Ave, Londinium (sea bream baked with herbs and white wine)

Unlike many food bloggers, I often have no idea what I am going to cook for dinner, until I am in the supermarket to see what takes my fancy. On Saturday as I was rushing through Sainsbury's, I stopped by the fish counter and decided that the sea bream looked very appealing. That's my dinner sorted.

I decided to bake it with the herbs from the garden and white wine.

This recipe is a homage to London, to its Roman past and multi-cultural present.

This month's Best of British Challenge  is hosted by London Unattached. If you want to find out more about the challenge and peruse the last month's write-up have a look at The Face of New World Appliances (link removed as expired).

Sea bream baked with herbs and white wine

For the recipe you will need (for 2 people)

1 sea bream
1/3 bottle of white wine
herbs (basil, sage, fennel, chives)
1 sweet pepper
a handful of small tomatoes
4 tbsp cooked farro
green olives
cheese for peppers (that would melt well)
salt with coriander and rose petals (optional, just use sea salt if you don't have any fancy salt)
a good dollop of butter
a splash of olive oil

Preheat the oven to 180C. Put the cleaned fish in the deep ceramic dish, drizzle with olive oil, salt well, add sliced tomatoes and add chopped herbs in the splits on the side of the fish and inside. Pour the white wine over the fish, add more herbs and olives.

Place in the oven for about half an hour. The wine will be reduced and will make a lovely dipping sauce.
 At the same time bake the halved pepper drizzled with the olive oil. After 15 mins of baking, take them out, add some cooked farro. Add some chopped cheese. Put back in the oven for another 15 minutes.

I have already written about farro, the grain of the legions, if you want to find out more, please have a look here. The Roman legionnaires carried farro with them, and I would imagine they had their meals with farro and whatever local produce they could get their hands on: fish or any game, with the local herbs.

I picked the herbs from our garden earlier that day. And tomatoes are also from our greenhouse, chemicals- and pesticide-free (and for that pleasure I have been struggling with the caterpillars who found my tomato plants much to their taste).
Of course, historically, the Romans in Londinium would not have had any tomatoes and sweet peppers which were introduced in the Old World many centuries later. But in the modern multi-cultural and diverse London you can find anything.
My husband who doesn't like fish very much, said it was delicious. I enjoyed the fish, and the sauce was very tasty and fragrant.

So here it is, my Best of British/London recipe.
Oh yes, if anyone guesses what the cheese is, I'll crown you with laurels.

Zuppa di farro (a Tuscan soup with spelt grain)

There are many versions of this lovely soup, which is perfect for a cold miserable grey day like this. We tried it first when we visited Tuscany years ago.

You will need
about 150g of whole spelt grain/farro
100 g of pancetta, chopped or cubed
2 shallots
1 garlic clove
herbs: fresh basil, parsley and thyme
2 cans of plum tomatoes
1 big tomato, skinned and chopped
olive oil
chicken or vegetable stock, about a litre
1 porcini stock cube (I Dadi/Star)
pecorino cheese, grated, to serve

Typically you would need to soak farro really well and repeatedely. I use an Italian farro from Pedon which does not need soaking. It is available from the independent health food shops (sadly, Holland & Barrett did not oblige, they only have the spelt flour).
Fry the cubed/chopped pancetta in a frying pan with a tablespoon of the olive oil, once the fatty bits go transparent and start melting, add the chopped onion and garlic. The smell is just fantabulous, totally mouthwatering. Add the chopped thyme if using (you can use dry thyme as well).

Once the onion becomes transparent and softened, add two cans of tomatoes and the skinned and chopped tomato (I like the combination of the two, as it gives slightly different textures), add salt and black pepper and chopped basil.
Add the chicken stock to the mixture. Add the porcini stock cube as well. At this point transfer all the contents of the frying pan to the big pan or pot.
Cook for about an hour, stirring occasionally and adding liquid if your soup gets too thick, as farro absorbs the liquid with all the flavours.
Serve with the grated pecorino cheese on top and a nice chunk of bread, or Italian style bread rolls.

I had this soup for lunch today, and I think it is even better the next day, as the farro acquires the silky texture. A nice combination of robust tomatoey flavours and strong cheese works well with the soft farro. There was enough for 5 generous helpings (yesterday's dinner, my own lunch today and two portions that went in the freezer).