FOOD

THEO RANDALL’S ITALIAN PANTRY

Theo Randall’s passion for food was born from regular family holidays across Europe and from a young age he was destined for a culinary future. His career began as a waiter at London’s acclaimed Chez Max and after only a few weeks, Max Magarian noted Theo’s talents and invited him to work in the kitchen where he spent the next four years following an apprenticeship in classic French cuisine. In 1989, Theo joined the up-and-coming River Café and quickly found his culinary home with the legendary Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray MBE. After a year’s secondment cooking alongside Alice Waters at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California, Theo returned to The River Café and brought inspiration from the bountiful Californian produce he had been working with.

Theo then remained at River Café for a further 15 years as head chef and it was under his patronage that the restaurant received its first Michelin star in 1997. He left to launch Theo Randall at the InterContinental, which opened in November 2006. His commitment to delivering rustic produce-driven Italian food from the prestigious address of No. 1 Park Lane has earned him loyal followers and rave reviews from critics and food-lovers. While he is a regular on national television, including BBC One’s, Saturday Kitchen, Theo remains true to his culinary roots and can be found at the restaurant most services. He has published three successful recipe books: PASTA (2006), My Simple Italian (2015) and The Italian Deli Cookbook (2021), and his latest book, The Italian Pantry, released on 1 September 2022.

TAGLIATELLE WITH MUSHROOMS, PINE NUTS AND PANCETTA

This recipe is a perfect midweek dinner; easy to prep and comforting to eat. There are lots of really good, dried egg tagliatelle pastas on the market – I always go for the brands Rumo or Giovanni Cocco. Or, of course, you could always make fresh pasta.

Serves 2–3 Ingredients • 100g (3½oz) pancetta, cut into matchsticks • 75g (2½oz) pine nuts • 250g (9oz) chestnut mushrooms, thinly sliced • 1 garlic clove, finely sliced • 1 teaspoon thyme leaves • juice of ½ lemon • 100g (3½oz) mascarpone • 250g (9oz) dried tagliatelle • 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves • 75g (2½oz) parmesan, grated, to serve • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Heat a large, heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat. When hot, add the pancetta to the dry pan and leave it to cook for a few minutes, until the fat has rendered and the pancetta is crispy. Add the pine nuts and cook for about 1 minute, until they are a light golden colour. Remove the pancetta and pine nuts from the pan with a slotted spoon and set them aside to drain on kitchen paper. Leave the fat in the pan. Add the mushrooms to the pan over a medium heat. Fry until the mushrooms have released their liquid and become syrupy, then add the garlic and thyme and fry for 2 minutes more. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat down to low and stir in the mascarpone. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the tagliatelle and cook for 2 minutes less than the packet suggests, then, using tongs, transfer the pasta to the pan with the mascarpone mixture. Add a ladleful of the pasta cooking water and stir through the parsley. Mix everything together with a wooden spoon and cook for 1 minute, adding another ladleful of pasta cooking water if the tagliatelle feels a little dry. Toss the pasta so it is juicy and coated in the sauce. Serve the tagliatelle in warm bowls with the crispy pancetta, pine nuts and a little extra parmesan sprinkled on top.

My mother used to make the most delicious lasagne – I used to get so excited when I knew it was coming. She was brilliant at making the béchamel sauce – it was always perfectly creamy but never thick and floury. The trick to this was to cook it very slowly and use equal quantities of flour and butter. This is a vegetable lasagne, but it has as much flavour as the traditional meaty offering because you roast the aubergines (eggplant) first. Try to use egg-based lasagne sheets as they tend to have more flavour and are not as brittle when you cook them (or, better still, make your own sheets of pasta).

Serves 6

Ingredients • 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil • 2 red onions, finely sliced • 500g (1lb 2oz) courgettes (zucchini), cut into 1cm (½in) rounds • 1 garlic clove, finely sliced • 500g (1lb 2oz) tomato passata • 8 basil leaves, roughly torn • 3 aubergines (eggplants), sliced into 2cm (¾in) rounds • 300g (10½oz) egg-based dried lasagne • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper For the béchamel • 75g (2½oz) unsalted butter • 75g (2½oz) plain (all-purpose) flour • 500ml (17fl oz) whole milk, warmed to just below boiling point • 150g (5½oz) parmesan, grated, plus extra for sprinkling

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/Gas 6. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Once hot, add the onions, courgettes (zucchini) and a good seasoning of salt. Cook for 20 minutes, until the onion and courgettes are soft. Heat another tablespoon of the olive oil in a separate saucepan, then add the garlic. Fry the garlic for 30 seconds, then add the passata and cook the mixture gently for 20 minutes, until reduced by half. Season with salt and pepper, then stir through the basil.

Brush both sides of the aubergine (eggplant) slices with olive oil and season them with salt. Place the aubergines in an even layer on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Bake them for 15 minutes, then turn them over and bake them for a further 15 minutes. Remove the slices from the oven and, when they are cool enough to handle, cut them into halfmoons. Set them aside and leave the oven on.

To make the béchamel, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over a low heat. When the butter has melted, add the flour and cook it out for a couple of minutes, stirring to combine. Next, add the hot milk and stir continuously to avoid any lumps forming. Cook the sauce gently for 20 minutes, stirring all the while, until smooth and thickened, then mix in the parmesan and check the seasoning. Leave to one side.

Mix the aubergines, courgettes, onions and tomato sauce together in a large bowl and check that everything is seasoned well. Use the remaining olive oil to oil a baking dish, then place a layer of lasagne sheets in the base of the dish. Add one-third of the vegetable mixture in an even layer, then top this with one-quarter of the béchamel sauce. Repeat this twice more, then finish with a layer of lasagne sheets and a final layer of béchamel sauce. Sprinkle the top with some more parmesan, then bake the lasagne for 35 minutes, until the pasta is cooked and the top is golden. Serve with a little extra grated parmesan on top, if you like.

MEATBALLS IN TOMATO SAUCE WITH BURRATA AND CROSTINI

This dish was on the menu at Theo’s Simple Italian in Kensington – sadly, the restaurant is no longer, but the dish is still very much a classic. The richness of the meatballs with the vibrant tomato sauce is very comforting and it’s a perfect dish to serve to a large gathering. I love the addition of the chopped burrata, as it makes the tomato sauce taste even sweeter and adds a soft, creamy texture. Scale the quantities up or down as required.

Serves 4 Ingredients • 1 ciabatta or sourdough loaf, cut into thin slices • 1 garlic clove, to rub • 1 x 150g (5½oz) burrata sea salt and freshly ground black pepper For the meatballs • 400g (14oz) pork mince (ground pork) • 400g (14oz) beef mince (ground beef) • 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves • 1 garlic clove, crushed to a paste with a little sea salt • 3 tablespoons whole milk • 100g (3½oz) dried breadcrumbs • 75g (2½oz) parmesan, finely grated • 3 eggs • 1 teaspoon sea salt • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil For the tomato sauce • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil • 1 garlic clove, finely sliced • 1 teaspoon chopped thyme (not lemon thyme) • 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped • 600g (1lb 5 oz) tomato passata

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Method

Place all ingredients for the meatballs into a large bowl and combine to form a firm, evenly distributed mixture. Cover your hands in olive oil, take a generous tablespoon of the mixture and roll it between your palms to form a meatball the size of a golf ball. Repeat until you have used all the mixture – you should have 16 meatballs. Place them on a tray in the fridge to firm up for 30 minutes. Place a large, non-stick, ovenproof frying pan over a high heat and add a tablespoon or so of olive oil. When the oil is hot, begin browning the meatballs (in batches if necessary), ensuring you don’t cook them completely – a little colour on the outside is perfect. Once they are all browned off, remove them from the pan and leave them to one side while you make your tomato sauce. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/Gas 6. Make the tomato sauce. Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to the pan and set it back over a medium heat. When hot, add the garlic, thyme and chilli. Simmer for 1 minute, then add the passata. Cook gently for 15 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced by half. Season the sauce and take the pan off the heat. Place the meatballs in the pan on top of the sauce, evenly spaced, then transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through. Leave to one side for 5 minutes to cool slightly (leave the oven on). Drizzle a little oil over your ciabatta slices and sprinkle them with some sea salt. Place them on a baking sheet and bake them for 4 minutes, or until crispy, then rub them all over with the garlic clove. Meanwhile, finely chop the burrata, then use a spoon to drop dollops all over the baked meatballs. Give everything a sprinkle of sea salt and a good grinding of black pepper, then serve in the middle of the table alongside the crostini and let everyone help themselves.

AMALFI LEMON CHEESECAKE

This has to be one of the easiest and tastiest cheesecakes around. Ricotta is used in place of cream cheese, making for a much lighter mouthful, however this means that it’s important to allow enough time for the cheesecake to set fully – ideally you’d make it a day in advance. The best ricotta to use for this is sheep’s milk ricotta, but you will only find this in Italian delis or in a farm shop that sells local cheese.

Serves 8 Ingredients • 200g (7oz) cantuccini biscuits • 75g (2¾oz) unsalted butter • 50g (2oz) light brown soft sugar • 500g (1lb 2oz) ricotta, drained • 100g (3½oz) mascarpone • zest and juice of 2 Amalfi lemons • 125g (4½oz) icing sugar, sifted

Method

Tip the cantuccini into a food processor and blitz them to a fine crumb. Alternatively, place them in a Ziplock bag and bash them with a rolling pin or saucepan. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over a low heat, then add the blitzed cantuccini biscuits and the sugar. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute, then take the pan off the heat. Tip the mixture into a 22cm (8½in) non-stick springform cake tin, pressing the buttery crumbled biscuits over the base to create a biscuit base. Transfer the tin to the fridge while you make the ricotta filling.

Using a hand-held electric whisk or a wooden spoon, beat together the ricotta, mascarpone, lemon zest and juice and icing (confectioner’s) sugar in a large mixing bowl for 4 minutes, until the mixture is creamy and light. Spoon the ricotta mixture into the springform tin and spread it out into an even layer over the base. Refrigerate to set for a minimum of 3 hours, but preferably overnight, before releasing the cheesecake from the tin.

Transfer it to a serving plate and top with extra lemon zest before slicing.

The Italian Pantry by Theo Randall (Quadrille, £26). Photography: Lizzie Mayson.

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