We’ve just been tidying up our herb garden and, among other tasks, cutting back and tidying up the sage, which we use often in our cooking.
A very simple, but delicious, dish is ravioli con burro e salvia. We usually buy our fresh home-made ravioli, filled with ricotta and spinach, from the local delicatessen, which cooks in a couple of minutes, and then coated melted butter, in which sage leaves from the garden have been quickly fried. Sprinkle on top a spoonful or two of parmesan and away you go…
Sage is also wonderful in chicken involtini, stuffed, rolled chicken breasts. Here’s Lois’ recipe:
Cover a slice of uncooked chicken breast with cling film and whack it with a rolling pin until no more than a couple of millimetres thick, then divide the slice in two, longitudinally, to make up two individual involtini.
Along the length of each one lay a slice of prosciutto crudo, a slice of fontina cheese, spread a thin layer of cooked spinach, and leaf of sage.
Roll up tightly from the short end, rolling in a fresh sage leaf as you go along, and secure your roll with a cocktail stick.
Poach (lid on, in a small pan) for 15 minutes in a small quantity of vegetable brodo enlivened with a dash of white wine.
Remove the cocktail sticks and serve with thin slices of grilled zucchini and sauté potatoes.
We serve involtini one evening during our creative courses and you can try your hand at making it during our unique cookery course, L’Arte di Mangiar Bene, the Art of Eating Well. This lies at the heart of the Italian lifestyle — and that’s just what you’ll enjoy on The Watermill’s first-ever cookery week.You’ll learn the secrets of healthy eating from Lois and The Watermill team, among them an Italian grandmother (Mirella, to the right), an organic farmer and our gardener’s wife Marida. You’ll choose freshest local ingredients (we’ll pick many of them ourselves each day) and prepare them deliciously for the table. We’ll visit markets, vegetable gardens, olive groves and vineyards. The Italians are the healthiest people in Europe and
this is due not just the quality of the food, but to la bella vita italiana, the relaxed lifestyle which means taking time to talk to friends and to enjoy their company, not least in convivial meals around the dining table. You’ll be savouring all that, too.
Over the years Lois Breckon and The Watermill team have built a reputation for the quality of their food and we’re keen to share our secrets with you, from antipasti to dolci – and dozens of mouth-watering, freshly prepared, health-promoting dishes in between.
19-26 August – L’arte di mangiar bene
with Lois Breckon, Ingrid Fabbian and The Watermill team
To learn more about this delicious cookery course, please click here