Another Jamie Dinner

We decided to do it up Jamie style for our Tuesday night dinner. We thought the potatoes were good, but they were just a precursor to the fantastic-ness of this meal. We made rigatoni with sweet tomatoes, eggplant, and mozzarella that let us play with our new pasta maker (it will definitely still be delicious without homemade pasta too though). We finished the meal with a chocolate-orange souffle that Adam made. I still think about this meal and we made it over a week ago.


Rigatoni with Sweet Tomatoes, Eggplant, and Mozzarella (Jamie's Dinners, Jamie Oliver)

This sauce is creamy and succulent enough to make even those who don't love eggplant to lick their plates clean.

1 firm ripe pink, black, or white eggplant
extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 14oz cans of good-quality plum tomatoes
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
optional: 1-2 fresh or dried chillies, chopped or crumbled
a bunch of fresh basil, leaves ripped and stalks sliced
4 Tbs. heavy cream
1 lb rigatoni or penne
7 oz cow's milk mozzarella
1 piece of Parmesan cheese, for grating

1. both ends of the eggplant and slice it into 1/2 inch slices, then slice these across and finely dice into 1/2 inch cubes. Some people prefer to season their eggplant with salt and let it sit for a while in a colander to draw out the bitterness, but I don't really do this unless I'm dealing with a seedy, bitter eggplant. This dish is really best made using a firm silky one.
2. Now put a large saucepan on the heat and drizzle in 4 to 5 Tbs. of extra virgin olive oil. When it's hot, add the cubes of eggplant, and as soon as they hit the pan stir them around with a spoon so they are delicately coated with the oil and not soaked on one side only. Cook for about 7 or 8 minutes on a medium heat. Then add the garlic and onion. When they have a little color, add the canned tomatoes and balsamic vinegar. Stir around and season carefully with salt and pepper. At this point, if you wanted to give the dish a little heat you could add some chopped fresh or crumbled dried chilli, but that's up to you. Add the basil stalks, and simmer the sauce nice and gently for around 15 minutes, then add the cream.
3. While the sauce is simmering, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and add the pasta. Cook according to the package instructions until it is soft but still holding its shape, then drain it, saving a little of the cooking water. I like to put the pasta back into the pot it was cooked in with a tiny bit of the cooking water and a drizzle of olive oil and move it around so it becomes almost dressed with the water and oil.
4. At this point add the lovely tomato sauce to the pasta. By now the eggplant will have cooked into a creamy tomatoey pulp, which is just yum yum yum! Season carefully to taste with salt and pepper. When all my guests are sitting round the table, I take the pan to the table, tear up the mozzarella and the fresh basil, and fold these in nicely for 30 seconds. Then very quickly serve into bowls. By the time your guests start to eat, the mozzarella will have started to melt and will be stringy and gorgeous and really milky-tasting. Just lovely with the tomatoes and eggplant. Serve at the table with a block of Parmesan cheese and a grater so that everyone can help themselves.


Chocolate Clafoutis with Caramelized Oranges (Jamie's Dinners, Jamie Oliver)

5 oranges
3 3/4 oz best-quality bittersweet chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
5 1/2 Tbs. unsalted butter
3/4 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup sugar
a pinch of salt
2 large eggs
3 egg yolks
3/4 cup whole milk
3/4 oz best-quality white chocolate, broken up
1 pint of creme fraiche

1. Preheat your oven to 400. Firstly zest 3 of your oranges, then carefully remove the outer peel and slice them across into wheel-shaped pieces just under 1/2 inch thick. Break the bittersweet chocolate up, place in a small bowl and slowly melt it over some simmering water, giving it a stir once in a while with a spatula.
2. You will need a deep 8 inch metal tin or earthenware dish to cook the clafoutis in. Rub the inside of it with a little of the butter. To make the clafoutis, sift the flour into a separate bowl, add the almonds, half the sugar, the salt, eggs, yolks, orange zest and milk. Whisk up until sooth and then add the rest of the butter to the melting chocolate. Scrape all the melted chocolate and butter into the batter mix and pour into your pan. Poke little pieces of white chocolate into the batter, then place the pan in the oven and bake for around 16 to 20 minutes. It will rise and should be firm around the edges but sticky and gooey in the middle. This doesn't mean it's undercooked...it means it's perfect! So be careful not to overcook it or it will just be like a boring sponge.
3. While it's cooking, bring the other half of your sugar to the boil with about 6 Tbs. of water on a medium heat until you have a golden caramel. Remove from the heat, add the juice from your remaining oranges and stir it in to loosen the caramel syrup slightly. Arrange your oranges nicely on a plate, pour over the caramel and serve with your chocolate clafoutis and a bowl of creme fraiche.