Chef Dara Klein, known for her culinary expertise, has unveiled a selection of her favourite Italian recipes, inviting home cooks to recreate the rustic flavours of Italy. The collection features Pesto Trapanese, a staple Pasta Pomodoro, and a delightful Torta Caprese, each bringing a piece of Italian culinary tradition into the home kitchen.
The Pesto Trapanese offers a refreshing departure from the more common Genovese variety, incorporating almonds, fresh tomatoes, pecorino cheese, garlic, and basil. Klein highlights the unique mouthfeel created by pureeing the almonds and tomatoes, resulting in a fresher, more vibrant sauce. She advises a gentle approach to blending, ideally using a mortar and pestle, to achieve a textured, rustic paste rather than a smooth purée, and suggests finishing with a touch of lemon juice and black pepper for brightness.
For Klein, Pasta Pomodoro holds a special place, symbolising home and reflecting a recipe passed down through generations in her family's trattoria. Her particular method for this classic sauce was honed during the lockdown period, when she operated 'Pasta Princess', a London-based service delivering hand-rolled pasta and pomodoro sauce. This recipe, she explains, provided grounding during a challenging time and has since become a regular feature at her restaurant, Tiella.
Completing the trio is Torta Caprese, a wonderfully rich, flourless chocolate cake made with ground almonds. Klein notes its similarity to her mother's Torta Gianduia, a Piedmontese recipe that substitutes hazelnuts for almonds. She recounts a poignant memory of her mother sourcing prized Tonda Gentile delle Langhe hazelnuts from Italy to bake the Gianduia, an aroma so irresistible that the cake was kept for family enjoyment rather than being added to the restaurant menu.
Each recipe is accompanied by practical cooking tips, from roasting almonds for the pesto to the precise method for warming the pomodoro sauce to preserve its flavour. Klein's insights aim to empower home cooks to achieve authentic results, whether through the slow coaxing of flavours in the pomodoro or the careful blending of ingredients for the pesto.