Episode 5 Nigellissima

I love this breakfast ciambella, which I call my yogurt pot cake.

I mean, it is one of the traditional cakes of Italy.

Now, I'd often eaten it but I'd never made it. But I found the recipe

because one year I'd rented a house in Italy for the summer

and I was having a bit of a nosey rummage through the kitchen,

as one does. And I found the sort of book you dream of finding.

A bit like a scrapbook, a bit like a notebook

with lots of hand-written recipes and some bits torn out.

And here was the recipe for this cake, so of course I copied it down.

It's such a sunny cake, I think. I'm totally charmed by it.

Of course it helps that it's easy to make.

You use your yogurt pot as a unit of measurement,

once you've emptied it out of yogurt, which you also use.

But to start off with you just get your three eggs.

You separate them and you whisk the whites.

I've got a thick, firm snow here.

So it's on to the yolks. Three yolks.

I have to empty the yogurt pot before I can start using it

to measure all of my other ingredients.

I have to say I find this so charming, this recipe.

My little yogurt pot and everything measured out.

There's a sense of security this sort of old-fashionedness gives.

I want two yogurt pots of sugar.

This needs to whisk.

I want it quite aerated as well as smooth.

Right, onward. One pot of vegetable oil. Just any flavourless oil.

I've got a pot now of cornflour.

Although actually in Italy, they use potato starch,

but cornflour or potato starch, they both work.

One pot.

In that goes.

I just want to scrape down all the flour...

..that's on the sides of the bowl.

Mmm. Pretty luscious thick golden batter at this stage.

And obviously you can use a wooden spoon

and a bowl or a hand whisk - after all, this recipe,

such as it is, pre-dates by far

expensive electrical gadgetry in the kitchen.

I've got a couple of ingredients that aren't measured in my yogurt pot.

And one of them is lemon zest, about half a lemon's worth.

And what I mix with this,

which is THE Italian smell of baking, is vanilla.

Although I'm not going to use the yogurt pot for the vanilla,

obviously, I'm sticking to that sort of idea,

by using the cap to measure it.

I want two caps full of vanilla. Let's mix this together.

Now, at this stage, the batter is almost play-dough-like.

Really thick and oozy and eggy.

But it is missing an essential component.

And you've noticed maybe that I haven't used any raising agents.

That is because the whites do all the raising.

Or the rising.

About a third of them goes in first,

and at this stage I don't fold in gently.

I am vigorous, violent, even.

And this, in baking terminology, is called lightening the batter.

In other words, it's slightly more liquid now,

so it makes it much easier to fold in the rest of the egg whites,

which I will do a bit more calmly and gently.

I've got my cake tin. It's a savarin mould.

The Italians call this cake a ciambella, that's the shape it is.

And look at this ooze round.

Ooze round a bit too much the way I'm going.

It does look as if I'm filling this to the rim and I really am.

But although it rises, it falls again slightly

so it shouldn't spill out onto the oven.

Speaking of which, it needs about half an hour,

thirty-five minutes, in a moderate oven.

And then once it's out and cooled, I dredge it with icing sugar.

Slice it and bite it. And feel totally Italian.

Although even when at home, I make myself feel Italian in the kitchen,

I do feel the need to go back often. To soak it all up and replenish

my Italian spirit.

Italians takes their traditions very seriously,

and I mean, why wouldn't they? So I can get a bit apprehensive

when I toy with them, as I can do.

And one of my little new inventions, or changes,

is that Italians tend to make their meatballs out of minced beef,

and sometimes pork or a mixture.

And I thought, why not just make things easy

and just use Italian sausages? I was very gratified

that when I cooked this once, some Italian friends,

not only did they like this, but actually they asked for the recipe.

If you want to, you can unwrap them. That is very good.

I just take a packet of Italian sausages

and squeeze the meat out from the skins.

Although actually, like my mother, I believe in child labour.

And now my own children are too big I use my niece and nephew.

So, about the size of a cherry tomato.

Your hands are much better suited to it then mine,

cos you've got nice small hands.

See, I've already made mine too big, so ignore me.

-Like that one?

-That looks perfect.

So just roll them, roll them, roll them. You go first. Perfect.

As you roll the meatballs, just place on a baking tray or any flat surface.

You'd be surprised how many you can get out of one packet of sausages.

If you use small people with small hands, 40 meatballs is easy.

-Is that the right size?

-Perfect. Perfecto.

-Yeah.

-Si. Grazie.

Then brown the meatballs.

The thing about this is, not only does it make the look lovely and bronzed,

but it makes more of their flavour go into the sauce for later.

I start off by heating some garlic oil in a pan.

It makes them nice and brown before we add the sauce.

Thank you very much.

Grazie mille.

I would say "you're welcome" but I don't know what it is.

If someone says "grazie", you just say "prego".

Back to my young apprentices...

I get them to snip some spring onions into a bowl

and then I add them to the pan.

I've got some oregano. Pizza herb.

Yeah, I like that sprinkled on top.

Absolutely. I'm going to do quite a lot.

If you wanted to at this stage, you could add some wine or vermouth.

We're going to add tomatoes.

I then add two cans of chopped tomatoes.

Half-fill each can with some cold water and swill out into the pan.

Would you like to add a bit of pepper?

That's enough, otherwise Ella won't like it.

Ella, you can add salt if you like.

Are you going to go over there? Well done.

All that's left to do is add a couple of bay leaves.

It's quite liquid, because I'm going to let them simmer without a lid on

and that means all of the water will evaporate

and it will have a really strong, gutsy taste.

I'll move up a bit so you can have a look.

-Smell nice?

-Oh, it smells so good.

I like to give the meatballs a gentle stir in their sauce

and then when they're bubbling I let them cook for about 15 minutes.

No more.

Before I serve I always like to taste, just to check the seasoning,

and if I feel it needs it I add some parsley.

You can eat the meatballs with whatever you like,

but I would be sacked by my family if I didn't serve them with spaghetti.

Right.

OK. This is what you made, guys.

You made this, didn't you, you two?

They did.

Anyway, it's delicious.

OK, I have managed to wrap a meatball in pasta.

Can I model for you?

That's very good work.

Did you start with the meatball and wrap round?

I am so much more a girls' night in,

rather than a girls' night out kind of a person.

-Hello.

-Hello.

Obviously, if I have a friend coming over in the week

I'm not up to any heavy lifting in the kitchen,

but if I can, I love to go out and buy a special ingredient

so I can rustle up a treat.

Today espresso liqueur is calling me.

I will be seeing you soon. Bye.

Bye-bye.

Since the person coming over has got a sweet tooth,

pudding is a priority. I'm making my tiramusini.

As you might imagine this is a version of tiramisu.

One of the great virtues of this version

is that it takes only moments to rustle up.

I start off with some savoiardi, which are like ladies' fingers.

I break these into pieces and drop them at the bottom of some glasses.

I add some espresso liqueur to some freshly made but cooled espresso,

though any strong coffee would do,

and then I pour this over the sponge fingers.

Just to help the soaking process start,

I do squish the biscuits down into the liquid.

To make the topping I start off by breaking an egg

and then I whisk the egg white until it is frothily thick.

I put some mascarpone into a large bowl

and then I drizzle over some Marsala, followed by some sticky honey

and then beat altogether with a wooden spoon.

Finally I fold the egg whites into the mascarpone mixture.

And then I spoon this light topping onto the biscuits.

And I try to create a kind of whipped-up effect,

which will look so beautiful when I dust them with cocoa later.

But for now I just stick them in the fridge,

and unlike a proper big tiramisu,

my tiramusini needs no more than 20 minutes.

So pudding's sorted and it's so luscious and creamy

that I want something with a little feistiness and fire first.

I'm talking about my simple, speedy seafood with chilli and marjoram.

Right, I have my squid and my prawns. I always keep a stash of them

in the deep freeze and they're thawed and ready to go.

Always good to top up on parsley and obviously I'm after some marjoram.

Really sweet and delicate, but it won't be overwhelmed

by the chilli peppers or their gorgeous red rasp.

If there's one thing I like better than a seafood supper,

it's a seafood supper that has red chilli in it.

That fire sets it off so well.

I'm going to attempt to get rid of most of the seeds,

but I like some left behind. It can't really be too hot.

You could, I suppose, and I have done, use dried red chilli flakes,

but for me it's something about that Chinese lacquer red

of the fresh chilli cut into little strips.

And now this is like the Golden Triangle of flavour.

In a wok or any big pan, really, put some oil...

..and then let me amass my weapons.

I want garlic and I want lemon and I need a grater.

So, in goes the chilli.

I might leave a bit to be sprinkled over the squid and prawns later.

Now this, this I can't stop doing

and that's grating lemon zest into hot oil when I cook.

All of the flavours really of a lemon really are in the zest,

all of the oils. And they permeate the cooking oil,

which in turn permeates the food it cooks.

And what's more, it scents the room beautifully.

Beautiful. Now the garlic.

Not so beautiful to look at than that gorgeous yellow,

but, oh, what a smell, what a taste.

Chilli, lemon, garlic, these are my heavy hitters,

but I want some delicacy too for herbs.

I've got marjoram, which I think of as the softer-skinned cousin

to oregano with a slightly sweeter disposition.

You get more of an aniseed hint from the marjoram, actually.

Always good in my book.

How about parsley as well, let's not neglect that.

A bit of iron, A bit of vitamin C.

And fling some of this in the pan now.

So we're moments away now, cos this takes hardly any time to cook.

I've got my prawns...

..which I'm tempted to call shrimp because it goes better with my squid.

For me this is absolutely the perfect girls' night in.

A good chat. A good supper and a bottle of rose wine.

Or if I'm feeling macho, maybe some cold beer.

You don't need to use a wok. I mean, after all,

a wok is scarcely an Italian piece of equipment,

but I'm a messy cook and it makes spillage less likely.

The lemon zest does really flavour everything, but now it's the turn of the juice.

And why I want this is because I want a light

but still fiery and zingy seafood gravy.

There's something about the drama of this, the pink coral prawns,

the white squid with the red chilli and the green herbs

against this black rice.

It's very, very easy to cook.

It's sturdy so you don't have to fear over-cooking it.

And all I do is put a cup of black rice in the pan,

cover it with a cup and a half of cold water and bring it to the boil.

And once it comes to the boil I turn it down really low and clamp on a lid

and leave it to cook until the rice has absorbed all of the water.

I'm going to heap the seafood over the rice,

and I have to say that this is one of those suppers that probably,

in fact definitely, takes longer to eat than to cook,

and I am a fast eater.

A bit more herbs.

The remaining bit of chilli.

I will put the rest of this crimson confetti in here.

As far as I'm concerned we can crack open the wine

and we're ready to eat.

Now, Julie, we have squiddles.

-Oh, delicious, thank you.

-Rose.

-Thank you. That looks lovely.

I want to get my hair like this one day.

-Don't you think she looks divine?

-Mmm, gorgeous.

-Isn't he fantastic?

Some restaurants have after-dinner martinis on their menu.

I kind of think these look like after-dinner martinis,

only in lusciously edible form.

Just letting just enough cocoa settle on those peaks.

And also it gives a bit bitterness, which is perfect after supper.

-Especially for you.

-This looks delicious. Thank you.

-What is this called?

-It's tiramusini, little baby tiramisu.

Oh, it's really strong at the bottom. It's nice.

It is, isn't it?

When you go to the best bits. A bit of double coffee,

-like a double espresso.

-Yeah, that's quite right.

Although I take a lot of comfort from old traditions,

it is very exciting seeing new traditions emerge.

I've recently learnt of a way of cooking pasta in Italy,

all the rage, that goes against absolutely everything

I've ever been taught about how to cook pasta by Italians.

I'm starting off with some garlic oil.

Now I'm making a pea and pancetta risotto, no rice is involved,

but we'll come to that.

So, here goes with some pancetta. Quite a lot.

It's a very good night-time standby. Anytime standby.

So once my pancetta cubes are bronzed and crisp,

I'm going to add my frozen peas. No need to thaw them.

In they go.

I want to mix these into the pancetta just so they lose their frozen look

and maybe suck in some of those gorgeous salty juices.

You will be amazed by the fact, I think,

that I'm cooking my pasta straight here in the pan.

I said it was a pasta risotto and actually I'm using pasta

that looks like rice, although it's called orzo.

In it goes.

So whereas normally you have to bring copious amounts of water to the boil

and then tip in some pasta, now I put the pasta in... Hmm.

I'm hungry. And add some water. And I think it's often easier to do this by ratios.

So I've got about a cup and a quarter of that pasta,

and I'm going to add about twice that, two-and-a-half cups of water.

Recently boiled, in it goes.

I mean this takes about half the time to cook than risotto

and there's no stirring.

I'm just doing this now just to coax it along.

Add a bit of salt.

And all I'm going to do is let this come to a boil

and then turn it down to a simmer.

It will be cooked when all the water is absorbed

and you'll see my new modish way of cooking pasta.

Very sciccoso, as they say in Italy.

Now it's all ready and I'm not going to drain it.

The whole point is the starch from the pasta

has oozed out into the scant bit of cooking liquid that remains,

forming its own creamy sauce.

Normally you just throw the starchy water down the sink.

I'm going to add a little teeny bit of added gloss with some butter

and you've got to have some grated parmesan.

It's the perfect thing to cook when you're tired

and your children are tired.

Mmm.

PASTA SLOSHES

That sound just makes me feel soothed and I'm salivating.

My Italian friends tell me this way of cooking pasta

is all the rage in Italy right now.

In this goes.

More for later.

Eating this is like being wrapped in a warm cosy blanket.

I love its tender jade tangle.

Benissimo!

It's time to add these beauties.

You just need to dive straight into the dolce.

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