Books
Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies, The Mirror & the Light - Hilary Mantel
Well somebody has to. “Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride”.
The Bonfire of the Vanities - Tom Wolfe (1987)
Forget the wish-washy film. Tom Wolfe’s 1987 satire about a self-proclaimed Master of the Universe who makes a wrong turn is still one of the best that we have read.
1984 - George Orwell (1949)
Ever wondered what it might be like to live in a dystopian society, where freedom is curtailed and the information fed to us carefully selected? Welcome to 2020, we mean 1984.
Cook
Now is the perfect time to use those tinned goods that have been resident in your cupboard for so long that they will soon qualify for residency. Especially if lockdown means you can’t get out to shop for fresh food.
Pasta e fagioli (pasta and beans)
Good Italian food doesn’t come more comforting than this. Debates may rage south and north about the perfect pasta and the perfect beans to use. But the beauty of self-isolation is this. We are stuck with whatever is in the store cupboard. So worry not...
*Adapt the recipe depending on what you have, or have not.
Prep 10 min
Soak overnight (if using dried beans)
Cook 1 hr 15 min
Serves 4
300g dried borlotti* beans, soaked overnight, or 700g drained tinned beans (tip in 2x400g tins if using)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
2 parsley stalks (no leaves), finely chopped
Salt
A good glug (6 tbsp) extra virgin olive oil
2 sprigs rosemary
1 pinch dried red chilli flakes
1 small potato, peeled and diced
200g pasta*, penne, broken tagliatelle, tubetti, or other shapes
Soak the dried beans overnight, pour off the liquid. Put the beans a pan, cover with two litres of cold water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for an hour, or until the beans are soft. Leave to rest.
Fry the onion, celery, parsley stalks in the olive oil over a medium-low heat until the onions are translucent and the vegetables are soft. Add a pinch of salt as the vegetables come to.
Finely chop the leaves of one sprig of rosemary leaving the other stalk whole, and add to the pan, with a pinch of chilli flakes, and cook for few minutes more.
Add the diced potato and beans, stir, and add 1.5 litres of water: we use the bean cooking liquor with water added. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes.
If you prefer your soup more stew like take out a third of the soup, puree it and return it to the pan.
Add the pasta and raise the heat so the soup boils the pasta until al dente. Keep stirring and add a little more water if necessary, To your preferred consistency. Season to taste.
Twists:
For greater depth when frying the onions and vegetables add an anchovy fillet or two to taste. These will melt into the mix as you fry the vegetables until they are soft and fragrant.
Instead of rosemary, or in addition, add a dried bay leaf.
Alternatively: nothing beats a great Italian lasagne. Here we add torn-up chunks of mozzarella, thin layers of prosciutto cotto (cooked ham) and slices of galbanino cheese between the layers of lasagne, meat sauce and béchamel.
