Risotto ai frutti di mare – Seafood Risotto

Risotto ai Frutti di Mare

On my recent trip to Rome, I took advantage of the local fishmonger selling “seafood risotto” mix by weight, a delicious mix of calamari, muscles, clams salmon and hake. I’d make roast seabass the day before so made a good strong fish stock form the bones and some leftovers of fennel, celery and carrots and some crushed fennel seeds and flat leaf parsley.

Rather Fondue of Walluc Bistro

Walluc Bistro is an unassuming little place sitting on a not so attractive corner off of Shoreditch High Street with a front room barely big enough to accomodate its central rustic wooden dining table. A kitsch mix of alpine ski memorabilia, boxing gloves, random french vintage posters and mismatched furniture seemingly haemmorraged from a Tyrolean car boot sale make this one of the more random fondue places I’ve been to, but perhaps the most charming.

Gusto Restaurant and Wine Bar – ROME

Residing in a fascist-era former government building behind the sleek, minimalist Ara Pacis exhibition space Gusto occupies several buildings on various floors, more of a brand concept than just a restaurant, combining chic Italian style with a laid-back dining atmosphere, intimacy and good modern Italian cuisine. What’s the catch? The expensive prices. The food is good, but not deserving of a price-list more akin to a high-end eatery or set-lunch michelin star menu. Plus the wines by the glass in the restaurant start at 8 euros, despite the fact that many bottles on the menu are affordable and you can get a very good glass of wine almost anywhere in Italy for half of that.

Bartaruga Wine Bar – ROME

This is the kind of hip and quirky little bar you’d find anywhere from London, via Berlin to Reykjavik. It’s not quite pub, but not yet poncey wine bar, and has enough style behind it to merit an insert in a cool travel magazine. The only difference being that here, in the heart of one the world’s greatest wine producing countries, in a city that by rights should have quirky cool bars coming out of its ears, this one feels itself to be so unique and special it can serve you a mediocre quality, piddly sized glass of Montepulciano for 12 euros and keep a straight face. Oh and you have to ask to get a small bowl of soggy peanuts to go with it.

Pumpkin-Stuffed Fresh Ravioli

I dug out the pasta maker on day two in the new house and set about making my first batch of proper egg pasta. I nicked Jamie Oliver’s recipe but tweaked it as he failed to mention one thing that makes stuffed pasta all the better… adding a teaspoon of milk for every egg you put in the mix makes your pasta much more malleable and smooth than it would be otherwise, especially useful when you are stuffing shapes and trying to stick the ends together!