Looking towards Italy
From last week’s Indian food focus we’re moving on to Italy this week. Italy has probably been in lots of our minds this week with all that’s happening there. But its always close to Basil & Tom’s hearts even when its not in the news, as it’s our favourite country to travel to because the food is just so delicious. We do try and cook as much Italian food as we can at home and these are some of our favourites:
Sweet and ripe Italian tomatoes with basil, olive oil, lemon and salt and pepper as a salad – which was the inspiration for the name of the shop, although we turned the name into two fictional people.
Gabby’s favourite dish of the week is spaghetti Bolognese, made using Mutti Tomato Passata and The English Butcher’s wonderfully tender mince perfect for Friday nights after football. Then there’s chestnut and portobello mushroom risotto with a little chopped up thyme and some parmesan from The Churchfield Foodstore. How about a minestrone – which is always a satisfying and healthy soup to have in the fridge and can be adapted as we move from winter to spring with different green veg. There’s a yummy Winter Minestrone recipe in the River Café Cook Book. And finally back to pasta – with a simple dish – lots of crushed garlic, gently cook with a tin of chopped up anchovies and a finely sliced red chilli which you then sauté some broccoli florets in and add to some Orecchiette pasta (the ones that look like little ears). A great way of having some vegetables with your pasta. And the list could go on. Let us know what your favourite home cooked Italian dish is on our Instagram
