Sirloin of Jonnie

There's nothing much easier, more satisfying, and a real treat all at the same time, than a steak supper.

When you've got grass fed and 28 day dry aged meat to work with it's a whole lot better. When that meat comes from a source you know, this is a no brainer. Bravo Jonnie, this is the business.

Steak Supper

Serves 2

There’s a lot to be said for a great char-grilled steak – try your hand at making this deliciously meaty steak supper.

2 x 200g beef steaks, a boneless slice from the rump or top round or the sirloin as thick as your thumb

Olive oil
for the béarnaise sauce

1 small shallot
3 tblsp white wine, or tarragon vinegar
6 whole black peppercorns
3-4 stems tarragon, and their leaves
2 egg yolks
Dijon mustard
125g butter, soft, almost melted

Rub your steak all over with olive oil, not too much; just enough to give it a good gloss, then grind a little black pepper over both sides. I put salt on later. Get the grill pan hot, then slap on the steak and press it down onto the ridges with a metal spatula. Let it cook for two full minutes. Do not move it.

Now turn it over (long metal tongs are useful here), press it down again (this is when I usually add the salt), and let it cook for a further two minutes. The best way to tell if your steak is done is to press it with your finger.

Timing is a hopelessly inaccurate measure because so much depends on how your meat has been hung and butchered. The best—by which I mean the juiciest—results will come from a steak where your finger has left a slight indentation. Until you get to know the “feel” of your steaks you may have to make a small cut into them, but you will lose juice this way. If you want a well-done steak, with no blood in it, then I can’t help you. Well, I could but I won’t.

Incidentally, I sometimes pour a little wine onto the grill pan after removing the steak and let it bubble, then pour the meagre, intensely beefy juices over my steak. Serve with fries or accompanied with béarnaise sauce.

For the sauce, peel and finely chop the shallot, and put it in a small saucepan with the vinegar, peppercorns, and the tarragon leaves and stems. Bring to a boil and watch it while it reduces to a tablespoon or so. Put the egg yolks and a little mustard into a glass bowl (not a steel one, they get too hot) and place it over a pan of very gently simmering water.

The bowl should sit snugly in the top of the pan. Whisk the reduced vinegar into the egg yolks, holding the debris back in the pan, then slowly add the butter, a soft cube at a time, whisking almost constantly until it is thick and velvety. You can turn the heat off halfway through; the sauce must not get too hot. It may need a little salt. It will keep warm, with the occasional whisk, while you pan-grill your steak and fry your frites—which, by the way, I tend to buy very thin and frozen, and cook in deep peanut oil.

carpaccio and happiness, at home, where it should be

This is at its very best served really informally at home with the right person, with homemade mayonnaise - which is a traditional carpaccio accompaniment, and properly delicious with chips too. 

The quality of your meat is everything. It needs to come from an animal that has been fed correctly and well hung to ensure it is tender. I prefer the flavour and texture of a pure Angus breed, but there are plenty other good breeds too.

It is pretty much all about the setting and the company. If the food is a bit more than half decent, the full package has pretty much been achieved. That's where something like this comes in. Buy a great piece of meat, do precious little to it, savour the occasion - perfection achieved.

Beef carpaccio/Parmesan/rocket/radishes

Serves just the 2, 4 at a push

500g trimmed fillet of beef
freshly ground black pepper and good quality salt
40g fresh rocket

80g shaved Parmesan

60g fresh very cold red radishes, shaved

40ml extra virgin olive oil

20ml lemon juice

Season the beef well with the pepper and roll up firmly in a large piece of cling film or foil. Roll the film back and forth to make the meat even and nicely rounded. Chill for 30 minutes.

With a very sharp knife, slice the meat as thinly as possible and arrange on a serving platter. Garnish with the rocket, drizzle with the oil and a splash of lemon juice and finally the radishes and Parmesan, and a sprinkle of salt.

Homemade mayonnaise

I more often than not add water or sometimes crème fraîche to my mayonnaise, both to whiten it and to make it lighter on the palate, so that it doesn't overpower the beef.

2 free range egg yolks
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp English or Dijon mustard
150ml groundnut oil
150ml olive oil
2 tblsp cold water

Place the egg yolks, vinegar and mustard in a bowl and whisk together with a balloon whisk. Gradually incorporate the oil, whisking continuously until you have a thick emulsion. Add the water and season. Transfer to a clean jar. The mayonnaise will keep for five days in the fridge.

Wagyu weekend treat

It's the day of rest, and no better time for a deserved weekend treat this evening. Don't hold back on ordering the roast chicken, or pork even, but save any beef urges for later tonight, I certainly will be. This is utterly Cantonese in its inspiration, fun and fresh. Steam a bit of rice, and some greens, then whack this together in your wok. Perfectly comfortable and of course you don't need to go the whole wagyu hog, but it isn't really a treat if you don't.

Pan-fried diced wagyu beef in teriyaki sauce 

Serves 4

600g wagyu beef (cut into dice)

12 stalks of fresh asparagus (peeled and trimmed) cut into 4cm lengths

2 tblsp teriyaki sauce

½ tsp cornstarch, dissolved in a tblsp water

300ml chicken stock

Heat a splash of vegetable oil in a wok and sauté the asparagus for a few seconds, remove with a wire mesh skimmer and drain well

Heat the wok with water, when boiling blanch the asparagus again for a few seconds (remove excess oil) drain well, clean the wok and pour the chicken stock to cook the asparagus for a further 3 minutes. Remove from wok and place on a plate.

Reheat the wok with another splodge of vegetable oil, just enough to coat the surface, place the diced beef in the wok and fry hard until golden brown all over, remove from wok and place on plate.

Pour teriyaki sauce into the wok, add chicken stock and seasoning when boiling, adjust the fire and stir in the dissolved cornstarch to thicken the sauce then spoon over the beef and asparagus and serve.

Tuna and tomato

Not your classic combination when you think of what automatically works, and what does not. But there are times when it is actually a good thing to break out of the mediocre and go bold in the kitchen. Brie on a pizza springs immediately to mind, but that's for another time. Here it's tuna and tomato, odd on the surface, grand underneath.

Tuna tartare with tomato dressing

Serves 4

Tuna tartare

250g sashimi-grade tuna, diced

10g chives, chopped

10g shallots, chopped

5g lemon confit or Moroccan preserved lemon

6 drops of Tabasco sauce

6 drops of Worcestershire sauce

35ml olive oil

Salt and pepper

Toss the diced tuna with all the remaining ingredients, season with salt and pepper and keep chilled till ready to serve.

Tomato pulp

500g red Roma tomatoes

65g sugar

10 basil leaves

Salt and pepper

Cut the tomatoes in half, combine them with the sugar and basil in a large bowl. Season well with salt and black pepper, and allow to rest, covered, for a couple of hours.

Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water, and cook for 1 and a half hours. Let the mixture sit in the fridge for a further 24 hours, then pass the finished pulp through a fine sieve.

Marry up the tuna tartare, the tomato pulp, something cracker like for crunch, something green as in rocket leaves, a sprinkle of the best salt and olive oil you have.

The alternative is - raw tuna, seasoned as you like, cut up some tomatoes, open a bag of pita chips, and the world is already a better place for it.

The chilli off

So, last night saw the inaugural residence chilli off, and a variety of the most weird and wonderful showed up with no two the same which was both frightening and impressive in the same mouthful. The whole chilli debate is still raging the day after, beans or no beans, chocolate, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary  and apricots all featured last night, but did they work? One of the most surprising was started barely an hour before we gathered, some went on the stove three days ago!

Here's my number, which humbly, was pretty awesome should I say so myself, the half beef classically prepared with the other half made up of the smoked pork made mine the champion, well in my house anyways! 

Serves 4-6

1 large onion or 2 banana shallots, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Half a head of celery, finely chopped

2 chipotle chillis, deseeded or keep half with seeds if you like it spicy

2 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked and roughly chopped

Olive oil, for frying

500g good quality minced sirloin of beef

300g pork belly, barbecued/smoked and minced

1 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp dried oregano

1 beef tomato, roughly chopped

400g chopped tinned tomatoes

2 tblsp tomato puree

100-200ml chicken or beef stock

3 tblsp tomato puree

1 cinnamon stick

1 bay leaf

400g kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Salt and pepper

Handful of chives, chopped

200ml soured cream

Boiled rice, to serve

Sweat the onion, garlic, celery, chilli and thyme in 2 tablespoons oil in a large saucepan. At the same time, brown the mince in a separate pan over moderate heat in a little oil.

Add the dried spices to the onion mixture and cook until they release their aroma. Then stir in the beef and mix well. Add in the pork at this stage. Add the fresh and tinned tomatoes and leave to cook down a little for at least 30 minutes.

Pour in the chicken or beef stock and stir in tomato puree to taste. Drop the cinnamon and bay leaf in then bring to the boil and leave to simmer. Transfer this now to a slow oven, around 150c/300f, covered, for up to 2 hours, checking occasionally. Remove from the oven now that the sauce has thickened, add the kidney beans and leave to cook for another 5-10 minutes to allow the beans to soak up the flavours. Check for seasoning.

Mix the chives and soured cream together. To serve, spoon the chilli into the centre of a mound of rice, with the soured cream and chives in a separate bowl on the side. World champion material if ever I saw. This is the stuff you really want on your chilli dog...

Ricotta salata

The Italian ricotta which we've come to know and love is typically made from the whey of either sheep, cow, goat and even buffalo milk. I'm still coming to terms with life in America where it is pretty much only ever made with the whey of cow's milk. The shame being that in my opinion the sheep's variety is the more interesting of the set with a nutty, slightly sweet finish, while the cow's tends to be blander and wetter, and therefore more neutral in cooking.

In the absence of fresh Italian ricotta being readily available here, I've taken a shine to the pressed, salted and dried variety of the cheese known as ricotta salata. A milky white firm cheese best used for grating or shaving, and a fine challenger to a good Pecorino Sardo.

The main reason for this urge to get passionate about all things ricotta came from a heated discussion around the kitchen table at www.przman.com earlier, and I bestowed the virtues of this much overlooked cheese to the point where todays lunch for me was inspired by it, determined by it and had an outstanding starring roll in it. The sharp salty cheese sat happily alongside some super ripe avocado, pastrami and proper wholegrain mustard on fresh warm sourdough and lunchtime for me was totally complete.

I have just enough left for a couple of plates of salad for dinner later tonight, so here's what I'm going to do with it, and the prz team can start bidding now for an invite!

Ricotta, courgette and pea shoot salad

Serves 2

A pretty, fresh salad to celebrate the late summer. Pea shoots are worth hunting down for their delicious leafy-pea flavour. Find them in whole food shops and some greengrocers, growing in punnets. Failing that, use rocket or watercress.

1 yellow courgette

1 green courgette

2 tblsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tblsp freshly grated ricotta salata

Small handful of pea shoots

1 dessertspoon of fresh peas, lightly cooked (or use frozen)

1 strip of lemon zest, cut into fine threads

A few sprigs of fresh mint

For the dressing

6 tblsp Greek yogurt

1 tsp lemon juice

½ tsp honey

6 mint leaves, chopped

Using a potato peeler, cut the courgettes lengthways into ribbons. Season with salt and pepper and toss in the olive oil. Mix the dressing ingredients and season with salt and black pepper.

Mingle the cheese with the courgettes, pea shoots, peas and lemon zest. Drizzle dressing over it and scatter with the mint sprigs. Serve without delay.

Be sure to sign up at www.przman.com to get the latest updates that will help you negotiate your next raise, make a meal that impresses your date, and keep you ahead of the game when it comes to the news men (and the women who love them) care about.

Imam Bayildi

Serves 4

This aubergine dish is said to have been named after the priest, the Imam, who first tasted it and swooned at the flavour and amount of olive oil in it. Here, I have created a much lighter effect, but it’s still bursting with spice and Middle-Eastern promise. Simple to make and great served with warm pitta bread and pre dinner drinks in the garden. Made in exactly the same way but stuffed into some little baby aubergines for a bit more fancy pants stuff is exactly how dinner began at the Embassy this evening. There's been some thunder in the air these past few days, so this tropical feeling we're experiencing made this dish work all the better.


1 aubergine
Olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
3 large vine tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and diced
2 tsp cumin
Juice of half a lemon
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
50g sultanas
Handful of fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped

Trim the ends from the aubergine, then cut lengthways into 1cm slices. Stack the slices together and cut into long strips, then cut across the strips to create neat, even dice, about 1cm in size.

Take a large frying pan and pour in olive oil to a depth of 1cm. Heat the oil and, when hot enough to turn a small piece of bread instantly golden, add half the aubergine cubes. The aubergine will quickly absorb most of the oil. Stir with a metal spatula and continue to fry until the aubergine is golden brown.

Remove the aubergine from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Add more oil to bring the level back to 1cm and repeat with the rest of the aubergine.

Place the onion in a large bowl and add the tomatoes, cumin and lemon juice. Season well. When the aubergine has cooled, add it to the bowl along with the sultanas and basil. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to allow the flavours to infuse.

Quick cassoulet

Serves 4

I think I've mentioned cassoulet before, if so there's an admission of a love affair I'm not shy about. This one is dead easy though, opening, a bit of frying and assembling kind of stuff. Just as long as you buy decent quality sausages you'll get a pretty good end result. At the end of the day this is peasant food, so let's not get all professional and try too hard - decent ingredients layered up with a bit of thoughtful timing and a bit of patience will pay dividends. Should you opt for the slower cooking of the last sector, run yourself a big bubble bath, pour the biggest glass of red you can, and sink into at least an hour's worth of anticipation...

4 plump spicy sausages

1 duck breast or thigh, cut into thick slices

1 tblsp olive oil

225g smoked bacon with plenty of fat, cut into large dice

1 large onion, roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced

1 tsp tomato purée

55ml red wine

400g chopped tomatoes

2 x 425g cans haricot or butter beans, drained

1 bay leaf

2 tblsp grain mustard

50g coarse breadcrumbs

In a heavy, flameproof casserole, cook the sausages and duck in the olive oil until their fat runs and the sausages and duck are golden on all sides. Scoop out the meat and set aside. Add the bacon pieces to the pan and cook in the remaining fat until golden, then add the onion and garlic.

Cook for 5 or 6 minutes until they have softened slightly then stir in the tomato purée. Cook for another minute or so then pour in the red wine.

Simmer for a minute then stir in the tomatoes, the cooked sausages and the duck. Bring to the boil, stir in the beans, bay leaf, mustard and a seasoning of salt and pepper and then cook over a medium heat at a good simmer for about 15 minutes, or pop into a medium oven for easily an hour if you have the time to kill.

Remove the pan from the heat. Scatter over the breadcrumbs and place under a hot grill, a good few inches from the heat, until golden. Serve very hot.

Spicy meatballs

Serves 4

These have the distinct taste of Morocco with one of those gentle spice kicks which make them all the more moreish. I have them with either couscous or pilaf rice with a blob of yoghurt and some sharp feta cheese. But there is absolutely no shame in serving them atop pasta or with a salad. The perfect midweek supper that can be prepared in minutes and left to cook with very little attention required.

2 tblsp mild paprika

2 tsp ground cumin

¼ tsp cayenne

2 big handfuls of chopped flat-leaf parsley and 3 of chopped coriander leaves

4 big cloves of garlic, crushed

450g lamb mince

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Salt and pepper

2 tblsp olive oil

2 x 400g tins chopped plum tomatoes

2 tsp sugar


Mix together the spices, garlic, parsley and 2 handfuls of coriander. Thoroughly mix half into the lamb with the lemon zest, season generously and squidge together with your hands.

Shape into 20 equal-sized balls. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Fry the meatballs in 2 batches until just brown on all sides — about 5 minutes for each batch. Remove and keep to one side.

Put the remaining spice, herb and garlic mix in the same pan, stir over the heat for 15-20 seconds, then add the tomatoes and sugar and season well. Simmer for 25 minutes, until thick, stirring occasionally to break up the tomatoes.


Add the meatballs, cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Scatter with the remaining coriander leaves

Grilled honey prawns with noodle salad

Serves 4

When I go comfort at home, there's often noodles in the mix somewhere. Now Christmas and New Year's out of the way, it's time to get the diet back on track as best as possible, and this dish (or variations of it) I could easily eat a couple of times a week without any hint of boredom setting in. The arame seaweed in the noodle salad adds a subtle texture and a depth of flavour. I've done this recipe with chicken before too, but I had it with some fat prawns yesterday and it was the business.

1 tblsp honey
6 tblsp soy sauce
6 tblsp sake
1 fat clove of garlic, finely chopped
Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
4-6 big prawns per person, shelled and cleaned
2 tblsp sesame oil
30g dried arame, shredded
240g vermicelli rice noodles
2 large carrots, peeled
4 inner celery stems, trimmed
2 bunches of chives, roughly snipped
1 large handful of coriander leaves

Place the honey, soy, sake, garlic and lemon zest in a small saucepan. Simmer gently for 3 minutes or until the honey has melted. Leave to cool until tepid.

Place the prawns in a bowl and mix in one-third of the marinade. Add 1 tblsp sesame oil and leave to marinate while you prepare the salad.

Soak the arame in plenty of cold water for 10 minutes. Drain and place in a mixing bowl with the remaining marinade.

In the meantime, prepare the noodles according to the packet instructions — usually by soaking in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain and shake dry. Mix into the seaweed with 1 tblsp sesame oil. Slice the carrot and celery into matchsticks, about 5cm in length, and mix into the noodles along with the snipped chives and coriander leaves.

Preheat an oven-top griddle pan or non stick frying pan over a medium-high heat. Remove the prawns from the marinade and cook in the pan for barely a minute on each side, or until cooked through with no hint of pinkness. Put the noodles on a plate and top with the prawns.

Cheese on toast

Serves 4-6

Last night was officially massive, we fed the best part of 2000 yesterday, and it all ended up with the cheese board getting massacred. Have to admit it that I assisted in this act of violence right at the end, but it was only to rescue a hunk of the Montgomery Cheddar for my late night cheese on toast. This, and a fresh bottle of bubbles at around 3am was the way I wanted to begin my new year without hesitation. Happy New Year one and all.

For the topping
50g unsalted butter
50g flour
250ml strong ale or stout
250g grated cheese (strong cheddar, ideally)
20ml Worcestershire sauce
10g English mustard
7g wholegrain mustard
1 egg yolk
Salt, pepper and fleur de sel

For the base
1 loaf of sourdough bread

Melt the butter and stir in the flour to make a roux. Heat the beer until hot but not boiling and gradually add to the roux, stirring constantly over a low heat, but taking care not to overwork. Melt the grated cheese in a bowl over a pan of boiling water and pour into the mixture; stir once to amalgamate, and then remove from the heat. Add the Worcestershire sauce, both mustards, the egg yolk, salt and pepper, then blitz in a food processor until emulsified (it will look matt and pale). Again, do not overwork. Check the seasoning. Allow to cool before refrigerating — it will easily keep for a week in the fridge.

If you have a char grill, preheat it now; or turn the oven to 225c/gas mark 7. Cut the loaf into 1in slices, allowing 1 or 2 slices per person. Brush both sides of the bread with melted butter and char grill or put in the oven for 5 minutes to toast. Melt 40g-50g of the cheese mix per slice, pour over the bread and cook at the same temperature for 4-5 minutes until golden brown. Sprinkle a few grains of salt crystals on top and serve, with some extra Worcestershire sauce and a few cornichons on the side. Bliss.

Roast duck, lemon and honey

Serves 2

As a Christmas time alternative to the predictable old turkey, why not try and get your hands on a small wild duck which will serve two nicely, but do try to choose a fat one as they are not always the meatiest of birds. Big meat eaters may want one each.

You will need some stock for this, ideally game or poultry, but I used a vegetable stock last time and it did the job well. As a side dish I would be tempted to serve a pile of lightly cooked spinach. It is very good with the sweet, slightly citrus gravy.

1 nice duck, about 500g or so
1 lemon
2 tblsp liquid honey
30g butter, melted
150ml stock

Set the oven at 200°C/gas 6. Squeeze the lemon juice into a mixing bowl, then stir in the honey. Add a pinch of sea salt and a generous grinding of black pepper, then put the duck in a roasting tray and pour over the honey and lemon and stock.

Brush the butter onto the duck, roast for about 10 minutes, baste with the pan juices, then lower the heat to 180°C/gas 4 and continue roasting for 30-35 minutes until the bird is golden. Its flesh will still be slightly pink.

Remove the duck from the roasting tin, pour the juices from inside the bird into the tin, then put it somewhere warm to rest. Place the roasting tin over a moderate heat.

Bring to the boil and reduce over a high heat for three or four minutes. Season carefully with salt and black pepper then pour over the duck and serve

Partridge with pumpkin and wild mushrooms

Serves 2

I had a terrific little partridge dish last week at Le Cafe Anglais at Whiteleys in Bayswater, really the first good robust bit of properly cooked game I've had this winter, the sacrifice taken for choosing to live in year round sunshine I guess. Our game season is frighteningly short, and all must be explored in this period, in the kitchen it has to be the time of year where bold flavours make their strongest appearances. The great thing about the little partridge is in the hands on picking and sucking of bones that is totally necessary to extract all the meat from its sticky little frame. This recipe suggestion is ideal for small game, the cooking in a parcel method rarely throws out a tough bird as the self basting process should knock that on the head, but if in doubt a couple of rashers of bacon wrapped around the beasts will do no harm at all.

2 oven-ready partridges
1 medium sized onion
60g butter
1 celery stalk
200g pumpkin
a few sprigs of thyme
50g fresh wild mushrooms such as girolles
80g small chestnut mushrooms
a little dry Vermouth and Cognac

You will also need a couple of sheets of greaseproof paper large enough to loosely wrap the birds.

Peel the onion and slice it into thin rings. Melt half the butter in a shallow pan and cook the onion till soft and tender, stirring from time to time. Meanwhile cut the celery into slices, add them with the thyme leaves to the onion and continue to cook till they have softened slightly. Peel the pumpkin and cut the flesh into small dice, about 1cm in diameter, then cut the mushrooms into bite-sized pieces, stir into the onion and continue to cook gently for another 8-10 minutes or so. The pumpkin wants to be just cooked but not mushy.

Lay the sheets of paper out and divide the mixture between them. Put the empty pan back on the heat, add the remaining butter, then, when it starts sizzling, put the birds in, breast-side down. Let them cook for a couple of minutes till their skin is golden, then turn and colour the other side. Lift the birds out and put them in the middle of the pumpkin mixture.

Pour over a couple of slugs each of dry vermouth and Cognac then pull the paper up around the birds and scrunch the edges together to seal. Lift the parcels onto a baking sheet and roast for 20-25 minutes until the parcel is golden brown and puffed up. The partridge should be golden and juicy.

Let the birds rest a little, 10 minutes if you can wait, and simply decant all bag contents onto a plate, juice and all. You will no doubt strt with a knife and fork, but I challenge anyone not to resort to fingers shortly thereafter.

Wild mushroom, garlic and mint pizza

Serves 2-4

Pizza nights at home will never be the same again, last night was quite possibly the most competitive cook off I've seen in a long time, I should have seen it coming really - assemble a vast range of toppings, prepare a couple of dozen bases and invite a crew of chefs round to make their own pizzas, make a total mess of my poor kitchen and drink all my beer... Some of the topping combinations were pretty scary, some of my chefs due their end of year review will be spoken to... this mushroom, garlic and mint combo was all my own work, and as it was my kitchen and my party, of course I think this was the winner. The best thing of all though was the couple of cold slices from the fridge this morning for breakfast - a stunning start to the day!

2 large cloves garlic

6 tbsp extra virgin oil, plus extra to drizzle

200g chopped fresh wild mushrooms
2 tblsp corn meal
1 basic pizza base
100g freshly grated parmesan, plus shavings
3 tblsp chopped fresh mint
1 tblsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 210c/gas mark 7.

Place the garlic cloves in a small ovenproof dish, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and season with black pepper. Cover and bake while oven is preheating, shaking the pan occasionally, until the garlic cloves are soft and golden, for 15-20 minutes. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat 4 tablespoons olive oil in a frying pan, add the mushrooms and sauté over a high heat for 4-5 minutes. Season with pepper, and reserve.

On a well-floured surface, roll the pizza dough out to form a 20cm circle and cover with the grated parmesan, leaving a 2.5cm rim around the edge.

Spoon the cooked mushrooms evenly over the cheese. Arrange the roasted garlic and the parmesan shavings on top. Sprinkle with the mint and parsley. Season well, drizzle lightly with olive oil, and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the crust is golden brown.

Lamb shanks with broad beans

Serves 4

If it's not a pie, it's got to be a braised dish, and lamb shanks don't often fail to hit the mark. This was last night's number, cooked the day before and reheated gently to devour - better depth of flavour and maturity on the 2nd day for sure. The juice, as much as the meat, is where this dish really is, rich and heady, mopped up with anything and everything that comes to hand, one of those nights where someone to offer a belly rub at the end of it all perfects the ultimate dining experience, for me anyway...

1 tblsp olive oil
4 lamb shanks
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 red onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 fresh bouquet garni (sprig each of parsley and thyme, and a bay leaf)
400ml white wine
400g new potatoes
400g shelled broad beans, individually skinned (see below)
2 tblsp chopped fresh mint
3 tblsp crème fraîche

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Lightly oil a roasting tin, add the lamb shanks and season, then place in the oven to roast for 20 minutes.

Add the onions, garlic and bouquet garni to the roasting tin and roast for a further 20 minutes.

Add the wine and new potatoes to the lamb, mix well with the juices and return to the oven for a further 20 minutes. Add the prepared beans and return to the oven for 10 minutes.

When the lamb is cooked through, remove from the roasting tin and keep warm. Place the tin directly on the stove top and bring the juices to a simmer. Stir in the chopped mint and crème fraîche.

Serve the lamb shanks in wide bowls and ladle in the vegetables and juice.

Note: to skin fresh broad beans, plunge them into a pan of boiling water for 4 minutes, then drain and peel off the skins. If using frozen beans they can be peeled once defrosted.