Pappardelle with Chorizo Ragu
One of our favourite cookery writers and stylists, Donna Hay, has inspired this recipe.
Serves 4
Ingredients
400 gr dried chorizo
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 sprigs rosemary
1 red chilli
2 cloves garlic
salt and pepper
good glug of red wine (about 100 ml)
1 x 400 g can peeled tomatoes
2 tablespoons brown sugar
400 g pappradelle
250 g buffalo mozzarella
green salad, to serve
Method
Remove the cases from the chorizo and roughly chop. Place into a Magimix (foodprocessor) and process until finely chopped, resembling minced meat. Set aside.
Bring a pan of salted water to the boil for the pasta. Finely chop the garlic, deseed the chilli and finely chop half of it (or more depending on how spicy you like it). Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Strip trip the leaves from the rosemary stalks and chop them roughly. Add the rosemary to the pan and cook for 30 seconds until crisp. Remove and set aside. Add the chorizo, garlic, chilli, salt and pepper to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes until golden and crispy, stirring often.
Add the wine and cooked cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and brown sugar and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to low and cook for 5-7 minutes. ( If you find that too much oil has come from the chorizo, you can also spoon a little off). While the chorizo is cooking, cook the pasta in the boiling water according to the package instructions. Drain and reserve 100 ml of the cooking liquid.
Add a little of the reserved cooking liquid to the chorizo mixture to start with, making sure ragu has a nice consistency. Divide the pasta between 4 bowls. Top with the chorizo ragu and tear the mozzarella over. Sprinkle over the crispy rosemary, drizzle with some of the chorizo oil in the pan and serve with a green salad simply dressed with olive oil.
Pea and Mint Soup
Make the most of seasonal fresh peas in this bright and vibrant soup. If you can't find fresh peas. frozen work just as well.
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 large onion, chopped
olive oil
850ml vegetable or chicken stock
400 g fresh or frozen podded peas
4 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
salt and pepper
50 g fresh ricotta, thinned with a little milk, to garnish
pea shoots, to garnish
Method
Heat a pan with 2 tablespoons olive oil an fry the onion for about 5 minutes. Pour in the stock and add half the mint and bring to the boil. Add the peas and bring to the boil again.
Stir in the remaining mint and season with salt and pepper. Blend the soup in a liquidiser until smooth as you like. Taste and check the seasoning, adjusting with salt and pepper if necessary. Return to the pan and reheat.
Serve the soup in bowls, garnished with the ricotta and pea shoots.
We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours
Guinea Fowl With Curried Cabbage
Guinea fowl is a more posh version of chicken. It's quick to prepare and healthy. Try this great spring recipe for a mid-week meal.
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 guinea fowl breasts
olive oil
20 g butter
salt and pepper
Curried Cabbage
2 small hispe cabbages, finely sliced
2 shallots, finely sliced
20 g butter
1 tablespoon mild curry powder
50 ml Noilly Prat
100 ml cream
salt and pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 C. Heat a frying pan over medium high heat with 2 tablespoons olive oil and the butter. Season the guinea fowl breasts with salt and pepper. Fry the guinea fowl, skin side down, for 2-3 minutes until the skin is golden and crispy. Turn over and fry for a further 1-1 1/2 minutes on the flesh side. Transfer to a roasting dish, pour over all the juices from the pan and roast for about 12 minutes in the preheated oven.
In the meantime and using the same frying pan, add another 20 grams butter to the pan and ffry the shallots for 3 minutes. Add the cabbage and fry for 3 minutes. Add the curry powder and fry for 1 minute to cook the spices out.
Add the Noilly Prat and cook until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Add the cream, bring to the boil and simmer over a medium to low heat until the cream has thickened slightly. Season with salt and pepper.
Take the guinea fowl out of the oven and rest for 5 minutes.
Divide the cabbage between 4 plates. Lay a guinea fowl breast on top of each, spoon over the juices and serve.
We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours
Chicken Tikka Masala
This is one of our favourite 'Indian' dishes. It's easy to make with readily available ingredients and it's always a crowd pleaser. We say Indian in inverted commas, as it's origins are not quite known. It's thought that it originated in Glasgow in the 1970's. The story goes: "On a typical dark, wet Glasgow night a bus driver coming off shift came in to the Shish Mahal restaurant and ordered a chicken curry. He sent it back to the waiter saying it was dry. At the time the owner had an ulcer and was enjoying a plate of tomato soup. So he said to the chefs why not put some tomato soup into the curry with some spices. It was sent back to the table and the bus driver absolutely loved it. He and his friends came back again and again and since then it was put on the menu."
Serves 4
Ingredients
sunflower oil
2 large onions, peeled and sliced
1 red or green chilli
5 cm piece fresh ginger, peeled
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 small tin tomato puree
2 tins peeled tomatoes
1 kg boned and skinned chicken thighs, cut into cubes
10 curry leaves (optional)
4-6 tablespoons natural yoghurt
bunch fresh coriander, chopped
steamed rice, naan bread and poppadums, to serve
Method
Finely slice the onion. Heat 2 tablespoons sunflower oil in a pan. Add the onions and fry on a medium-low heat for a good 15-20 minutes until they become soft and caramelised. In the meantime, deseed and chop the chilli, ginger and garlic. Add to the pan with the onions and fry for a further 2 minutes.
Add the chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala and sugar to the onions and fry for 1-2 minutes. Add the the tomato puree and fry for a further 1-2 minutes. Add the tinned tomatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes. Place the sauce in a bowl or a jug and blend with a Bamix (stick blender) until smooth.
Add 1 tablespoon sunflower oil to the same pan you cooked the sauce in and fry the chicken pieces until lightly coloured, about 5 minutes. Pour in the blended sauce and curry leaves, if using, and some salt and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes until the chicken in cooked through and tender.
Stir the yoghurt and half the coriander through the tikka masala. Garnish with the remaining coriander and serve with steamed rice, naan breads and/or poppadums.
We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours
Baden Baden Interior & Mud Australia
It is with great pride that we welcome a new partner to Amsterdam Flavours. Baden Baden Interior is an interior design store in Amsterdam offering an eclectic mix of furniture, design, art, objects and accessories.
Baden Baden Interior is the main importer and supplier of Mud Australia porcelain. When searching for a new range of plates for our food photography and styling, we came across and instantly fell in love with the Mud Australia range because of their natural, unique shapes and beautiful colours. After doing some research, we found our way to Baden Baden Interior.
Mud Australia was founded in 1994. The porcelain range, designed by Shelley Simpson, combines hand made processes, clean lines, colour palette and functionality. The end result is a product that neatly intersects a minimalist aesthetic with an artisan finish. Their porcelain fits in any interior, providing a timeless alternative to mass produced ceramic design.
All Mud Australia porcelain is handmade in their Sydney factory by a staff of professional and in-house ceramicists. Each piece is designed to last and manufactured using the best materials available.
Made from Limoges porcelain, sourced directly from France, the pigment is tinted through the porcelain body to provide colour-depth. Clear glaze is then hand brushed to the interior of each piece leaving the exterior with a vitrified stone-like surface that becomes smooth with handling.
The range evolves seasonally with the addition of new shapes and colours.
For more information, please visit Baden Baden Interior and Mud Australia.