INTERVIEW
POLPETTINE DI SPINACI SPINACH BALLS CARLUCCIO’S ISLINGTON
Some 25 years ago I invented this recipe for these little spinach balls for a chapter on finger food in a book published by The Sunday Times. Since then I have used them in all sorts of ways, most significantly in a vegetarian pasta dish, and layered with pasta in a vegetarian lasagna. They are very simple to make and very jolly. MAKES 24 LITTLE BALLS • 500g spinach, cleaned and stalks removed • Salt and pepper • 2 eggs, beaten • A pinch of freshly grated nutmeg • 1 tsp very finely pureed garlic • 100g fresh white breadcrumbs • 50g Parmesan, freshly grated • Olive oil, for shallow-frying
ANTONIO CARLUCCIO’S FLAGSHIP COVENT GARDEN RESTAURANT
cooked some pasta and added delicious slivers of wonderful smoked salmon and Parma ham. I didn’t know that Parma ham and salmon could be so delicious together, but it was fantastic. Best advice you have ever been given? I have never been given advice, I just took it from many, many people. But what I learnt was that the best thing is not to complicate things, obviously to use the best ingredients and never to overwork things. It is all about authenticity and purity. Guilty food pleasure? I am like a pregnant woman. Ok, I don’t want banana on pizza or anything like that, but I like very much the trio of tinned borlotti beans, cannellini beans and chickpeas. Obviously fresh ones are best, but I also like the tinned ones in a salad with tuna and onions. Biggest kitchen disaster? I remember mentally creating a recipe
for a tart using avocado with eggs and mascarpone, so I tried it in the Covent Garden restaurant, and it was total yuck. Really disgusting. Where do you go to eat in London when you’re not working? I don’t go out so much. But when I do, I like La Famiglia – I’ve known Alvaro [Maccioni] for thirty years, and I love the steak alla Fiorentina there. I also like to eat dim sum for lunch; I go to New World in Soho – the food is fresh and it’s full of Chinese people. I like Royal China too in Fulham, but I really don’t like going out too much. I don’t want to be curious. But naturally I go to a lot of my own restaurants, to check that the food is still good. Future plans? So many! The book has been translated in to nine languages, so a lot of the year will be spent travelling – I just got back from Norway for example – so I am looking forward to some peace as well.
1. Wash the spinach, put it in a pan of salted water and blanch for 2 minutes or so, then drain. Squeeze out as much water as you can, using your hands or pressing in a sieve, the chop the leaves finely. 2. Put the spinach in a medium bowl and stir in the beaten eggs, a pinch of salt, some pepper, the nutmeg, garlic, breadcrumbs and Parmesan. Mix well until you achieve a binding consistency. If the mixture is too wet, add an extra tablespoon of breadcrumbs. 3. Pour enough olive oil into a frying pan to cover the base generously, and heat gently. 4. Roll the mixture into little balls the size of walnuts. Shallow-fry the spinach balls in olive oil until golden, about 4-5 minutes per side. Drain on kitchen paper and serve either warm or cold. Download Antonio Carluccio’s iPad app ‘Antonio Carluccio’s Simple Cooking’ at itunes.apple.com carluccios.com 15
LEAD INTERVIEW CARLUCCIO C&A JUNE 2012.indd 15
01/06/2012 10:47