Donaldson Matthew - River Cafe 30

Georgia Kirsop

Vashti Armit

Matthew Barzun

Sarah Bennie

Jet de Boer

Daniel Bohan

Caroline Butler

Mary Dean

David Douglas Duncan

Tom Downer

Bassam El Jundi

Alice Fisher

Matthew Freud

Roger Guyett

Lucy Harrison

Ian Heide

Laura Higginson

Joanne Holland

Ross Jasper

Norma MacMillan

Yoni Markman

Helen Marsden

Dave McCauley

David MacIlwaine

Caroline Michel

Magdalena Moores

Anya Paul

Charles Pullan

Nina Raine

Stefan Ratibor

Gail Rebuck

Kadee Robbins

Roo Rogers

Luisa Rosario

Linda Saunders

Rae Shirvington

Rebecca Smart

Stephen Spence

Alex Tidey

Pete Valenti

Barbara de Vries

Gary Waterston

Mark Williams

Georgie Wolton

John Young

Richard Rogers Tilly Trivelli

Jemi Vilhena

and all of the team at the River Cafe

In 1992, Ed Victor called and said Ruthie and Rose, write a cookbook.
This one is for you, Ed.

Ricotta al Forno is one of our favourite recipes. A flourless Italian souffl, when it is ready the top should still wobble.

Serves 6

unsalted butter and grated Parmesan for the dish

2 handfuls of fresh basil leaves

a handful of fresh mint leaves

a handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

500g bufala ricotta

120ml double cream

2 eggs

150g Parmesan, freshly grated

12 black olives, stoned and chopped

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Using a little butter and some grated Parmesan, coat the bottom and sides of a 30cm round springform tin. Shake out any excess cheese.

Put the herbs into the bowl of a food processor and put half of the ricotta and cream on the top. Blend until bright green. Add the remainder of the ricotta and cream and turn on the machine again. While blending, add the eggs, one by one. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Finally, fold in the Parmesan.

Spoon the mixture into the tin and spread the olives over the top. Bake for 20 minutes. The torte should rise and have a brown crust, but still be soft in the centre. Serve after 5 minutes.

Ricotta al Forno

Serves 8

8 small Violetta artichokes with their stalks

juice of 2 lemons

1.5kg each peas and young broad beans in their pods

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium red onions, peeled and finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

8 slices prosciutto

2 large handfuls of fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped

100ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve

8 slices sourdough

1 garlic clove, peeled and cut in half

Prepare the artichokes (see Marinated Artichokes, ), but leave them whole. Remove the choke with a teaspoon, then cut each artichoke vertically into eight segments. Drop immediately into a bowl of cold water with the lemon juice.

Remove the peas and broad beans from their pods.

In a large pan, heat the olive oil and gently fry the onions and garlic until starting to soften. Add the artichokes and continue frying gently until the onions are translucent. Stirring, add the peas and broad beans. Season and pour in enough water to come 1cm above the top of the vegetables. Bring to the boil. Lay the slices of prosciutto over the top, cover with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove the lid. Lift out the prosciutto and cut into pieces, then return to the pan with the chopped mint and 100ml of extra virgin olive oil. Check for seasoning.

To make the bruschetta, toast the bread on both sides, and gently rub one side only with the garlic. Pour on more extra virgin olive oil, then serve the Vignole warm or at room temperature with the bruschetta.

Vignole

The polaroid was taken for one of our earlier books to explain the preparation of an artichoke.

Serves 6

12 small Violetta artichokes with their stalks

juice of 3 lemons

a handful of picked leaves from mixed fresh herbs, to include marjoram, thyme and/or oregano

4 garlic cloves, peeled and thickly sliced

extra virgin olive oil

To prepare each artichoke, first cut off some of the stalk, leaving about 5cm attached. Cut or break off the tough outer leaves, starting at the base, until you are left with the pale inner part. Then peel the stalk with a potato peeler, leaving only the pale tender centre. Trim the pointed top of the artichoke straight across, which will reveal the choke. Cut the artichoke in half vertically. Remove the choke with a teaspoon. As each artichoke is prepared, drop it into a bowl of cold water with the juice of 2 lemons.

Blanch the artichokes in boiling salted water for about 5 minutes or until the heart is tender. Drain.

Layer the artichoke halves in a large bowl with the herb leaves, garlic and some sea salt and black pepper. Cover completely with extra virgin olive oil and add the remaining lemon juice. Leave to marinate for a minimum of 3 hours.

We only make this salad when the artichokes are so fresh you can hear the leaves snap off.

Serves 6

6 small Violetta artichokes with their stalks

juice of 3 lemons

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to drizzle

100g Parmesan in the piece, very thinly shaved

Prepare the artichokes (see Marinated Artichokes, ) but leave them whole. Remove the choke with a teaspoon, then finely slice the artichokes vertically and immediately place in a bowl of cold water with the juice of 2 lemons. Set aside.

Make the dressing with the remaining lemon juice and the extra virgin olive oil, season with sea salt and black pepper.

When ready to serve, drain and dry the artichokes and pour the dressing over them. Cover with thin shavings of Parmesan and drizzle over more extra virgin olive oil.

Raw Artichoke Salad