Cooking at Christmas is very personal to many of us and for Lydie and Paola from Casa Sibilla it’s no different. As part of our series of inspiring tips on how to celebrate Christmas and New Year through food and drink, take a look at what the girls from Italy recommend. Interview by Claudia Moselhi.
What is your top Christmas cooking tip?
Sit down and plan! You don’t want to rush it as you’ll want to be able to spend time with your family and friends rather than in the kitchen. Christmas is all about tradition, nothing too fancy. It is just about cooking with love as it should always be. Create a menu where you can prepare at least some items a day or so in advance. Don’t leave any shopping until the last minute unless you have pre-ordered it.
We always prepare a kind of salad to have between the main course and the dessert. We love the way it cleanses the palette and it is a good way to finish the meal before the pudding. Our favourite is a salad of fennel, breakfast radish & baby leaves with a lemon dressing. Finally, always have loads of fruits & nuts available too.
Our failsafe recipe is mushroom Risotto
Easy to make with storecupboard ingredients, this dish can be made if people call unexpectedly and will serve anyone.
Serves 4:
- 300g risotto rice such as carnaroli
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 175ml white wine
- 250g fresh wild mushrooms
- 50g porcini dry mushrooms
- 50g cold butter, cubed
- 75g parmesan, grated
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 litre cold water
Start by making a stock for the risotto. Soak the dried porcini mushrooms in the cold water for 15 minutes, scoop the mushrooms out and set aside. Add a bay leaf and bring the stock to a boil.
Gently sweat the diced onion in the olive oil and 25g of the butter until softened but not coloured. Add the dry risotto rice and stir well to coat with the oil and the butter. Toast it in the fat for a minute or two. Add in the fresh mushrooms and the drained dried porcini mushrooms.
Add the white wine and let the alcohol evaporate. Lower the heat under the rice and start adding the boiling stock a little at a time, stirring as the rice absorbs the liquid. Beat the cold butter and parmesan into the rice to give it a nice creamy texture. The rice should still be slightly al dente rather than sticky.
What is your drink recommendation:
Eat, drink & be merry…
Stick to the same family of drinks so you don’t have a hangover after the Christmas meal.
A good combination for us is Champagne or Prosecco to toast with your starters, a full bodied red wine for your main and a good grappa to finish in beauty.
What is your idea of the worst Christmas meal?
No food and no love…
What do you eat or drink after you’ve over indulged?
A glass of grappa or limoncello. We also love to prepare a pot of green tea. It might not sound exciting but it helps our digestion and it is a great antioxidant as well.
What’s your favourite post festive healthy comfort food?
We love this orecchiette with turnip tops. It’s simple and healthy. If you can’t get turnip tops, use kale instead. Orecchiette is a distinctive shape of pasta perfect for serving with green.
Blanch your turnip top in salted water for 1 minute. Remove from the water with tongs and use the same water to cook your pasta. It should still be slightly al dente.
In a large pan, sauté your blanched turnip top in little olive oil, garlic, chopped fresh red chilli and two salted anchovies.
Add your cooked pasta to the pan and stir. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.
