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Recipes by Darren Simpson
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Grilled yellow fin tuna with asparagus, peas, pounded anchovies & rosemary
Serves 4
4 160g pieces of yellow fin tuna
16 spears of peeled asparagus
1 cup of fresh or frozen peas
1 sprig of fresh rosemary picked & finely chopped
8 salted anchovy fillets rinsed
4 lemon
2 clove of garlic finely sliced
Extra virgin olive oil
Method:
In a pestle & mortar pound the anchovies to a paste, add the chopped rosemary, a squeeze of lemon, some black Pepper & four tbsp of olive oil. Oil the tuna & the asparagus & season with salt & freshly ground black pepper. On a clean well oiled BBQ grill the asparagus & the tuna till just cooked the asparagus should have a little bite & the Tuna should be rare. Blanch the peas in boiling salted water , drain & season. Place the tuna & the asparagus & peas on a plate & drizzle with the anchovy & rosemary sauce, serve with ½ a lemon.
Pappa al pomodoro (Tuscan bread, tomato and basil soup)
Serves 4
12 large ripe vine tomato ripened tomatoes (skinned, seeded and chopped)
2 large cloves of garlic (peeled and thinly sliced)
1 loaf of stale Italian bread (crust removed and torn into large chunks)
1 bunch of basil (picked)
1ltr hot vegetable stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
120 ml of Lakelands Extra virgin olive oil
Method:
In ½ the olive oil lightly brown the garlic, add the tomatoes and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, add some vegetable stock, bring to the boil & then add chunks of the bread to soak up the liquid season with salt and pepper. Add the bread and some hot vegetable; stir the bread through the tomato, to form a thick sludge. Roughly tear the basil and add, let the soup stand to absorb the basil and tomato flavors.
Serve warm, but not hot, drizzled with olive oil.
Spaghetti alla vongole (Spaghetti with clams, chilli, parsley, garlic, white wine & olive oil)
Serves 4
320g of spaghetti (barilla)
40 clams
4 tbsp of chopped flat leaf parsley
4 tbsp of chopped garlic
2 tbsp of chopped red chilli
1 pinch of dried chilli
200 ml dry white Italian wine
150 ml olive oil
Method:
In boiling salted water cook the spaghetti. Place the clams in a bowl with the chilli, garlic, parsley, olive oil & the white wine. Place your saucepan on the heat & get nice & hot, add the clams etc to the oil & cover with the lid.
Cook the clams till they just open about 3 to 4 minutes, the olive oil & the white wine will form a sauce, toss in the hot spaghetti, which should be cooked but still al dente.
Serve with crusty bread.
Note: because of the simplicity of this dish you should use the best quality produce that you can acquire.
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