Starter: 

Great for vegetarians and vegans (minus the Parmesan garnish) this bean bruschetta is a fantastic starter for dinner with friends.

In my opinion beans get overlooked far too often, they are super healthy and can be delicious. This recipe is using creamy white Italian beans in a traditional Italian way - a bruschetta.

Crunchy bread hit with garlic, topped with lemony cannellini beans and finished with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. If your a lover of extra virgin olive oil then this is perfect for mopping up that delicious nectar. Cannellini beans are the Italian cousins of the well known kidney bean. White and creamy they are found in most supermarkets.

 

Serves 4 people

Preparation time 20 Minutes

 

Ingredients:

600g cannellini beans (tinned) if using raw beans they must be soaked in water for 24 hours before being boiled for a further hour.

2 lemons

50g flat leaf parsley

4 slices of ciabatta bread

20g Parmesan cheese

120ml extra virgin olive oil

1 clove of garlic

 

Method:

Place 400g of beans into a food processor (or even a smoothie maker, which so many people got for Christmas).

Whizz the beans to a smooth paste.

Finely chop half the parsley, fold the chopped parsley into the bean mix.

Add the juice of one lemon, and season to taste.

Gently heat the remainder of the beans in a saucepan.

Season, sprinkle with finely chopped parsley and drizzle a little extra Virgin olive oil into it.

Toast the sliced ciabatta to make sure it is crunchy.

When the bread is crunchy and still HOT, rub the clove of garlic over one side.

Now the bread is full of flavour already, top it with the bean mix.

Then spoon over the whole beans.

Finish with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and a drizzle of extra Virgin olive oil.

 

Main Course:

Guinea fowl is still in season, so be sure not to miss out on it. Similar to chicken but with a gamey flavour, it goes so well with this mushroom risotto. Mushroom risotto is great on its own, throw the guinea fowl into the equation and it is sensational.

This dish could be dished up for family supper one night or served up for a posh dinner party with friends, either way everyone is guaranteed to go crazy for it. Porcini is found in the dry goods part of most supermarkets, the flavour from these dried mushrooms is truly phenomenal! It adds so much flavour to the dish.

Serves 2 people

Preparation time 1 1/2 hours

 

Ingredients:

1 guinea fowl

100g thyme

200g Arborio rice

50g onion

75g chestnut mushrooms

15g dried porcini

20g Parmesan

400ml vegetable stock

100ml olive oil

1 Clove of garlic 80ml

White wine Knob of butter

1 lemon

 

Method:

Firstly break down the guinea fowl, you can ask your butcher to do it but it is fairly straightforward, you want to take the Breast and thigh off of each side.

Season, and rub with olive oil.

Roast in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 25-30 minutes until the skin is crispy.

While that is cooking finely chop the onion, throw it in a hot pan along with your quartered mushrooms.

Get a separate pan for your vegetable stock. Fry until soft, without colour then add the garlic. Chuck the rice in, keep stirring so it doesn't stick to the pan.

When the rice starts to go see through at the sides, pour in the White wine. Evaporate half the wine, then add the porcini.

Now slowly add your vegetable stock while continuously stirring, you may not need all of the stock.

The rice is ready when you pinch it between your fingers and it breaks into 3 pieces. You want it to be Al dente.

When it is cooked fold in a knob of butter, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, Parmesan and seasoning.

When your guinea fowl reaches a core temperature of 75 degrees take out and hit it with lemon juice and olive oil.

Serve risotto onto a plate. Place the thigh, then the Breast onto the plate. Garnish with thyme.