Anatomy of a meal

Dirty lemon martini: drink cautiously

I am writing this sitting on our balcony, where there is – just – a breeze. Before any of you get too jealous, there are also quite a lot of spiders webs – it seems to be a bumper year for spiders. Anyway, it is just about cool enough up here for me to make up for my neglect of this blog by giving you not one but three recipes (drink, main course and dessert) all of which I consumed on Saturday evening.

Let us begin with dessert – which may seem illogical, but it requires chilling, so needs to be done first: Nigella’s chocolate olive oil mousse. Handily, the recipe is here: https://www.nigella.com/recipes/chocolate-olive-oil-mousse , so I’ll summarise. First, melt some chocolate. I just put the chocolate outside in the sun (covered) which pretty much did the trick, although I did (v briefly) put it over some simmering water to get it to the right liquid consistency, and in this heat, the less cooking the better. Let this cool slightly, then mix in the olive oil and set aside.

Next whisk egg whites in a bowl with salt, and whisk egg yolks and sugar in another bowl. Add the chocolate and oil to the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the egg white. Explain this procedure to your husband who is wondering why you have used so many bowls, even though as you have a dishwasher he has no real reason for his concern. Discover that all of the ramekins are in said dishwasher, and resort to pouring the mixture into small glasses instead. I made a quarter of the recipe which was enough for a generous portion for one, or a small portion each for two – we had ours with fruit, so this was fine. 

Mousse - apologies for messy presentation

 After this, you have of course earned a drink. In the same Nigella book (At My Table) I spotted a recipe for Dirty Lemon Martini, which seemed perfect to test out our newly-acquired martini glasses. (My husband and I have slightly different ideas of what constitutes an essential lockdown purchase, but martini glasses we could agree on). Per person, you need: 2 shots gin or vodka (I am strictly vodka for martinis), half a shot of white vermouth, and one teaspoon of juice from a jar of preserved lemons. Put all of the above into a cocktail shaker, with a lot of ice, shake, and then strain into a glass. It is a slightly salty, sharp and very refreshing drink, perfect for a hot evening.  Incidentally, this is the only Nigella book I have – I quite fancy acquiring some more, but I don’t know which one(s) to go for – any recommendations?

The third recipe is our main course: Spaghetti with radicchio, pancetta and red wine. This is a Hugh Fearnley-Whitingstall recipe from his old Guardian column, it’s still online here: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/feb/28/recipes-chicory-hugh-fearnley-whittingstall

I love this recipe because it tastes delicious, and is simple enough to make even after two cocktails (I don’t think I have ever tried it after more than that, but feel free to experiment and let me know how it goes). It takes about the same length of time as cooking your pasta – fry off the pancetta, then add chilli and garlic. Add the shredded radicchio, and cook until it’s collapsed down, before adding some red wine. Let this bubble, then add in some cream. Cook briefly, then serve on top of the pasta. Drink the rest of the wine, since you’ve opened the bottle.