmounted with any one of hundreds of toppings. A serving of three pieces of bruschetta, each with its own individual character, makes a substantial starter, although you should remember when planning the meal that the bruschette (that’s the proper Italian plural) will need to be made no earlier than half an hour before guests arrive. Even better, they should be griddled and made up at the very last minute so that the bread is still warm, but that may prove just too tricky in terms of timing.