Autumn lacks the identity of the extremes that flavour summer and winter. Like spring, its essence lies in the character of the transition it leads us on, as we are carried between hot and cold, light and dark.
It is a time as much for reminiscing over the summer past as anticipating the cold of winter and the warmth of the hearth. Why, with autumn dishes, we focus so much on the wintry (the start of game season, wild mushrooms, dried fruits and root vegetables) I have no idea. It is just as much a time to remember summer sunshine on our plates. It is time for one last hurrah.
Beef carpaccio with tomato, olives, pine nuts and basil
This dish is seasonable all year round, but speaks somehow of autumn – olives have been collected, the last tomatoes are at their ripest and the rest have been gathered in for drying, pine nuts are at their freshest.
Serves 4 as a starter
beef carpaccio 300g (if you can find it) or beef fillet, a 300g hunk, cleaned
black olives 12, pitted and chopped
sundried tomatoes 20g, chopped
pine nuts 20g (the long Italian or Spanish ones, preferably), raw
basil as many of the tiny leaves that grow between the big ones as you can be bothered to retrieve
tomatoes one large or six baby, the seeds only
extra-virgin olive oil 3 tbsp
thick balsamic vinegar 1 tsp
If you have in front of you a hunk of beef fillet, don't be alarmed. Cut it across the grain into slices as thin as you can manage without cutting rags. These will be thicker than carpaccio, but it's okay – they aren't carpaccio yet. Cut eight sheets of greaseproof paper, divide the sliced beef out on to four of them, so the slices abut each other without overlapping. Cover with another sheet of paper, and gently beat out with the flat of a rolling pin until translucent and thin enough to fill the centre of your plates. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Sprinkle the bare plates with salt and pepper. Take one portion of carpaccio, remove the top layer of paper, invert it on to the centre of a plate then peel off the remaining layer of greaseproof. Repeat with the other portions; scatter them with the olives, sundried tomato, pine nuts and basil. Stir together the tomato seeds and oil and drizzle it over. Anoint with a few drops of balsamic vinegar. Serve with pride.
Artichoke and lemon bruschetta
This makes for an excellent snack, or antipasto, or accompaniment. It can become a full-blown starter or the breakfast of kings if you add 350g of crab meat (white or mixed), seasoned with the juice of a lemon and a tbsp or two of good olive oil.
Serves 4
lemon ½
extra-virgin olive oil 2 tbsp
garlic 1 clove , thinly sliced
artichokes 5 small (8cm) or 2 very large
flat-leaf parsley a small handful, chopped
rustic bread 4 long slices
Cut the lemon into four segments, remove the seeds, then slice thinly across (skin and all) into little triangles. Add to a small saucepan with a glassful of water, the oil and garlic. Take the artichoke stems, pare off the stringy outside and slice thinly across. As you go, put them in the saucepan and stir to stop them going brown. Next, snap off the outer leaves of the artichoke, trim the tops and pare any green from the base. What you are left with should be creamy coloured and tender. Slice in half, remove the choke if it looks fibrous, and slice the artichoke thinly. Stir it into the pot.
When all are done, season with salt and pepper and cook, tightly covered, over a medium heat, stirring sporadically until the water is almost all gone – say 40 minutes. Remove the lid, reduce the heat to aminimum and sweat very gently for 20-30 minutes more until melted and luscious. Turn off the heat and stir in the parsley. Serve at room temperature, spooned over slices of freshly grilled bread.
Trout baked with spiced breadcrumbs, butter and sage, and fennel salad
Spiced breadcrumbs are a classic stuffing for freshwater fish around the lakes of Lombardy and the Veneto; the recipe is from my head chef Alberto, who comes from there.
Serves 4
For the stuffing:
white country bread 2 very thick slices, preferably stale, crusts removed
garlic clove 1 small, crushed
lemon zest grated from ¼ of a lemon
parmesan 50g, grated
nutmeg ¼, grated
cinnamon a pinch, ground
clove a pinch, ground
black pepper ½ tsp, ground
flat-leaf parsley 4 tbsp, chopped
The dish:
rainbow or brown trout 4 large, scaled and butterfly-filleted
fennel 2 medium heads
butter 75g
sage leaves 75g
lemon juice of 1
extra-virgin olive oil 2 tbsp
To make the stuffing, combine the bread, garlic and lemon zest in a food processor and whizz to fine crumbs. Stir in the other ingredients.
You can stuff the trout ahead of time if you like – lay them open, skin-side down, and season with salt and pepper. Divide the stuffing between the fillets and fold them closed to resemble whole fish again. The fennel, too, can be prepared earlier (up to one hour – not longer or its flavour will wash out) – shave it ever-so-thinly and soak in iced water.
To cook the trout, fry the sage in the butter in a wide, nonstick pan over amedium heat until it starts to crisp. Add the trout. Fry for four minutes on each side, until just cooked through. While they fry, drain the fennel, spin it dry then dress with the lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper. Serve the trout with the sage butter drizzled over, and the salad on the side.
Persimmon cake
Persimmons are one of the few winter fruits, along with oranges and clementines, that taste of sunshine. Eat them when they are so ripe they sit like balls of jelly, thin skins ready to crack like a glacier at the slightest touch.
Serves 12
persimmons 3 large and soft (400g each)
eggs 3 medium or 2 large
caster sugar 150g
lemon zest grated from 1 lemon
lemon juice from 2 lemons
vanilla extract 2 tsp
extra-virgin olive oil 100ml
plain flour 300g
baking powder 1 rounded tbsp
pine nuts 50g (long, Italian or Spanish ones, if possible)
To serve, per person:
persimmon a quarter of a ripe fruit
vanilla ice cream one scoop
Line a cake tin (26cm round, or 20 x 30cm rectangular) with paper, grease and flour it. Preheat the oven to 170C/gas mark 3, or 150C if fan-assisted.
Pull the tops off the persimmons, leave their skins on. Cut the softest into rough chunks, and the other two into delicate segments (slice each into 12).
Put the chunked persimmon into a food processor or blender along with the eggs, sugar, lemon zest and juice, vanilla and olive oil. Purée until smooth, then transfer to a bowl. Sift in the flour and baking powder, stir with a whisk until just incorporated and lump-free, then pour into the cake tin. Work quickly now – the lemon will accelerate the action of the baking powder – and arrange the persimmon slices over the top of the cake. Scatter the pine nuts over the top and bake for 75 minutes. Some of the persimmon slices may sink during the baking – this is unavoidable, but not undesirable.
Leave to cool, almost to room temperature, before serving each person a slice of cake, a hunk of fresh persimmon and a scoop of rich vanilla ice cream.
