Scrumptiously simple

I love cooking! It’s such an enjoyable and fulfilling experience. I know you’ll think that it’s easy for me to say this, but I truly believe that everyone should know how to cook – and, I hope, take pleasure from it.

Cooking is not all about presentation and technical methods. It’s about making some delicious food, then sitting down and sharing it.

My new recipes are simple and do not need lengthy preparation. With simple dishes, the quality of the ingredients is very, very important, and it helps if you have a store cupboard that is well stocked with jars and cans of things like olives, fish, capers and tomatoes, as well as packets of polenta, risotto rice, pasta and dried porcini.

Combining these with fresh vegetables, meat, cheese and so on, you can put together a tasty dish with ease.

My Simple Italian, by Theo Randall, with photography by Martin Poole, is published by Ebury Press, priced £25.

Almond tart (pictured above) 

Makes 1 x 26cm tart

For the sweet pastry case

• 250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 75g icing sugar, sifted
• 180g unsalted butter, chilled
• 2 organic egg yolks

For the almond filling

• 300g blanched (skinned) almonds
• 300g unsalted butter, softened 
• 300g caster sugar
• 3 organic eggs
• crème fraîche, to serve

To make the pastry, put the flour, icing sugar and butter in a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolks and pulse for 10 seconds, then tip into a bowl and mix briefly by hand into a dough. Cover the bowl and leave the pastry to rest in the fridge for 1 hour.

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and press into a 26cm fluted, loosebottomed tart tin to line evenly. Leave to rest in the fridge for 30 mins before baking.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line the tart case with baking parchment and fill with baking beans. Blind bake for 15 mins until golden in colour. Remove the paper and baking beans, then return the tart case to the oven to bake for a further 5 mins. Set aside. Leave the oven on.

Now make the filling. Grind the almonds in a food processor and set aside. Cream the butter with the sugar in the processor until pale and fluffy. Add the almonds, then mix in the eggs one at a time until combined.

Spread the filling in the tart case. Bake for 30-40 mins until the filling is golden brown. Serve with crème fraîche and raspberries or baked apricots (cut the apricots in half, remove the stones and sprinkle with vanilla sugar and Amaretto; bake at 180C until soft).

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Lamb rump with salsa verde

Serves 2


For the salsa verde
(Serves 4-6)

• 100g flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 50g wild rocket
• 30g mint leaves
• 25g picked marjoram leaves
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 
• 2 anchovy fillets (packed in oil), drained 
• 1½ tbsp capers in vinegar, drained
• ¼ garlic clove, peeled
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard, or to taste
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the lamb

• 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 
• juice of 1 lemon 
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed 
• 1 tbsp chopped rosemary 
• 1 rump of lamb, with fat on, about 500g

For the roasted vegetables

• 1 ripe onion squash
• 6 Jerusalem artichokes 
• 3 carrots u 25ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp chopped thyme
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the salsa verde, chop the herbs really finely and transfer to a bowl. Immediately cover with the olive oil so the herbs don’t turn brown.

Pound the anchovies, capers and garlic together using a pestle and mortar to make a paste.

Mix in the herbs (with the oil) and add Dijon mustard to taste. Season with salt and pepper (be careful with the salt as anchovies and capers are both quite salty). The salsa is best used freshly made, but any leftovers can be kept in a covered bowl or jar in the fridge for a couple of days – put a layer of olive oil on the surface of the salsa to prevent it from discolouring.

For the lamb, mix together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and rosemary in a bowl. Add the lamb rump and turn to coat with this marinade, rubbing it in well. Set aside to marinate for at least 30 mins.

Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. Preheat the oven to 190C. Peel the onion squash, cut it in half and remove the seeds. Cut the squash into 3cm wedges. Peel the Jerusalem artichokes and cut into quarters. Peel the carrots and cut them in half lengthways.

Bring a pot of salted water to the boil, add all the vegetables and cook for 4-5 mins until tender. Drain, then tip into a bowl. Add the olive oil, thyme and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Toss so all the vegetable pieces are coated with the seasoned oil.

Spread out the vegetables in an ovenproof dish, cover with foil and roast for about 20 mins until tender. Remove the foil and return to the oven to brown the vegetables for 5 mins.

While the vegetables are roasting, cook the lamb. Pat it dry with kitchen paper to remove any excess marinade, then season the lamb with salt and pepper. Heat an ovenproof frying pan and, when very hot, sear the lamb rump on all sides. Transfer to the oven to finish cooking for 4-5 mins. Remove from oven and leave to rest for a couple of minutes.

Slice the lamb lengthways into four pieces. Serve on the roasted vegetables, with a good spoonful of salsa verde on top of the lamb.

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Sardines grilled with fennel sticks, with slow-cooked red peppers


Serves 2

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for greasing
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped 
• 3 red peppers, seeded and cut into 2cm pieces 
• 1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 1 glass of red wine
• small bunch of basil, roughly torn 
• 6 fresh sardines, cleaned and gutted
• 200g herb fennel sticks or 50g herb fennel fronds 
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 
• lemon wedges, to serve

Heat the olive oil in a heavybased saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 mins until softened. Stir in the red peppers and cook for 10 mins. Add the chopped tomatoes and red wine. Leave to cook gently for another 10 mins, stirring occasionally, then season and add the roughly torn basil.

Meanwhile, heat a large ridged grill pan until it is very hot. Rub with a little olive oil on a clean cloth so the pan is clean and non-stick.

Stuff each sardine with fennel sticks or fronds and season inside and out with salt. Place the fish in the hot pan and chargrill for about 2 mins on each side until cooked through (you may need to cook a little longer, depending on size). Alternatively, cook the sardines on the barbecue.

Serve the sardines with lemon wedges, and with the slow-cooked peppers alongside.