Anyone familiar with Bookings For You will know that we’re super excited to be partnering with the incredible chef, Alessio Berionni. An Umbrian native and now living back there after years spent perfecting his skills in some of the most prestigious establishments in the UK, our guests can now enjoy his cuisine when staying in one of our Tuscany villa rentals or our Umbria villa rentals.
For those perhaps not able to travel to Italy this year, or who simply can’t wait to taste his food, we thought we’d share a few of his favourite recipes so you can try to re-create his masterpieces at home.
Chilled cucumber soup
Ingredients
2 cucumbers (about 675g)
150g Greek yogurt
1 to 2 limes, juiced
Dependent on taste, a small handful of tarragon, chopped
3 mint sprigs, leaves picked
Small bunch of chives, chopped
Rapeseed oil to serve
Method
Finely chop a third of one of the cucumbers and set aside for when you are ready to serve later. Roughly chop the remaining cucumbers and tip into a blender or food processor along with the yogurt and the lime juice from one lime. Add the tarragon, most of the mint leaves and most of the chives. Blitz until the mixture is smooth. Taste the soup and add some or all of the lime juice from the second lime if you want more acidity. Pour the soup into bowls or small cups. Scatter over the finely chopped cucumber, remaining mint leaves and the rest of the chives. Drizzle with a little rapeseed oil just before serving.
Baked sea bass
Ingredients
290g jar whole roasted peppers, drained and sliced
1 red onion, sliced into very thin wedges
4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
3 thick slices of lemon (with the rest cut into wedges to serve)
2 whole sea bass
15 Kalamata or black olives
25g toasted pine nuts
Handful roughly chopped parsley
Olive oil
Method
Heat the oven to 200C / 180C fan / gas 6. Season the peppers and onions and toss with a small drizzle of olive oil. Spread on a baking tray and cook for 5 mins. Add the garlic and lemon to the onions and peppers. Rest the sea bass on top, brush the fish with a little more oil, add some extra seasoning and roast in the oven for 15 minutes. Stir the olives and pine nuts into the vegetables and roast for 5 more minutes until the the fish is just cooked through. Squeeze over some lemon juice and scatter with parsley to serve.
Braised beef cheeks
Ingredients
For the beef cheeks:
4 beef cheeks, trimmed
50ml vegetable oil
100g carrots, chopped
100g onions, chopped
50g celery, chopped
1 bulb of garlic
375ml red wine
150ml Madiera
100g passata
1.5l beef stock
4 sprigs of thyme
4 bay leaves
15g dried mushrooms
4 juniper berries, crushed
4 smoked anchovy fillets
4 pickled walnuts, chopped
For the potatoes:
1kg potatoes (preferably Maris Piper or Yukon Gold)
150ml hot milk
150ml cream, hot
175g butter, diced and at room temperature
For the carrots:
300g Chantenay carrots, cut in half
100ml of carrot juice
75g butter
Lemon juice, to taste
Method
A day before you intending serving, season the beef cheeks with salt and pepper and refrigerate for 24 hours. (This step can be omitted if pressed for time). Preheat the oven to 160C / gas mark 3. Remove the beef cheeks from the fridge. Heat the vegetable oil on high in a heavy frying pan, then add the beef cheeks to the pan and sear on all sides. Once seared, transfer to a casserole dish. In the same heavy frying pan, fry the garlic, onion, carrots and celery over a moderate heat until caramelised. Add both the red wine and Madeira to the pan, stir well and simmer until the liquid has been reduced by half. Add the beef stock and passata and bring to the boil, skimming off any scum on the surface of the liquid. Stir in the bay leaves, thyme, juniper berries, anchovies and dried mushroom, followed by two of the pickled walnuts. Place a lid on the casserole dish and transfer to the preheated oven. Cook for 2 – 2.5 hours until the beef cheeks are tender. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and slice them into even pieces. Place them in a pan with enough salted water to cover and bring to the boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes until the potatoes are soft and tender. Take the casserole dish out of the oven and remove the beef cheeks. Place onto a tray and cover with foil to keep warm. Strain the liquid from the casserole dish through a sieve into a clean saucepan and heat gently. Allow the liquid to reduce until it forms a sauce-like consistency, then reduce the heat and keep warm until ready to serve.
To make the glazed carrots, lay the carrots in a single layer across a wide shallow pan along with a pinch of salt. Add the butter to the pan with enough carrot juice to cover. Place a lid on the pan and bring the liquid to the boil. Cook until the carrots are tender, topping up the liquid with water if necessary, then remove the lid and allow the liquid to reduce until it forms a glaze. Squeeze over a little lemon juice to taste.
Drain the potatoes and return them to the hot pan and, stirring constantly, allow the potatoes to dry fry over a low heat for a couple of minutes. Mash the potatoes, passing through a drum sieve for a smoother consistency, then add in the diced butter, warm milk and cream. Season to taste.
To serve, spoon a generous helping of mashed potato onto each plate followed by the beef cheek and carrots. Add the remaining chopped walnuts to the warm sauce, stir and spoon over the beef cheeks and around the plate. Top with the chopped parsley and serve immediately.
Mascarpone Cream
Ingredients
250g mascarpone cream
2 egg yolks
100g icing sugar
1 vanilla pod
Method
Beat the eggs and sugar until pale in colour. Scrape out the vanilla seeds from the pod, add it to the mixture and then place it in the fridge to rest for 20 minutes. Once rested, add the mascarpone cheese, gently folding it in rather than whisking it to incorporate as much air as possible. Put the mixture back in the fridge for 2 hours. Your mascarpone cream is then ready to pipe. Alternatively just dollop a spoonful on top of your a lady finger dipped in coffee!
Vegan vanilla parfait
Ingredients
For the parfait:
500ml almond milk
180ml rice milk
2g agar jelly
80g oat flour
80g potato starch
150g icing sugar
50ml still water
For the vegan meringues:
150ml aquafaba (the liquid from a tin of chickpeas)
160g icing sugar
5g salt
For the decorations:
100ml aquafaba (the liquid from a tin of chickpeas)
100g icing sugar
50g strong bread flour
Method
Preheat the oven to 110C / 90C fan / Ā¼ gas. In a saucepan, bring the almond milk and rice milk to the boil. In a separate bowl, combine the oat flour, potato starch, icing sugar and agar jelly and stir in the water. Then add this mixture to the saucepan with the boiling milk. Pour everything into a mould of your choice and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
For the meringues, whisk the aquafaba with the icing sugar and salt until stiff. Add the mixture to a piping bag and pipe uniform meringues onto a tray lined with baking paper. Bake for approximately 90 minutes.
For the decoration, whisk the 3 ingredients together, pipe them into a spiral shape onto a silicone baking mat or buttered baking tray. Bake at 170C for 10 minutes.
Allow everything to cool down and assemble so that it (hopefully!) looks like the picture!