I Love Food Recipes

Today’s recipe was made from gifts: a packet of vacuum-sealed chestnuts I was given to taste, a bundle of sage from an friend’s garden in Camden brought back to Rome in my rucksack, and a bag of farro from the best wine merchant in Rome, Antonio, who got it from Pacina in Castelnuovo Beradenga in Tuscany, where it grows abundantly. An early form of wheat, and sometimes called emmer wheat (not to be confused with spelt, which is also wheat, but a different genetic variation), farro was a staple grain in early Roman times thanks to its transportability, high protein content, vitamins and slow release of energy. Roman soldiers marched, built and fought on farro, I tell my legionnaire- and gladiator-fixated son, who doesn’t look keen, pushing away the “funny rice”. Looking like a cross between a caraway seed and grape pip when dry, farro does look rather like plump and sturdy brown rice when cooked. It has a mild, nutty taste, and it is this inherent nuttiness that some people dislike ...

Serve these with a spoonful of yoghurt instead of the coriander cashew cream, if you prefer, or even just drizzled with lime juice. Makes eight pancakes. Prep 15 min Cook 55 min Serves 4 For the pancake mix 3 courgettes Salt 150g chickpea flour (also called gram flour) 1 tbsp cornflour 20g coriander leaves 10g mint leaves ½ tsp ground turmeric 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp ground cumin 2cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated ½ green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped 120g drained tinned chickpeas (½ tin) 4 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced 80ml olive oil For the coriander cashew cream 75g cashew nuts 40g coriander 60ml lime juice (from 3-4 limes) 40g coconut cream Roughly grate the courgettes, then put them in a sieve set over a bowl with half a teaspoon of salt, mixing to combine. Leave to sit for 20 minutes, then squeeze out as much liquid from the courgettes as you can. Set aside the courgette flesh – you should have roughly 370g. Meanwhile, put the cashews in a s...

Capsicums can be eaten fresh, pickled, smoked, dried or roasted. From the nightshade family, native to the Americas, the large bell peppers or capsicums commonly come in traffic-light colours: red, orange/yellow and green. The fruit of most species of capsicum contains capsaicin. This is a chemical that produces the hot pungency or spiciness – the burning sensation found in a chilli pepper. This is not a taste, rather it is a reaction. The capsaicin is not present in the seeds, as most people think, but in the membranes surrounding them; in the white bits and, to a lesser extent, in the flesh. Most mammals can “taste” the capsaicin, finding it either unpleasant or delicious depending on perspective, whereas birds are unaffected. The bright colours of the fruit attract the birds, who then devour them and distribute the seeds. These fruits come in a huge number of varieties, including paprika, jalapeno, habanero and the many varieties of chilli. The capsicum itself does not contain c...

The recipe Drain a 320g jar of roasted red peppers, then lay the pieces of pepper in the bottom of a roasting tin. Peel 3 juicy cloves of garlic and tuck them, together with 150g of cherry tomatoes, among the peppers. Set the oven at 200/gas mark 6. Tear a thick slice of bread, about 75g in weight, into large chunks and place on the peppers with 700g of chicken wings. Trickle 6 tbsp of olive oil over the lot and bake for about 45 minutes until the bread is golden and the peppers and tomatoes are soft. Remove from the oven. Lift the chicken wings from the tin and keep them warm. Tip the peppers, bread, garlic and tomatoes into a food processor or blender, together with the oil and roasting juices. Process to a thick, brick-red cream. Serve the cream with the chicken wings. Enough for 2. The trick As it bakes, the torn pieces of bread soak up the juices of chicken, garlic and tomatoes, lending a depth you don’t get from just adding the bread raw. Remove it from the roasting tin as s...

Aside from including one of the best descriptions of eating an orange I’ve read, A Time in Rome by the Irish writer Elizabeth Bowen is an evocative account of a city, its architecture, its atmosphere, its daily rhythms. Bowen finds the perfect words for “the utter blank” in the middle of the Roman day, “announced by the clanging down of black iron shutters, which before owners go off to lunch they stoop to lock”. Almost 60 years have passed since she wrote those lines, yet they still ring true, especially during the white-hot days of summer in Piazza Testaccio, when the ceremonious yanking down of shop shutters really does feel like the city is shutting its eyes for a nap. Depending on the shop and the heat, shutters and serrande are pulled back up between 4pm and 5.30pm and, gradually, people start returning to the piazza. Kids who have been cooped up in darkened rooms since lunchtime are like springs uncoiling, scooting, kicking balls or each other, while everyone else clusters aroun...

Fried rice has been my go-to fast food at home since my childhood. My mum makes fried rice when she has limited time and she makes this recipe a lot. It is quick, nutritious and utterly satisfying. You can eat it hot off the wok, but I think it tastes better at room temperature; making it a perfect dish to cook in advance. Once you have mastered the art of frying rice, you can put pretty much any ingredients in it. This recipe uses prawns and add the dried shrimps, if you can find them, for extra umami. Serves: 2 Prep time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 15 minutes 200g Jasmine rice, cooked 1 tbsp dried shrimps (optional) 2 tsp oil 1 egg, lightly beaten ½ onion, sliced 2 garlic cloves, chopped 100g raw prawns, shelled 6 chestnut mushrooms, diced ½ tbsp oyster sauce 1 tsp fish sauce ½ tsp dark soy sauce Pinch of white pepper Crispy shallots, to serve 1 spring onion, sliced 1 red chilli, sliced Chilli oil (optional) Rehydrate the dried shrimps in boiling water for 5 ...

Salsa macha is a deliriously delicious chilli oil from Veracruz, a port on the eastern side of Mexico. It is made with toasted garlic, peanuts and sesame (an ingredient brought over from Africa, via the Caribbean), and it has a natural affinity with seafood – a must with raw seafood tostadas. Here I pair it with a British crab and new potato salad, which makes a lovely starter. Crab, new potato and watercress salad with pickled onions and salsa macha The chilli oil adds an intensely nutty, lightly fiery and terrifically garlicky spark of flavour to the salad. Leave out the sesame and peanuts for a simpler version. Chile de arbol can be found online and in good supermarkets, but substitute with any hot, dried red chilli. Prep 5 min Cook 40 min Serves 4 500g new potatoes (jersey royals, anya or pink fir apple are great varieties) Salt 100ml cider vinegar 3 tbsp caster sugar 2 large banana shallots, halved and finely sliced 6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil The juice of 2 limes 200g dres...