Rick’s fish stock
Makes about 1 litre
PHOTOGRAPHS: JAMES MURPHY. FOOD STYLING: AYA NISHIMURA. STYLING: PENNY MARKHAM
You’ll need 1kg fish bones and heads (lemon sole, brill and plaice are all good but any fish is fine, except oily ones like mackerel, sardines, herrings, salmon and tuna).
Cut the fish bones into 5-6cm pieces and put them in a large pan. Add 1 chopped onion, 1 sliced leek, 1 sliced fennel bulb, 100g sliced celery, 1 thyme sprig and 30ml veg oil. Put a lid on the pan, put over a medium heat and cook gently for 5 minutes, not allowing it to colour. Add 100ml white wine and 2.25 litres water, bring just to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer very gently for 20 minutes. Strain through a sieve (discard the bones).
Beef and macaroni pie with kefalotiri cheese
"I have a great affection for the Mediterranean baked dishes of meat, pasta, tomato and kefalotiri —a dry, firm ewe’s milk cheese, full of irregular holes. It ranges in colour from white through to pale yellow, depending on the grazing of the sheep, and it’s fresh and slightly sharptasting, with a distinct f lavour of ewe’s milk."
Beef and macaroni pie with kefalotiri cheese
Serves 8-10
Hands-on
time 1 hour 20 min
Oven
time 30-40 min
You’ll
also
need 23cm x 33cm x 7cm deep baking dish
• 500g tubular pasta, such as macaroni, rigatoni or penne
• 2 medium free-range eggs, lightly beaten
• 50g Greek kefalotiri cheese or parmesan, finely grated
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 10g fresh white breadcrumbs
Meat sauce
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
• 1kg lean British beef mince
• 200ml red wine