Italian food has well and truly made a comeback of late. Which is A-OK by us.
One restaurant that has consistently turned out marvellous Italian fare is River Cafe. In fact, so iconic is the west London Italian restaurant that this year, it celebrates its 30th year of being around.
To mark the occasion, they've released a new cookbook, River Cafe 30, which brings together 90 really rather excellent dishes. Our faves? Some of the vegetarian offerings.
Because they're nice, the River Cafe folk have shared a few of the book's best veggie recipes with us so you can try and recreate the River Cafe experience at home. Click through for some serious dinner party inspiration...
River Cafe 30, published by Ebury Press, is out now.
Raw Porcini Salad
Serves 4
This is a simple recipe you should only make with very fresh porcini. The mushrooms should be pristine with wide, white stalks and brown, unbroken caps. If the undersides of the caps are yellowish brown it means the mushrooms are overripe. Never wash porcini.
Ingredients
4 large firm and fresh porcini
100ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
juice of 1/2 lemon
200g rocket leaves
6 branches of fresh thyme leaves
Instructions
1. Keeping the porcini whole, wipe the caps with a damp cloth and peel the stems, cutting off the base. Slice the porcini thinly lengthways.
2. Combine the olive oil and lemon juice with some sea salt and black pepper. Wash and dry the rocket. Toss with the dressing and divide among four plates.
3. Put the porcini on top. Season and sprinkle over the thyme leaves. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and serve.
Photo: Courtesy Of The River Cafe Cook Book
Ricotta and Spinach Gnocchi
Serves 6
Ingredients
1kg fresh spinach leaves
50g unsalted butter
a small bunch of fresh marjoram
400g fresh ricotta
40g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
3 egg yolks
1/4 nutmeg, grated
120g Parmesan, freshly grated, plus extra for serving
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the sage butter
225g unsalted butter
a bunch of fresh sage, leaves picked
Instructions
1. Melt the butter, add the marjoram, and cook for a minute. Add the spinach, and stir to combine the flavours. Season, leave to cool, then chop roughly.
2. In a large bowl, lightly beat the ricotta with a fork, then sieve in the flour. Add the egg yolks, the nutmeg and Parmesan and finally fold in the cooled spinach mixture until well combined. Taste for seasoning.
3. Dust a baking tray with flour.
4. Using two dessertspoons, take a small spoonful of mixture and, using the other spoon, mould the mixture so that it forms a gnoccho. Place on the floured baking tray. The gnocchi should all be the same size, about 2 cm (3/4 in) in diameter. Bring a large pan of water to the boil, then lower the heat to a simmer.
5. Gently place the gnocchi in the water in batches – it is important not to overcrowd the pan. When the gnocchi come back to the surface, remove carefully with a slotted spoon and briefly place the spoon on kitchen paper to drain off excess water.
6. Serve immediately on warm plates with sage butter and extra Parmesan.
Photo: Courtesy Of The River Cafe Cook Book
Risotto al Amarone di Valpolicella
Serves 6
Ingredients
300ml chicken stock or vegetable stock
150g unsalted butter, softened
1 medium red onion, peeled and chopped
1 head celery, washed and finely chopped
300g risotto rice
750ml Amarone di Valpolicella wine
150g Parmesan (or vegetarian alternative), freshly grated
a little double cream (optional)
sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper
Instructions
1. Heat the stock and check for seasoning.
2. Melt two-thirds of the butter in a large heavy-bottomed pan and gently fry the onion and celery for about 20 minutes or until light brown. Add the rice and stir to coat with butter.
3. Increase the heat and gradually pour in 500ml of the wine, slowly letting the wine be absorbed by the rice. Then add the hot stock, ladle by ladle, stirring all the time and only adding more stock when the rice has absorbed the previous addition.
4. When all the stock has been absorbed and the rice is almost cooked, gradually add the remaining wine, stirring. The rice will have taken on the colour of the wine.
5. Add half the Parmesan and the remaining butter or a little cream and season, taking care not to over-stir. Serve with the rest of the Parmesan and a drizzle of cream on top, if using.
Photo: Courtesy Of The River Cafe Cook Book
Blood Orange Sorbet
Serves 10
Ingredients
20 blood oranges (preferably unwaxed)
caster sugar
2 unwaxed lemons
Instructions
1. Juice all but one of the oranges. Measure the volume of the juice. Use half that volume of caster sugar.
2. Cut the whole lemons and the remaining orange into quarters, removing the pips. Place in a food processor or blender with the sugar and pulse-chop to a liquid. Add the orange juice and pulse once or twice.
3. Pour into an ice-cream machine and churn until frozen.
This should be served on the same day as it is made.
Photo: Courtesy Of The River Cafe Cook Book
River Cafe 30 by Ruth Rogers, Rose Gray, Joseph Trivelli and Sian Wynn Owen (Ebury Press, £28)
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