Fiona Black lived in Europe for almost 20 years, the last seven in Madrid, before returning to New Zealand with husband Javier Rodriguez. Cooking is a passion, and she regrets she has “almost no time” to cook these days. She’s hopeful that will change as their business, Capricho, gets more established.
Channel Magazine asked her a few questions about her love of cooking.
Channel Magazine: What do you love about cooking?
Fiona Black: I find cooking therapeutic and I really enjoy feeding people. Creating something delicious, the whole process of preparing and cooking and serving food appeals to me. It’s one of the few times when my brain is fully engaged in just doing one thing!
CM: Are you a self-taught cook?
FB: My mum taught me to love baking. She always had tins full of cakes and biscuits when we were kids and as an antidote to the “Mum I’m bored” refrain, she used to send me into the kitchen to bake. I was lucky to be able to take a couple of amazing baking courses run by a French baker a few years ago. The rest of it I’ve learnt as I’ve gone along, trying to replicate dishes I’ve eaten around the world and modifying recipes to suit our tastes.
CM: What’s the biggest disaster you’ve had in the kitchen?
FB: Oh, my goodness, too many to list. If you are keen on experimentation, as I am, things are definitely going to go wrong from time to time!
CM: What’s your favourite cuisine – and why?
FB: I don’t have a favourite single cuisine; I adore eating even more than cooking! But if I had to choose, I would say Thai or South East Asian food. I love the fresh spicy flavours.
CM: What foodie spots do you enjoy visiting locally?
FB: In Takapuna really are spoilt for choice! Tok Tok does absolutely delicious food, Bird on a Wire kept us going during the shop fit-out, Ark Coffee for great coffee. I love the Feta Scrambled Eggs at Jam Café and newcomers So French have delicious financiers and croissants! I could go on; we eat in Takapuna quite a lot!
CM: Why did you choose this recipe?
FB: I was vegetarian for a long time and making dishes that were rich and filling became a real passion. This is a nice big hearty dish that can feed a crowd; it keeps well and the flavours get better with time. Also, Javier is a big fan of pasta so he’s always very happy when something like this is on the menu!
Baked Ricotta and Spinach-stuffed Pasta Shells with Tomato Sauce
(Feeds 4 - 6 depending on how hungry they are!)
You need
Tomato Sauce
750ml tomato passata
1 can of peeled whole tomatoes crushed
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Olive oil
4 anchovies, drained
1 large head of fennel, roughly chopped
Balsamic vinegar
½ - 1 tsp sugar
large pinch of salt
a few flakes of dried chilli
ground black pepper
1 tsp dried basil
Shell Filling
1 - 2 large shallots, finely chopped
1 x large bag of spinach, washed and roughly chopped
450g fresh ricotta
1 tbsp grated lemon rind
1 tbsp toasted pine nuts
150ml double cream
Parmesan cheese, finely grated
6 - 8 Kalamata olives
½ tsp grated fresh nutmeg
freshly ground black pepper
To make the sauce
Fry the chopped onion and garlic in a medium/large saucepan on medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring from time to time. Add the chopped fennel and fry gently until soft, stirring from time to time.
Turn up heat and add the drained anchovies and stir continuously until they have dissolved. Add the chilli flakes and ground black pepper and stir thoroughly.
Turn up heat to high and add the passata, crushed tomatoes, sugar and 500ml of water and stir. Add a slug of olive oil, more ground black pepper, a small slug of balsamic vinegar and the dried basil. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to low/medium and cover the pan.
Cook, stirring from time to time, for approx. 40 minutes. The sauce is ready when it has reduced by about a third and is quite thick, has a slightly oily sheen to it and the flavour is neither too acidic or too sweet.
Put the sauce to one side until you are ready to put the dish together for baking. (Note: the sauce will keep well in the fridge for 3 - 5 days.)
To make the shells and filling
Bring a large pot of water, a slug of olive oil and a large pinch of salt to a rolling boil. Cook the pasta shells for 8 minutes, then drain in a colander and cool.
Heat olive oil on a medium heat in a large frying pan and fry the shallots until soft, then add the chopped spinach and cook gently, stirring until wilted.
Add the ricotta, lemon rind, grated nutmeg and ground black pepper and stir to break up the ricotta. Add the cream and cook gently for 5 - 10 minutes until well combined. Take off the heat and allow to cool.
Toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan until light brown. Scatter over the filling once cooled.
To assemble the dish ready for baking
Heat the oven to 180 degrees with oven tray in the centre of the oven.
Fill each shell generously with filling and place open side down in the baking dish. Repeat until all shells are arranged neatly in the baking dish. Ladle over the tomato sauce, ensuring that each shell is well covered ( plenty of sauce is required to allow the shells to bake through fully). Push olives into the sauce around the dish and then grate over plenty of parmesan cheese, liberally covering each shell and the olives. Place dish into the oven and bake for 35–40 minutes. Test that the shells are cooked by using a wooden skewer.
Note: if the cheese is not golden, turn the oven to grill for a couple of minutes until the cheese is golden and bubbling, but watch the dish carefully as the pasta can burn easily.
Enjoy!
