Elliot James - Pizza pilgrims cookery

Contents

We couldnt resist starting off with some street food. Everyone is raving about Londons street food scene at the moment, but the truth is that Rome and Naples have been flying the street food flag for centuries. There are so many delicious, portable creations that it is hard to see why anyone bothers to eat inside (that is, until you try the pizzerias). We have rounded up a selection of our favourites here for you to try at home, but please dont feel compelled to head out onto the street to eat them. They taste just as good indoors.

S uppl al telefono are the lesser known siblings of arancini a Roman version of the Sicilian classic and a staple on the streets of Italys capital. They get their name from their mozzarella centre, which stretches out like a telephone wire when theyre broken in half (just like a Pizza Hut ad). Next time you make a rag (see our recipe ), make too much and freeze it. Its a great thing to have in the freezer anyway and means you can make these suppl really easily.

Suppl al telefono
(risotto balls filled with mozzarella)

Lazio

makes 15-20 suppl

Glug of olive oil

60g butter

350g risotto rice

1 litre beef or chicken stock (stock cube is fine)

500g rag (from your favourite recipe or use the leftovers from our Neapolitan Rag Sunday Dinner )

100g Parmesan, grated

Sea salt

1 ball of mozzarella, cut into 1.5cm cubes

Plain flour, for dusting

2 eggs, beaten

Breadcrumbs, for coating

Vegetable oil, for deep-frying

Put a large saucepan on a medium heat and add a glug of olive oil with half the butter.

When the butter starts to foam, add the rice and toast for 2 minutes until the grains start to go translucent.

Add enough stock to just cover the rice and gently simmer. Keep topping up with stock for roughly 30 minutes until it has reduced to a risotto-like consistency and the rice is al dente (still with a little resistance when you bite into a grain).

Add your rag, the rest of the butter, Parmesan and sea salt and stir until the cheese has melted and it has taken on a glossy sheen.

Spread the risotto out on a large plate and leave to cool.

To make the rice balls, take a small piece of the mixture, definitely no bigger than a golf ball. Roll into a ball and then flatten in your palm to a thickness of about 1cm. Take a cube of the mozzarella and place in the middle of the disc.

Wrap the rice around the mozzarella using the palm of your hand so that the cheese is completely encased in the rice. Put a little water on your hands and roll the ball into the classic oval shape. Repeat until youve used up all the mixture.

Roll the balls in flour, followed by the beaten egg, then the breadcrumbs. To get a really good crust, repeat the egg and breadcrumbs steps.

Heat the oil to 180C (if a cube of bread browns in 1520 seconds, the oil is hot enough). Taking care with the hot oil, deep-fry the balls for 34 minutes until golden brown and the mozzarella is melted and stringy when you break one open. If you cook them too fast, then they brown too quickly and the mozzarella doesnt melt.

D irectly translating as mixed fry, fritto misto is just taking anything you love and frying it in a light batter. It is traditionally a seaside dish, with seafood featuring heavily, but on our trip we saw everything from fried courgettes to potato croquettes. Its up to you.

Fritto misto with lemon mayonnaise

Campania

Serves 4-6

Ingredients to take your pick from

Whitebait

Small whole shrimps (you eat the head and all)

Shelled tiger prawns

Squid rings and tentacles

Courgette chips (cut your courgettes into batons)

Trimmed artichoke hearts

Whole sage leaves

Cavolo nero leaves

or anything else that you fancy frying

For the batter

75g plain flour (seasoned with sea salt and black pepper)

1 litre milk

Groundnut or vegetable oil, for deep-frying

1 lemon

For the lemon mayonnaise

2 egg yolks

200ml groundnut or sunflower oil

50ml extra virgin olive oil

Grated zest and juice of a lemon

Pinch of sea salt

First, make the lemon mayonnaise. Whisk the 2 egg yolks in a small mixing bowl. Slowly trickle in the oils while constantly whisking until you have a thick emulsion. Then, whisk in the lemon zest and the juice and season to taste with sea salt. This mayonnaise will keep in an airtight container for a good couple of weeks.

Take two trays and put the seasoned flour in one and the milk in the other.

Then, keeping one dry hand and one wet hand (to prevent ending up with a completely battered hand!), throw your chosen fish and vegetables into the flour, followed by the milk, and then back in the flour again. This should build up a good coating of flour, but not a thick fish-and-chips style batter.

Heat 10cm of the oil in a heavy-bottom saucepan. You know the oil is hot enough when a 23cm cube of white bread browns in 30 seconds.

Taking care with the hot oil, simply deep-fry everything, making sure not to overcrowd the pan and turning everything until they are crispy with a light golden brown colour.

Drain on kitchen paper, season with salt and lemon juice and eat with the lemon mayonnaise.

C alabrians are a committed bunch and are even extremely proud of their onions! In the seaside town of Tropea, every tourist shop sells buckets, spades and massive bunches of onions. They are so popular that Tonino, self-proclaimed ice cream genius, even makes red onion gelato. Tropean or not, this recipe is all about good onions. It lasts for a couple of weeks in the fridge and should go with most Italian cheeses, though its hard to beat on a good English Cheddar toastie. In fact, we are still searching for something that it does not go with.

Tropean red onion jam

Calabria

Makes 1 large jar

4 large red onions

2 tablespoons olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

150ml (a small glass) of red wine

60ml balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon light muscovado sugar (though caster sugar will do)

Peel the onions, halve them through the root and slice lengthways.

In a heavy-bottom saucepan, heat the olive oil and add the onion with a pinch of salt. Put a lid on and cook over a low heat for about 15 minutes until the onion is soft and translucent.

Add the red wine, balsamic vinegar, sugar and pepper and reduce down for about 15 minutes over a low heat with the lid on, then for another 10 minutes over a medium heat with the lid off until you have a sticky jam consistency.