Spaghetti bolognese
Angela Hartnett, head chef at York & Albany
"A dish that is dear to my heart. My Italian grandmother instilled in me an appreciation of good food, and my cookbook, Cucina, is about Italian food. For me, this recipe by Elizabeth David is the ultimate."
Serves 6
225g lean minced beef
115g chicken livers
85g uncooked ham (both fat and lean)
1 carrot
1 onion
1 small piece of celery
3 tsp concentrated tomato puree
1 glass white wine
2 wine glasses stock or water
Butter
Salt and pepper
Nutmeg
Cut the bacon or ham into very small pieces and brown them gently in a small saucepan in about 15g of butter. Add the onion, the carrot, and the celery, all finely chopped. When they have browned, put in the raw minced beef, and then turn it over and over so that it all browns evenly. Add the chopped chicken livers, and after two or three minutes the tomato puree, and then the white wine. Season with salt (taking into account the relative saltiness of the ham or bacon), pepper, and a scraping of nutmeg, and add the meat stock or water.
Cover the pan and simmer the sauce very gently for 30-40 minutes. Some cooks in Bologna add a cupful of cream or milk to the sauce, which makes it smoother. Another traditional variation is the addition of the ovarine or unlaid eggs which are found inside the hen, especially in the spring when the hens are laying. They are added at the same time as the chicken livers and form small golden globules when the sauce is finished. When the ragu is to be served with spaghetti or tagliatelle, mix it with the hot pasta in a heated dish so that the pasta is thoroughly impregnated with the sauce, and add a generous piece of butter before serving. Hand the grated cheese round separately.
· From Italian Food by Elizabeth David, published in paperback by Penguin Group at £8.99.
Stir fry
Skye Gyngell, head chef at Petersham Nurseries
"With an everyday stir-fry, I don't really use a recipe as I generally chuck everything I need to use up from my fridge into the pan. But when I want something authentic and Chinese, I turn to the Australian chef Kylie Kwong. She is accessible, her vibrant flavours pack a real punch and I love the authenticity of her recipes. This egg-stir-fried rice is from her first book."
Serves 4-6
6 free-range eggs
⅔ cup finely sliced spring onions (scallions)
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp finely diced ginger
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 small red onion, finely diced
4 cups cooked rice
1 tbsp light soy sauce, extra
1⅓ cups finely shredded Chinese cabbage leaves
Place the eggs in a bowl with spring onions, soy sauce and ginger, and beat lightly with a fork to combine.
Heat oil in a hot wok until surface seems to shimmer slightly. Add onion and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Pour in egg mixture and leave to cook for 10 seconds before folding egg mixture over on to itself with a spatula and lightly scrambling for about 1½ minutes or until almost cooked through. Add rice and extra soy sauce and stir-fry for about 1½ minutes, using a spatula to break the egg into smaller pieces. Lastly, toss in cabbage and stir-fry for 20 seconds or until well combined and rice is heated through.
Transfer rice to a bowl and serve.
· From Simple Chinese Cooking by Kylie Kwong, published by Penguin Group at £17.68.
Sausage and mash
Allegra McEvedy, G2 chef and co-founder of Leon
"Everyone I know seems to swear by Nigel Slater's recipe. It's all about the onion gravy."
Butter for mashing the potatoes and for softening the onions in (or use dripping if you prefer)
Sausages - the herby butcher's type, about 2 or 3 plump ones per person
Onions - a medium-to-large one per person
Seasoning - 1 or 2 only of: juniper berries, thyme leaves, fennel seeds, bay leaves
Flour - a tbsp or two for thickening the gravy
Booze to enrich the gravy - a wine glass of marsala
Stock - from a cube if you like; about 250ml should be enough to feed 4
Dijon mustard
floury potatoes - 2 or 3 medium ones per person
Melt a little butter in a thick-bottomed roasting tin set over a moderate heat - you need enough butter just to cover the bottom - then add the sausages. The fat that seeps from them should stop the butter burning, but keep the heat quite gentle. Let them colour lightly, turning them over now and again. As they cook, peel the onions, halve them, then cut each half into about six wedges. Now remove the browned sausages from the tin and add the onions. Let them cook slowly in the butter and sausage fat, shoving them round the pan from time to time to stop them burning, until they are soft and deep gold. They should be soft enough to squash between your fingers. Expect this to take about 20 minutes. Set the oven at 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
Now add the seasonings: I suggest eight or ten juniper berries, lightly crushed, or a small palmful of chopped thyme leaves or a teaspoon of fennel seeds. Bay leaves will work with any of them. Turn up the heat so that the onions brown quickly and sprinkle in a little flour. A tablespoon or two should be enough. Let it cook for a minute or so, moving the onions round the pan so they do not burn (though they do need to colour deeply), then pour in the marsala and stock and let it come to the boil. As you stir, you will see the gravy thicken. Now season it with a little salt, some black pepper (unless the sausages are very peppery) and a tablespoon (or more if you like) of Dijon mustard. Return the sausages to the gravy and place in the oven. They are ready when they are cooked right through, with a little hint of pink, and the gravy is thick, glossy and bubbling. The timing, as always, will depend on the type and thickness of the sausages the variety of onions but you are looking at about 40 minutes.
Peel the potatoes and boil them in salted water until they are tender to the point of a knife. Drain and mash them with a little butter then serve with the sausages and their gravy.
· From Appetite by Nigel Slater, published by Fourth Estate at £20.00.
