ARTUSI

The lovely thing about being on Twitter in a place like Peckham is that there is a huge foodie and other stuff Twitter community here, so as soon as a rumour starts it gets spread round like a flash and eventually someone who actually knows what is going on chimes in. And so it was with our new Italian restaurant Artusi on Bellenden Road. Waters were muddied for a while as apparently an Italian café is opening up in what was Chaz the Hairdressers but  it soon became clear - Jack Beer, ex Clove Club  and Peckham Bazaar, our very own Balkan grill-fest (sadly closed at the moment whist it is being transformed) was opening an Italian restaurant called Artusi in our midst. There was no 'soft launch', no fanfare, they just opened with a picture of their menu on the chalkboard to whet our appetites posted on Twitter. And what a menu - three starters, two pastas, three mains, two puddings.

The restaurant is an old shop, and is now long and thin extended back into the store rooms with the open kitchen at the back. On arrival the wine list was proffered and I can recommend the house white, the Vermentino and the white vermouth - others can tell you about the natural wines on the list. My first visit was with my friend Tony, better known as award winning food blogger Theskintfoodie - we hadn't seen each other for a while and needed to catch up on new jobs and stuff.   My second visit was with another friend Heather Jordan, a local Chef and Masterchef quarter finalist and my third was with Mr Redding - at last!

The atmosphere is relaxed with very trendy but extremely efficient and friendly service. Slices of Peckham Rye sourdough from The Brick House Bakery arrive with a slab of butter. Dishes I and my companions have loved include excellent squid ink pasta filled with squid; grilled baby artichokes with the smoothest garlicky anchovy bagna cauda I have ever tasted, and, on another occasion, with the greenest tasting salsa verde I have ever enjoyed; melting octopus with wild garlic and asparagus; pork chop cooked in milk and lemon to delicious unctuousness; pappardelle with pancetta and fresh peas; pork belly with broad bean broth and glit head bream. Puddings are equally lovely - olive oil cake, proper tiramisu and ice creams including chocolate, mascarpone and salted honey.

Three courses each with a bottle of wine and a couple of vermouth comes to around £80 for two plus service, which refreshingly isn't included. Since Jay Rayner reviewed the restaurant booking is essential a bit in advance but do give it a go - thoroughly recommended.

MY NEW TAGINE AND KEFTA

Mr Redding bought me some fantastic Christmas presents – most of them from Sally at Persepolis!  I am now the proud owner of an ‘I Love Peckham’ hoodie, cactus soap (which is fabulous) and, most beautiful of all, a tagine. I have hankered after a tagine for years, ever since visiting Marrakech in 2000. And this one is the real deal, handcrafted, hand decorated, a veritable thing of beauty.

I knew straight away that the first dish I cooked in it would be lamb meatballs, or kefta. Traditionally eggs are added at the end but that didn’t appeal, so I just served them as they came with couscous. I cooked the couscous with chicken stock, then seasoned well and added lots of chopped coriander and some lemon juice. I found cooking in the tagine very interesting. Sally recommended I used a diffuser, and the ‘we sell everything’ shop in the Aylesham Centre provided me with one (I actually had a choice of three!). The tagine took a long time to get up to temperature but once it was there the residual heat just kept on going…the saying about turning round oil tankers came to mind. But I came to realise that the tagine is a fabulous vessel for cooking, and the top of the cone stays cool…it is all so well designed, which is why it is still in use after centuries I suppose!  I can see me using it for more western style dishes too...

Serves 2

Kefta 

500g lamb mince

Small onion or shallot, chopped very finely

2 tsp ras-el-hanout

2 tsp smoked paprika

2 tsp baking powder

Handful finely chopped coriander

Ground black pepper and salt 

Sauce

Medium onion, finely sliced

Clove of garlic, crushed

Can of chopped tomatoes, drained

Ground black pepper and salt 

Put all the kefta ingredients together in a roomy bowl and knead together well with your hands until the fat starts to melt and the mixture becomes slightly sticky – this will take at least five minutes.  Put in the fridge for ten minutes.

With wetted hands, shape the mixture into walnut sized balls. Heat up the tagine, or a wide sauté pan, and add two tablespoons of olive oil.  Fry the kefta until they are nice and brown all over. Remove and leave to drain ion some kitchen paper. 

To the remaining oil and sticky bits in the tagine add the onion and garlic. Cook slowly for at least ten minutes until thoroughly softened and slightly browned. Add the chopped tomatoes and a good grind of black pepper and a sprinkle of salt.  

Return the meatballs to the tagine, lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes Check for consistency and if the sauce is a little thin allow to reduce uncovered. Sprinkle with some chopped coriander and serve with couscous or flat bread.