Butternut squash, Buffalo mozzarella and speck salad

Butternut squash, Buffalo mozzarella and speck salad

Food writer, chef, and wearer of amazing eyeliner Gizzi Erskine has teamed up with Italian restaurant chain Zizzi to develop a delicious menu - that not only tastes great but will also raise money for an important cause. 

The dishes will raise money for youth charity, The Prince's Trust, and Zizzi will make a donation to the charity for each meal created by Gizzi sold, with the aim of raising £25,000 for them.

Gizzi has developed the menu with her mentee Joe Gray, a London caterer who has been helped out of unemployment by The Prince's Trust. If you want to try the delicious meals, take a look at the recipes below, or pop along to a Zizzi restaurant nationwide to try them made by a professional.

Insalata Zucca, Speck & Bufala - Butternut squash, Buffalo mozzarella and speck salad
Serves: 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

  • ½ butternut squash, cut into 8 wedges
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • A pinch of dried chilli flakes
  • 1 large 250g ball of mozzarella, torn into 4
  • 2 tablespoons cream fraiche
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 2 tablespoons of really good extra virgin olive oil, plus a bit extra for drizzling
  • 2 handfuls rocket leaves
  • 8 leaves radicchio or red chicory, split in two
  • 4 slices speck

Method:

  1. Heat the oven to 220C.
  2. Pop the butternut onto a baking tray then drizzle with the oil and season with salt and pepper, making sure you coat the squash thoroughly.
  3. Pop into the oven and then bake for 20 minutes, turning after about 12. Weirdly the first half takes a bit longer to brown. You want the squash to be golden and cooked through. Remove from the oven and place 2 pieces of squash on each of 4 plates.
  4. Tear the ball of mozzarella into 4 even pieces and place onto the plates next to the squash. Drizzle the cheese with a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil and season with some salt and pepper.
  5. In a mixing bowl, mix together the crème fraiche, lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of oil and seasoning. Add in the leaves and coat gently, making sure not to over saturate them. 
  6. Take a quarter and roll it up in a slice of the speck ham and place ontop of the mozzarella and squash, letting any loose leaves tumble down. Repeat with the other 4 slices of ham, placing onto the other 3 plates. Drizzle with a spot more olive oil and serve.

Guanciale di Maiale - Slow braised Pigs cheeks in cider, with smashed celeriac and salsa verde

Serves: 4
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 3 hours

Ingredients:

  • 500ml dry cider
  • 300ml dry white wine
  • 2 tablespoons plain flour
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 8 pigs cheeks, trimmed of excess fat and sinew
  • 4 tablespoons light olive oil
  • 2 largish onions, finely chopped
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 bulb garlic, cut across its middle
  • 1 teaspoon tomato puree
  • 4 stalk rosemary
  • 4 stalks thyme
  • 4 stalk sage
  • 500ml brown chicken stock

For the smashed celeriac:

  • 500g celeriac, peeled and cut to 2cm dice
  • 50g butter
  • 30ml milk
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the salsa verde:

  • 1 garlic clove, peeled
  • Small handful of capers
  • Small handful of pickled gherkins or cornichons
  • 6 anchovy fillets
  • 2 large handfuls of flat-leaf parsley
  • Bunch of fresh basil leaves
  • Handful of fresh mint leaves
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • A squeeze of lemon
  • 150ml olive oil
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

  1. To begin with place the cider and wine in a pan and reduce the volume of liquid by half. This will take out the harshness of the alcohol and add tons of sweetness to the dish. Just set this to the side for later while you get on with the rest of the dish.
  2. Pop the flour and seasoning in a bowl or large sandwich bag, then add in the pigs cheeks and coat thoroughly in the flour either with your fingers or by shaking the now zip locked bag around like a loony.
  3. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large casserole pan then brown the pig’s cheeks on all sides until they have a really crisp dark golden edge to them. This could take around 6-8 minutes, then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and leave to rest on a plate that will collect all its juices.
  4. Add the remaining oil into the pan along with the onions, carrots and garlic and turn down the heat. Sweat the vegetables in the pan for around 10 minutes or until softened. 
  5. To begin with you will need to stir with a bit of elbow grease to scrape up all the delicious marmitey meat residue up from the bottom of the pan, as this is where tons of the flavour is held. It’s so important to not let this scorch. For the last 2 minutes of cooking add in the tomato puree and increase the temperature. Lightly caramelise the vegetables in the puree. 
  6. Meanwhile bunch the rosemary, thyme and sage into a bundle and tighten with some string. Pop this into the pan with the veggies and stir around for a minute to ‘wake-up” the flavour of the herbs, then pour over the reduced alcohol and the stock. Leave to braise for 21/2 hours or until the pigs cheeks break up with ease and the sauce has thickened and become more like a thickish glaze. Season with salt and pepper if need be.
  7. Place all the salsa verde ingredients into a food processor and blitz. (Some purists claim you should hand-chop all the ingredients and if you can be bothered, go for it but, frankly, it makes little difference and saves a whole heap of mess and time doing it with a machine!)
  8. To make the celeriac; bring the celeriac to the boil and cook until tender. This should take 15 minutes but check. Drain and then smash with a potato masher, but don’t completely mash. You want some texture to this and it not to be completely smooth. Stir through the butter and milk and then season with salt and pepper.
  9. To serve, plate-up the celeriac between 4 plates. Pile on 2 pigs cheeks on each and glaze with the sauce. Finally drizzle about 1 tablespoon of salsa verde and finish with some extra virgin olive oil to serve.

Check out page two for the fabulous dessert - delicious sticky toffee figgy puddings!

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