Buon Ricordo

Armando Percuoco

Photography by Greg Elms - Stylist: Virginia Dowzer

Buon Ricordo published by Allen & Unwin. RRP $65.
Available from Accoutrement.
Check MOSMAN 2088 MAGAZINE for more recipes from Accoutrement every month.

San Pietro con carciofi

John Dory with Globe Artichokes

SERVES 4

Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Prepare five artichokes and remove the chokes, then cut them in half. Cook them in a saucepan of boiling water with the lemon juice until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain them and dry.

Put the extra virgin olive oil and garlic in a frying pan and sauté the garlic over medium heat until golden, about 2 minutes. Add the artichoke halves and cook for another 10 minutes. Puree the artichokes, garlic and oil in a blender. Add salt to taste. Set aside.

Clean the remaining two artichokes and cut into 5mm slices. Dip them in flour and fry in 6 cm of olive oil in a wok or deep frying pan over high heat until golden, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle lightly with salt.

Place the fish in a frying pan which has been coated with a little olive oil and sear for 1 minute each side. Place the pan in the preheated oven, uncovered, and bake for 4 minutes.

To serve, pour the artichoke puree down one side of each plate and arrange the John Dory in the middle. Place the fried artichokes on the other side and sprinkle the dish with parsley.

Fichi biondi

Baked Figs with Gorgonzola Sauce

SERVES 4

Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Wrap a slice of prosciutto around the middle of each fig and secure with a toothpick. Melt the butter, cream and gorgonzola together in a saucepan over low heat.

Place the figs in an ovenproof dish, pour the cream sauce over and cover the dish with foil. Bake in the preheated oven for 7 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further 1 minute.

To serve, arrange three figs on each serving plate and pour over the sauce.

If you like, you could sprinkle a few specks of chopped parsley onto the sauce for colour.