Grilled fennel salad with apricots & goat cheese

For ➍ 

2 fennels

4 large apricots

2 tbs roasted hazelnuts*

1 handful of basil

200 g fresh goat cheese

lemon

salt

olive oil

Heat the barbecue.**

Slice half a fennel into thin slices using a mandoline or a sharp knife. Pour the juice of a lemon over it and add a generous pinch of salt. Mix briefly and let it marinate. Cut the rest of the fennel into slightly thicker slices. Rub with olive oil and salt, and grill on the barbecue**. Use a grill with small openings for this, so that the fennel does not fall through. When the fennel is slightly charred and a little soft, remove it from the barbecue. Cut the apricots in half and remove the pits, then rub with oil. Place them on the grill** with the cut side down for a moment, until they soften slightly and develop black stripes.

Assemble the salad by mixing the roasted and marinated fennel (and the lemon juice in which they marinated) with the grilled apricots. Place the goat cheese on top and finish with the basil leaves and hazelnuts*.

Season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with some good olive oil.

*Replace with walnuts.

**Use a grill pan for small quantities if necessary.

Austrian Linzer Torte

For ➑ portions

75 g blanched almonds 

75 g blanched hazelnuts 

250 g plain flour 

225 g butter 

130 g light brown sugar 

1 egg 1 tsp cinnamon 

⅛ ts cloves 

¼ ts salt 

zest of 1 lemon 

280 g redcurrant jam* 

1 egg yolk 

almond flakes for decoration 

 

Grind the almonds and hazelnuts and place in a bowl. Add the flour, salt, cloves, cinnamon, lemon zest, light brown sugar and butter. Use a pastry cutter/blender or two knives to cut the butter into the remaining ingredients until crumbly. Then add the egg. 

Knead into a dough with your hands. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 30 m. 

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Take ⅔ of the dough and press it into a 26 cm baking tin. Make sure the bottom is completely covered with dough with a thick edge of 1 cm thick. Add the jam, make sure the entire bottom of the tart is covered with jam. 

Cut the rest of the dough into strips. Place the strips on the tart and make a nice lattice pattern on it. Brush the dough with egg yolk. Decorate the Linzer Torte with some almond shavings and bake it in the oven for 45-60 m. 

* (or raspberry jam)

Roasted celeriac with apple, hazelnut & ponzu/maple dressing

For ➍ 
½ celeriac

1 apple

50 g hazelnuts

50 g arugula

olive oil

pepper & salt

dressing:

1½ tbs maple syrup

½ lemon (organic)

2 tbs olive oil (extra virgin)

1½ tbs ponzu**

pepper

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Wash the skin of the celeriac well. Cover a baking tray with baking paper. Lay the celeriac flat. Pierce the celeriac all over with a knife or fork. Brush the celeriac with olive oil. Season with salt. Place in the oven for 1 h. Brush the celeriac every 15 m with the olive oil that has run off. 

Cut the apple into wedges. 

Remove the celeriac from the oven. Cut into slices and then into slightly smaller pieces. Arrange them in a baking dish along with the apple wedges. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with extra olive oil. Raise the oven to 220°C and place in the oven for another 20 m. Turn halfway through. Roughly chop the hazelnuts. Roast them briefly in a non-stick pan, or put them in the oven. 

Make the dressing. Wash and grate the zest of the lemon and squeeze the juice. Mix with the maple syrup, the extra virgin olive oil and the ponzu**. Season with pepper. 

Serve the baking dish with the hazelnuts, arugula and dressing sprinkled on top.

*Or use the complete celeriac

**Replace with soy sauce

Radicchio salad @ microwave

For ➋
40 g blue cheese
40 g chive oil
25 g hazelnuts, peeled
10 g chives
120 g radicchio, half of a head
olive oil
salt
50 g buttermilk

(Optional: Place blue cheese in the freezer. While this step is purely aesthetic—frozen cheese will curl prettily when it is peeled—the freezer is a good place to store blue cheese so that it's always ready for salads and such.)
Make the chive oil with blanched fresh chives, blend them with oil, strain through a sieve.
Heat oven to 165°C.
Spread hazelnuts on a sheet pan and toast until golden brown, about 30 m.
As the hazelnuts toast, agitate the sheet pan every 5 m for even browning.
Remove hazelnuts from oven and transfer to a large zip-lock bag. Lay the bag flat on a work surface and smooth it so that nuts spread out in an even, single layer. Roll a rolling pin over the bag, repeating until hazelnuts are crushed into small crumbles.
Mince the chives.
Wash radicchio and pat dry with a paper towel. Remove any damaged or wilted outer leaves. Cut radicchio into quarters.
Dress each piece with a generous amount of olive oil.
Place radicchio in microwave-safe dish and cover tightly with plastic wrap.
Cook on high for 40–50 s. Puncture plastic with a knife to allow steam to escape.
Remove from microwave. Radicchio should be warm and wilted, with just a little crunch remaining.
Cut white core from the radicchio and assemble leaves in a serving bowl. Dress with salt, minced chives, buttermilk, and chive oil.
Just before serving, sprinkle hazelnuts over salad and shave or crumble blue cheese on top.

Fennel & blood orange salad

For ➌
4 tbs hazelnuts or walnuts
1 medium-large fennel bulb, leaves and stems trimmed off
salt & freshly ground black pepper
juice of 1 lemon
2 large blood oranges (or any orange* or grapefruit*)
1 small shallot, peeled and cut into paper-thin slices
10 mint leaves
2 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 ts lime zest

Place nuts in dry skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring, to toast. Let cool. If using hazelnuts, roll them around in a dishcloth (or, if cool enough, in your hands), discarding any loose skins. Coarsely chop nuts. Set aside. (Add some walnut oil for toasting*).
Slice about 1 cm from bottom of fennel and discard. Slice fennel very thinly on a mandoline, or with a knife, starting with flat bottom side. Toss in serving bowl with salt, pepper and lemon juice. (Add a drop of Pernod)*.
Trim all peel and pits from oranges. Holding peeled fruit over bowl containing fennel, use sharp knife to cut sections from membrane and let them drop into bowl. Squeeze remaining membrane over bowl to sprinkle salad with remaining juice, and discard membrane. Add shallots, mint leaves, olive oil and reserved nuts and toss gently. Sprinkle with lime zest.
Serve a a salad or as a side dish to smoked salmon or grilled fish fillets.
Leftovers can be served a day later.

*Optional.

The fennel trick here is to shave it thinly and toss it with lemon juice and salt, it’s licorice vibe is neutralized, leaving just the refreshing part.

Torta alle nocciole (Piedmontese hazelnut cake)

For ➑
200 g shelled hazelnuts, toasted*
150 g flour
3 eggs
200 g sugar
125 g butter
8.5 tbs strong coffee (12.5 cl)
8.5 tbs whole milk (12.5 cl)
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs rum or Marsala (optional)
1½ tbs baking powder

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Pulverise the toasted hazelnuts until very fine. Combine with the flour and baking powder.
In a food processor or with beaters, beat the butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one by one until well combined. Incorporate with the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the milk, coffee, olive oil and rum and mix until just combined.
Pour into a greased and floured  26 cm cake tin with a removable bottom.**
Bake for about 35 m or until golden brown and springy.
Allow to cool and serve as desired.
Serve with a simple drizzle of honey, a ganache of melted chocolate*** and cream or a simple espresso icing. Or dust with powder sugar.

*To toast hazelnuts, put them in a single layer on a baking sheet in a 180°C oven for about 10-15 m or until lightly browned and the skins look cracked. Watch them carefully as hazelnuts can turn bitter if toasted too long. Remove from the oven and wrap the hazelnuts in a kitchen towel to let steam for a couple of m. Then rub them together to loosen and remove as much of the skin as possible. Cool completely.
**The cake should be 2-2.5 cm thick. A good way is to wrap the mixture in oven aluminum foil completely, then gently press it with your hands into the mold to make it into a nice even round shape.
***To cover the cake in chocolate glaze: gently heat 15 cl heavy cream just to the boiling point and pour over finely chopped 150 g bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (or a combination of the two). Stir slowly until combined. Pour evenly over cake.

Warm mushroom salad with hazelnuts & pecorino

For ➍
50 g hazelnuts
2 tbs finely diced shallots
3 tbs sherry or a white wine vinegar
9 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 kg button or assorted mushrooms, cleaned & sliced
2 tbs salted butter
175 g salad greens such as frisé or arugula
25 g mix of fresh herbs (chives, tarragon...)
1 ts fresh thyme or a couple pinches of dried
1-2 sliced shallots
125 g pecorino or Parmigiano

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Toast the hazelnuts on a baking sheet for 8 to 10 m, rolling them around once or twice to make sure they toast evenly. Rub nuts in a dish towel to remove skins then let cool. Chop the hazelnuts coarsely.
Whisk the shallots, vinegar, ½ ts salt together in a bowl and let sit for 5 m (this will soften and almost pickle the shallots), before whisking in 5 tbs olive oil.
Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add 2 tbs olive oil and 1 tbs butter until the butter foams. Add half the mushrooms, half the thyme and season with salt and pepper. Sauté the mushrooms for about 5 m, until they’re softened but not limp (cooking time will depend on the type of mushrooms).
Transfer mushrooms to a plate then repeat with the second half. When they are cooked, return the first half of the mushrooms to the pan then toss in sliced shallots, cooking for an additional 2 m.
Spread salad greens on a plate. Sprinkle fresh herbs on top, if using. Spoon hot mushrooms over the salad greens. Pour three-quarters of the vinaigrette in the sauté pan and swirl it in the pan until heated. Season it with ¼ ts salt and freshly ground black pepper. Pour over salad and toss carefully.
Use a vegetable peeler to shave cheese over the salad. Sprinkle with hazelnuts. Serve immediately.

Salsa romesco (sauce)

For 50 cl*
12 blanched almonds or almond slivers
10-12 hazelnuts
1 head garlic
1 slice stale bread
2 ripe medium size tomatoes, or 1 large tomato
2 large roasted red peppers, well-drained
20 cl extra virgin olive oil
10 cl red wine or sherry vinegar
¼ ts red pepper flakes or small hot pepper (optional)

Rub off excess dry skin from garlic head. Put on baking sheet and drizzle a bit of olive oil on top. Roast in oven for 20 m at 150°C or until garlic on inside is roasted and soft.

Place almonds and hazelnuts into food processor and process until finely ground.

Pour a few tbs of virgin olive oil into a small frying pan. Quickly fry bread until both sides are browned. Remove from pan and allow to cool on a plate.

Cut tomatoes into quarters and sauté in same pan, adding oil if needed. Sauté for 4-5 m. Remove pan from heat.

Once bread is cooled, tear into 6 pieces and process with the nuts. Add sautéed tomatoes and continue to process. Squeeze roasted garlic from the skins into the processor. Place roasted red peppers into the processor with the other ingredients and process until ingredients are a thick puree.

While processor is running, slowly drizzle in the oil and vinegar. Add salt to taste.

Serve with meat, fish, poultry or vegetables. Or on a slice of good bread.

*Store in refrigerator for up to 7 days.

Romesco sauce originates from Tarragona, Catalonia in Spain. It was originally pounded in a mortar, like Italian pesto, and French rouille and tapenade. It is said that the fishermen of the area made it to eat with fish. Some say its origins are Roman, from the time that Tarragona was a provincial capital of the empire. Others credit the Moors: 'rumiskal', meaning to mix, from the Moorish era in Spain, may point to Arab origins for the sauce.
Try a quick version of romesco.