To be honest, she had me with the view, so the fact that Amber Guinness is also a dab hand in the kitchen only makes an invitation to the family house in Italy even more of a golden ticket. The 18th-century farmhouse has commanding 360-degree vistas across olive groves, rows of cypresses and the valleys of southern Tuscany beyond. Yet it was no more than a building site when Amber’s parents, interior designer Camilla and Jasper Guinness, grandson of Diana Mitford, were tempted by an advertisement in The Sunday Times in 1989: “Run-down farmhouse on a hill, 30 minutes south of Siena,” it read.
“Arniano had a roof and windows, but not much else,” Amber recalls. “No electricity, no water and certainly not the elegant loggias or rococo plasterwork they had hoped to find in their dream palazzo. There was not a single shrub or tree in the 30-odd acres of scrubland that fell away from the house on all sides.”
Nevertheless, it became Amber’s home for the first 13 years of her life and, thanks to her mother’s keen eye and her late father’s herculean efforts in the garden, is now an enviable retreat from which Amber and the artist William Roper-Curzon run painting courses, with Amber in charge of the catering.
She says her mother is an instinctive cook. “Whenever I asked how she had made something, the answer was always, ‘I don’t know. You’ll have to watch me do it.’ ” And watch she did, picking up the skills she then polished during occasional kitchen shifts at the River Cafe. “Food, and the rituals surrounding it, are melded for me with family, lovely surroundings and nature,” she writes in her new book, A House Party in Tuscany. “I can still retrieve the ink sac from a squid without rupturing it – skills for which I am most grateful. But on the whole, I am a home cook who makes simple, accessible and tasty meals.” Tony Turnbull
Trofie with pesto and cherry tomatoes
Serves 5-6
Ingredients
150g basil leaves, stalks removed
50g pine nuts
2 garlic cloves, peeled
Salt and pepper
150ml olive oil
100g parmesan, finely grated, plus extra to serve
500g trofie (or your preferred short pasta)
250g cherry tomatoes, halved
Method
1. Put the basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic, a pinch of salt and the olive oil in a food processor. Blitz until you have a runny paste. Transfer to a bowl. (You can freeze your pesto at this stage, before adding the parmesan.) Using a spoon, mix the grated parmesan through the paste until thoroughly combined. Taste for seasoning, adjusting as necessary. If it looks a little dry, add another drizzle of oil and stir again. This pesto sauce will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days, but is most vibrantly green when used fresh.
2. Bring a large pan of salted water to a vigorous boil. Add the trofie or your preferred pasta and cook until al dente.
3. When the pasta is almost ready, spoon the pesto into a large serving dish or bowl. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the trofie to the serving dish and mix the pasta through the pesto, pouring over half a ladleful of the pasta cooking water if the pesto needs any help to thoroughly coat the pasta. Toss the cherry tomato halves through the pasta and serve immediately, with extra grated parmesan on the side.
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Tomato ‘water’ with buffalo mozzarella
This dish is a special one for me, as it was served as the appetiser at my wedding. Five years on, people ask me how to make it. It affords the opportunity to enjoy the holy trinity of flavour combinations – tomatoes, basil and mozzarella – in a chilled soup format, which is refreshing and delicious. Blending the tomatoes for several minutes means you can skip the arduous task of peeling them.
Serves 6
Ingredients
3kg large juicy tomatoes
Salt
A handful of basil leaves and stalks, plus extra leaves, to serve
3 large (125-150g each) buffalo mozzarella balls, to serve
Olive oil, to serve
Method
1. Roughly chop the tomatoes and put them in batches into a high-speed blender or food processor, blending for 3-5 minutes until liquidised. Remove to a bowl as you go.
2. Pass the pulp through a mouli or sieve the pureed tomato flesh through a mesh strainer, pressing down with the back of a spoon to help extract the liquid. Repeat the process to make sure that all the pulp is left behind. Discard the pulp. You should be left with about 1.5-2 litres of tomato water. Add two generous pinches of salt and a handful of basil. Put it in the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours.
3. Retrieve the tomato water from the fridge and remove the basil. Pour two ladlefuls into each serving bowl and put a quarter of a mozzarella ball in the centre of each bowl. Top with a few basil leaves, a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt.
Roast chicken with grapes
If you are any more than four people, I recommend roasting two chickens (as in this recipe). If you are four or fewer, roast one chicken and halve the quantities of the other ingredients.
Serves 6-12
Ingredients
2 large chickens
Salt
500g white grapes
50ml olive oil
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C (200C non-fan).
2. Remove the chickens from the fridge 40 minutes before cooking. Generously season the chickens all over with salt and put them in a large roasting pan.
3. Cover and set aside for 40 minutes, to allow the chickens to come up to room temperature.
4. Next arrange the grapes around the chickens and then pour the oil evenly over the top of the birds and the fruit. Roast for 20 minutes, then check them – they should have a little colour on them and the grapes should be starting to turn brown. Pour 150ml water over the chickens and the grapes.
5. Return the pan to the oven and roast for another 40 minutes, basting the chickens two to three times. Use a large serving spoon to scoop up some of the cooking liquid and pour this carefully over the chickens. If the pan dries out as the chickens are cooking, add more water. After 40 minutes, remove from the oven and check that the meat has cooked thoroughly: there should be no pink meat and the juices should run clear. If the chickens aren’t cooked, return them to the oven for a further 15-20 minutes.
6. Leaving the grapes in the pan, transfer the chickens to a plate, cover in foil and allow to rest for 30 minutes. Taste the cooking liquid – it should be a wonderful balance of sweet and savoury and not at all watery, like a sweet gravy. If it is still a little watery, put the pan over a medium heat and allow the grapes and cooking liquid to reduce for about 5 minutes.
7. Carve the chickens. Arrange on a platter and pour the gravy over, top with the grapes and serve.
Roast peaches with bay and Grand Marnier cream
Serves 6
Ingredients
For the peaches
60g blanched almonds
200ml Grand Marnier
60g brown sugar, plus extra, for roasting the peaches
25ml olive oil
25ml maple syrup or runny honey
6 peaches, ripe but firm
4 bay leaves
For the cream
1 tbsp Grand Marnier
250g double cream
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C (200C non-fan). Spread the almonds on a baking tray and toast them in the oven for 10 minutes, until they just start to brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely.
2. Put the Grand Marnier and sugar in a small pan and set over a medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Bring to the boil and allow to bubble for 5 minutes to burn off some of the alcohol. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the oil and maple syrup or honey.
3. Cut each peach in half and remove the stone. Place the peach halves cut-side up in an ovenproof dish and add the bay leaves. Pour the Grand Marnier syrup over the peaches, then sprinkle them with a little more sugar. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the liquid is bubbling and the tops of the peaches are browning.
4. Baste the peaches with the cooking liquid halfway through roasting. In the meantime, mix the Grand Marnier and double cream in a bowl and keep in the fridge until ready to serve. Roughly chop the cooled almonds.
5. Remove the peaches from the oven. Serve warm or at room temperature with a spoonful of their sweet and sticky cooking liquid, a sprinkling of roasted almonds and a dollop of Grand Marnier cream.
Lime and basil ice cream
This used to be served at my favourite gelateria in Florence. My mum and I loved it so much that we bought a few tubs (driving hell for leather the hour and a half home while it melted in the back of the car) and spent the next two days trying to recreate it, using shop-bought vanilla ice cream and adding lime zest and basil leaves. I’ve found that the homemade custard base gives a richer and more indulgent feel. I don’t have an ice-cream maker, so I just pop it in the freezer and take it out 20 minutes before serving.
Makes 1 litre, enough to serve 6
Ingredients
800ml double cream
250ml full-fat milk
2 vanilla pods
8 egg yolks
180g caster sugar
Zest of 5 limes and juice of 2 limes
45g basil leaves, finely chopped with a sharp knife
Method
1. Put the cream and milk in a saucepan (one with a lid). Halve the vanilla pods lengthways and scrape the seeds into the pan, discarding the pods. Set the pan over a medium heat and remove from the heat just as the cream and milk mixture is about to come to the boil. Set aside to cool a little.
2. Put the egg yolks and sugar into a large bowl, then whisk using an electric mixer or hand-held electric beaters until the mixture is very thick and pale.
3. Bit by bit, pour the warm cream and milk into the sugar and egg mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon as you go. Once it is thoroughly combined, return the mixture to the pan. Set the pan over a medium heat, stirring constantly. The mixture will begin to thicken as the eggs start to cook. Once it is on the edge of coming to the boil, remove the custard from the heat and move the pan to a cool surface. Stir the custard constantly for about 5 minutes to ensure it stays smooth.
4. Cover the pan with the lid and allow the custard to cool down for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the lime zest and juice and the chopped basil leaves and stir them through.
5. Cover the custard again and set it aside for 1-2 hours to cool completely. Transfer the cooled custard to a shallow container, making sure the basil is evenly distributed. Put it in the freezer for at least 3 hours. Or, if you have an ice-cream maker, churn as instructed before putting it in the freezer.
6. Twenty minutes before serving, take the ice cream out of the freezer to soften a little.
Penne ‘alla Bettola’ with tomato and vodka
This is my imitation of the famous dish of Alla Vecchia Bettola, a fabulous restaurant in Florence. What’s unusual and delicious about the Alla Vecchia Bettola dish is the “smooth” penne lisce, meaning there are no ridges for the sauce to cling to. For that reason, the final stage of cooking the penne happens in the sauce, so that the pasta soaks up the tomato, chilli and vodka. For the pasta to be al dente, it’s vital that you cook the penne for two thirds of the recommended time before transferring it to the pan with the sauce for the last third of the process.
Serves 6
Ingredients
½ tbsp chilli flakes
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
60ml olive oil
1 bottle (680-700g) tomato passata
Salt
120ml vodka
200ml single cream
500g penne lisce (smooth) or penne rigate (ridged)
60g parmesan, grated, plus extra, to serve
A handful of flatleaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped, to serve
Method
1. In a large frying pan, gently heat the chilli flakes and garlic in the oil for 3-5 minutes over a medium heat. Allow the garlic to infuse, but do not let it brown. Add the passata together with a generous pinch of salt. Half-fill the bottle with water, swish it around to pick up any remaining passata and pour the tomatoey water into the pan. Cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced by a third.
2. Put a large pan of well-salted water on to boil.
3. Pour the vodka into the reduced liquid, stir and then increase the heat to high. Allow to bubble for 5 minutes so that the alcohol evaporates, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the cream and switch to a low heat while the pasta cooks.
4. Once the pasta cooking water is at a lively boil, add the penne. After 8 minutes, use a slotted spoon to transfer the pasta to the tomato sauce. Add a ladleful of the starchy pasta cooking water if the sauce looks like it needs help to fully coat the pasta. Turn up the heat and allow to bubble and cook for a further 3 minutes, then stir in the parmesan.
5. Remove the pasta from the heat and transfer to a serving bowl. Top with a little chopped parsley and some freshly grated parmesan. Serve immediately.
Baked fennel with white wine
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Serves 6
Ingredients
4 fennel bulbs
3 tbsp olive oil
A small handful of sage leaves
Leaves from 1 thyme sprig
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
100ml white wine
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C (200C non-fan).
2. Finely slice the fennel bulbs lengthways, leaving the tops and fronds on the bulb. Put the fennel in a roasting pan, drizzle with the olive oil and add the sage leaves, thyme, a generous pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Toss the fennel in the oil and seasonings so the slices are evenly coated, then add the wine.
3. Cover the pan with foil and roast the fennel for 15 minutes. Take the pan out of the oven, remove the foil and then return the fennel to the oven for 20-25 minutes, until it starts to brown and the ends start to curl. Serve hot.
Ricotta, black olive and basil tart
Serves 6
Ingredients
1 rectangular sheet of ready-rolled shortcrust pastry
500g ricotta
1 tbsp olive oil
45g parmesan, finely grated
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A quarter of a whole nutmeg, finely grated
150g pitted black olives, drained and roughly chopped
A handful of basil leaves, roughly torn
3 eggs
40g semi-matured pecorino, finely grated, as topping for the tart
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200C (220C non-fan).
2. Butter or line a 25cm tart tin and place the pastry sheet in the tin, trimming off any excess pastry. Line the pastry case with baking parchment that you have scrunched in your hand and then flattened out. Fill the lined pastry with baking beads, dried beans or rice and then blind bake for 15 minutes. Take the tin out of the oven, remove the beads and baking parchment and bake the pastry for a further 5 minutes, until the bottom of the case has completely dried out and is uniformly golden.
3. Remove the pastry from the oven and set it aside to cool while you make the filling. Turn down the oven to 160C (180C non-fan).
4. Put the drained ricotta in a large metal bowl and break it up with a fork. Using the fork, beat in the olive oil until it is fully incorporated with the ricotta. Add the parmesan, salt, pepper and finely grated nutmeg and combine thoroughly. Mix in the chopped olives and basil leaves. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt, pepper or nutmeg as preferred, then beat in the eggs one by one. Once you have prepared the pastry case and the ricotta filling, you can keep them in the fridge for up to a day before assembling the tart.
5. Pour the ricotta mixture into the pastry shell, spreading it evenly and smoothing it with the back of a spoon. Top with the pecorino. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the top of the tart starts to brown and there is still a gentle wobble at its centre.
6. Remove the tart tin from the oven and place it on a wire cooling rack. When it is cool enough to handle, transfer the tart to a plate, ready to serve.
Extracted from A House Party in Tuscany by Amber Guinness, published by Thames & Hudson on March 24 at £29.99
