A Walk In The Woods!

Memories are strange things. Your mind has a habit of stripping them down, cleaning out the boring or nasty bits, then re-packaging them, wrapped in rose-tinted cellophane.

But, for me, there are sounds and smells that take me back to times gone by. If I encounter a frosty morning, where the grass under my feet crunches like frosted cornflakes, I'm transported back to my childhood Sunday mornings. This is not to say that every Sunday was frosty when I was a child, although I did have to endure cold Catholicism every Sunday.

On Sunday mornings, my brother John, my grandfather and I would walk down the hill from the small cottage we lived in, to a large field which was encircled by thick woodland. Because it was always very early in the morning, there was either dew on the grass or frost. The reason for our walk was to gather woodland mushrooms for our breakfast. One of my deepest regrets is that I paid no attention to my Grandfather, who desperately tried to show both my brother and myself where to find mushrooms, and what mushrooms you could eat. We would spend our time tormenting a poor unfortunate goat that was tethered in the field. We had worked out the length of the tether and would torment it long enough for it to charge us, only to half strangle itself when the tether ran out. The rest of the time, we spent sword fighting with any sticks we could find.

But on our return home, with a basket of gnarled discoloured fungi, my Nonna would set about turning our free food into a simple culinary masterpiece.

Put a knob of butter in a frying pan on a low heat.

Add a crushed clove of garlic (More if you really love garlic)

When the butter has turned a nutty brown, add the mushrooms but don't stir them, as you will release all the moisture from them and boil them.

When the moisture has escaped stir them all - this only takes a few minutes.

At the end, before you serve them, add your preferred seasoning, Half a teaspoon of smoky paprika. Or half a teaspoon of chilli. I prefer to finely grate a small amount of Parmesan cheese in, then add a handful of finely-chopped flat leafed parsley, stir.

Serve it on a piece of thick cut warm bread or crostini.

Another smell that, for me, is what I call a memory duvet, is freshly baked bread. Memory duvets wrap you up and snuggle you in a warm glow of nostalgia.

Nonna would always rise at stupid o'clock each morning. For her, getting up at 7am on a Sunday morning was a decadent lie-in. Most days she would be up for 5am and have fires lit, Pasht on the stove, and bread in the oven. I cannot begin to describe the joy of awaking to the smell of bread baking in the oven. With the dough she had left over she would often make pizza. In my previous blog I explained that pizza is something I can take or leave, it's just cheese on toast. But if you would like to make your own pizza use this recipe. I call it my pretend veggie pizza.

For the dough:-

1 and a half cups of plain white four.

8 tbsp tepid water.

1 teaspoon of easy blend yeast.

1 tbsp olive oil

Sift the flour and yeast into a large bowl, make a well in the centre and add the water and oil.

Stir with a wooden spoon. Then turn it out onto a floured surface and knead it for about five or six minutes.

I then put it back in the bowl and cover it with a tea towel or cling film and put it in a warm place for and hour or so.

When it has risen, empty it back out onto a floured surface and just knock the air out of it, then roll it out to your desired thickness, I think real pizzas should have a very thin crust.

Then spread your tomato sauce all over the top (See previous blog. Only use this sauce). Then finely slice a mixture of red, yellow and green peppers until you have about a hand full in total, (I have very big hands). Then spread them out over the pizza. Rip pieces of buffalo Mozzarella: only use this cheese - it is now available everywhere and is quite inexpensive, and put the pieces all over the peppers. Then bake in a pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes at gas mark 6. Keep an eye on it as modern ovens tend to cook them quicker.

When you remove your pizza from the oven, if you are vegetarian, just cut it and eat it. If you want a pretend veggie pizza, just before it is ready put a couple of slices of thin pancetta in a dry hot frying pan and quickly cook them on both sides - it doesn't take long - then take them from the pan and put them on some kitchen paper. They will go crispy this way. When your pizza is ready crush the pancetta and sprinkle over the pizza. This gives it a crunchy, salty, smoky texture, and is just obscenely gorgeous!

Buon Appetitio!