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No need to um and ah over your next trip abroad
Clare Latimer picks out some of her highlights from a new book on the cuisine of the Umbria region of Italy
UMBRIA here we combria. If you have not planned a holiday abroad this year then you can relax. Here is the perfect answer. An Appetite For Umbria is a stunning and beautifully constructed book about Umbria and its cooking created by Christine Smallwood.
The photography is fantastic, the recipes very original and you can tell this is a very personal and loved project that Christine has put together.
When I had finished reading it I really had the feeling that I knew Umbria and that without a doubt one of my next trips will be to find all these special restaurants that she has discovered.
It was very hard to choose just two recipes, but here are two totally different ones.
Spinach and Ricotta Squiggles (Bigoli)
I have adjusted the words to this recipe slightly as you may be more used to my style, but the actual recipe is the same – very healthy, easy to make and fun to cook something slightly different. I would serve this with a fresh ripe tomato salad and lots of Italian olive oil and crunchy rock salt.
Serves 4
500g fresh spinach, washed well, stalks removed;
300g ricotta;
two eggs;
Salt and freshly ground black pepper;
Freshly grated nutmeg to taste;
Freshly grated Parmesan.
Method
Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook the spinach for about three minutes.
Drain and then squeeze out all of the water.
Chop roughly. Mix together with the ricotta, beaten eggs, seasoning and the nutmeg.
Form small sausage shapes and cook them by putting into a pan of boiling water: they fall to the bottom of the pan and are cooked in a few minutes when they will then rise to the surface.
Remove from the pan carefully with a couple of spoons; they are quite fragile. Roll in kitchen towel to remove excess water and reform the sausage shape.
Roll in grated Parmesan and serve.
Coffee Cake
Or Torta al Caffe, which sounds much more romantic.
This has been a hidden family recipe until now when it has been allowed to appear in this book.
The size of the Espresso cup is the little ones you see in a restaurant and remember that it is very strong coffee.
You could use two heaped teaspoons of good instant instead and the same amount of water as above.
Serves 4
100g butter, softened;
150g caster sugar;
four eggs;
five grams vanilla seeds;
pinch salt;
two cups cool espresso coffee;
300g flour;
one50ml full-fat milk;
one tbsp rum;
20g baking powder.
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Mix in the beaten eggs, vanilla, salt, coffee, flour, milk, rum and, finally, the baking powder.
This should result in a creamy mixture.
Spoon into muffin cases, not overfilling as these rise significantly.
Place on a baking tray and then cook for about 25 minutes. Check with a skewer to see if they are cooked. The skewer should come out clean.
Caramel Sauce
150ml water;
300g granulated sugar;
150ml double cream.
Method
Put the water and sugar into a saucepan and bring to the boil, tipping the saucepan to dissolve the sugar.
Then keep on a high heat until the syrup turns golden.
Add the double cream and bring back to the boil and simmer for a few minutes.
Serve two cakes per person and pour over the warm caramel sauce.
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