Paper Palate

The annual Italian Special issue from Delicious, full, as you would expect, with Italian dishes.

So what do I make first - a classic English dish, Scotch Woodcock with Asparagus. It’s an Edwardian or Victorian dish whose peculiar name’s origin has long since been lost. Basically though, it is just creamy scrambled eggs with anchovy, which might sound more than a little strange but was actually delicious and went brilliantly with an Australian Riesling from Howard Park.

I have actually tried out one of the Italian recipes - Giorgio Locatelli’s Pappardelle with Broad Beans and Rocket. But, bugger me, when I came to buy all the ingredients could I find any Pappardelle ANYWHERE! No is the answer. So I substituted some dried pasta from the back of the cupboard. It’s a little on the complicated side for me, perhaps showing Locatelli’s restaurant background, but really fresh and springlike and just excellent with another Howard Park wine, this time their Sauvignon Blanc.

Other recipes on my “must try” list include the Torta di Limone, the Orange and Rosemary Polenta Cake,  the Zabaglione di Nonna Rosetta, and the Italian Baked Almond Cheesecake — all destined perhaps for my Dessert of the Week slot!

Not only is my little market town lacking in the pasta department, but it also lacks a full-blown deli. There is a shop of sorts that offers a small range of local fresh produce, various flours, a few sauces and the like, but for the full deli experience, I have to travel to Oxford, where everything I could possibly require is available from the covered market or the deli at the end of St Giles. I mention all this as a section in Delicious offers “Deli Dinners,” where editor Angela Boggiano “takes us around her local Italian deli and creates a series of simple, tasty suppers from the wealth of fantastic ingredients she finds there.” I don’t know about you, but I need to go shopping with a list rather than just “pop in” and dream up a host of recipes from ingredients.

Still, the recipes range from a Spicy Salami, Roasted Pepper and Taleggio Frittata, Tuna, Cannellini Bean and red Onion Salad, Roasted Artichoke and Pancetta Pasta and Cheese and Ham Rice Cakes. The latter are made from leftover risotto which I am dying to make. I love a risotto and always make too much — rather than stuffing myself and eating it all, these seem a great way to use up the leftovers.