INSPIRED BY VENICE…
When food editor Rebecca Woollard visited Venice, one of the highlights was the famous Rialto Market. Its riches inspired her to fill her baskets to overflowing with amazing produce, then head back to the kitchen to create a menu that will transport you straight to La Serenissima
RECIPES AND FOOD STYLING REBECCA WOOLLARD
PHOTOGRAPHS GARETH MORGANS
MENU OF THE MONTH
‘“A food experience that changed my life…”
”This was my first visit to Venice, and I wasn’t prepared for the magnificent beauty of the place. It was Rialto Market that stole my heart, though. It’s stood on the Grand Canal for seven centuries and, though a tourist attraction, it’s also full of hungry locals. I hadn’t just come to admire – I was here to buy and cook a feast, determined to let the market’s fiercely seasonal produce be my guide.
For me, the place was heaven: piles of ripe tomatoes redolent with the grassy fragrance of vines; plump, succulent cherries the most seductive shade of garnet; delicately flowered baby courgettes; and huge, fat flamingo-pink prawns, nestled among tangles of baby octopus, trays of glossy line-caught fish and enormous scallops. I bought as much as I could carry.
Italian food is beautiful in its simplicity, so my menu reflects that. The whole meal took me just a morning to prepare. There are, though, a couple of basics that will make all the difference. First is olive oil – you’ll need top quality extra-virgin, the best you can afford. Second are the meat and fish; again they need to be the best… These recipes are worth it.
Give this menu the time it deserves to enjoy it to the full. The preparation of an Italian feast is taken deadly seriously, but the eating of it is long, loud with laughter and wine, and every mouthful is enjoyed to its fullest. →
MENU FOR 4 Hugo cocktails
Mixed cheese crostini
Radicchio & mozzarella Pea, broad bean & ricotta Cherry & goat’s cheese
Prawn, chilli and lemon tagliatelle T-bone steaks with tomato, caper and rosemary sauce