The 51st diary is open on my desk. January has been a clear out month for me, ‘culinarily’ speaking.
How do I have so many different pasta shapes in such small portions? A 500g pack of pasta is just right for six portions, so why do I have scrappy packets of fusilli, orzo, orecchiette, and tagliatelle taking up space in my pantry ?
I decided to use them in a single baked dish; not as simple as it sounds. Pasta shapes have different textures and density, but they can be cooked in the same pot of water as long as you remember to drop the thicker shapes in first and give them a few minutes start.
With such an odd assortment of shapes, I felt it would be more appealing to cover the dish, so chose to make a version of pasta con le sarde, using canned sardines and anchovies; yet more clearing out.
I could have made a pasticcio or a timballo, but these are more elaborate, and I wanted an easy weekday dinner.
And the freezer? Well, I hardly liked to go there. All those small unlabelled bags gathering frost in the bottom drawer. Closer examination revealed a couple of slices of haggis, a pair of boudins blanc from Francis and Sylvie’s stall in Swiss Cottage, some of March House Farm’s black pudding, from the Farmers’ Market and a handful of small hot Calabrian sausages; a tray bake, no doubt about that.
The sausages I prepared to a similar size, removing the casings. The exception was the Calabrian sausage, which I crumbled. Oiling a baking tray, I tumbled the potatoes, onion and sausages together and tipped into the tray.
The crumbled sausage I tucked into any spaces. In a hot oven, it needed about thirty minutes. It also needed a piquantly dressed salad of watercress, rocket and spinach, with a few crushed walnuts.
Dates, figs, dried apricots, again languishing in almost empty packets made a sumptuous brioche and butter pudding. I was going to add some diced marzipan with the fruit, but found it was too hard.
To soften it, I put it in the microwave, left it too long and the result was a curiously useful block of caramelised marzipan. Blonde chocolate is said to be the result of a similar mistake by patissier Frédéric Bau at Valrhona, who left white chocolate in the bain marie too long.
I now have a jar of marzipan ‘crumble’; once cooled down, it could be broken into irregular pieces, some pale, some dark, to add an unusual touch to a range of puddings and crumbles.
In fact, crumbles were also made this month, another catch-all dish like the pasta and tray bakes. As well as the marzipan, I use almonds and walnuts (and cashews and pistachios if I find them), roughly chopped, some porridge oats, brown sugar, plenty of ground clove and cinnamon, flour and a generous helping of butter.
This I grate, very cold, on the largest holes of my box grater and toss with the dry ingredients. It’s all fairly chunky and I store it in the fridge, where it keeps well for two to three weeks, during which various crumbles will be made.
Apple and pear I like together, adding a tablespoon of my quince jelly instead of sugar. Mango with lime zest, juice and honey is another favourite, as is apple and chopped dried dates or apricots.
Pasta con le sarde (Serves 4)
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
50 ml extra virgin olive oil
2 medium to large fennel bulbs, with as much green topping as possible, the bulbs trimmed and finely chopped, the green part blanched and drained
50 g lightly toasted pine nuts
50 g raisins, soaked in hot water for 5 minutes
Generous pinch of saffron steeped in 2 tablespoons boiling water
2 or 3 anchovy fillets, pounded
12 cooked or canned sardines
400 g dried pasta, cooked al dente and drained
6 tablespoons lightly toasted breadcrumbs.
Method:
Sweat the onion in half the olive oil. Add the pine nuts, raisins, saffron, liquid and anchovies to the onions and when the onion is soft, put to one side.
Cook the fennel in the remaining oil, and when soft, add four of the sardines, crushing and mixing well. Drain the pasta, leaving behind two or three tablespoons water. Mix the pasta and water with the onion mixture.
Layer the freshly cooked dressed pasta and fennel and remaining sardines, and top with the breadcrumbs. Bake in a hot oven, 180-200 C, for 8 to 10 minutes.
Timballo (Serves 4 to 6)
2 or 3 long aubergines
2 tablespoons salt
Extra virgin olive oil – see recipe
400 g pasta
150 g spinach leaves, leaves only, thoroughly washed
300 ml home-made tomato sauce or polpo
1 or two mozzarella, diced
3 to 4 tablespoons pecorino
2 tablespoons fine dry breadcrumbs
Method:
Slice the aubergines lengthways and place in a large bowl. Cover with cold water and swirl in the salt. Leave the aubergines for 30 minutes, then remove and dry them thoroughly.
Brush all over with olive oil and grill or bake them until just tender and golden brown. You can prepare these in advance, as you can the tomato sauce.
Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling water, for 5 to 6 minutes, straining and rinsing the pasta while still very al dente. Toss it in olive oil to prevent it from sticking. Steam the spinach, then press it dry and chop it.
Mix the pasta, sauce, spinach, diced mozzarella and pecorino. Brush a loaf tin or timballo with olive oil and line it with the aubergine slices. Spoon the pasta into the lined mould, fill it to the brim, and cover with the overlapping aubergine slices as well as any more to fill the gap.
Press well down and bake in a pre-heated oven at 200°C/gas mark 6 for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, fry the breadcrumbs in olive oil and put to one side.
When cooked, remove the dish from the oven and allow it to settle for a few minutes. Cover with foil and weight it down for 5 to 10 minutes. Invert a serving dish over the tin, hold it firmly in place with oven gloves and flip the tin and plate over, enabling you to turn out the timballo. Before serving, sprinkle on the fried breadcrumbs, pressing some into the sides.
Cook’s note: spinach and mozzarella are optional. My friend Mary Grace puts peas in hers. You could also add sautéed chicken livers, meat balls, mushrooms, sweetbreads… it is a very versatile dish.
©Frances Bissell 2025. All rights reserved.
