Italian Inspired Spring Dinner with Filippo Berio

Here’s a dinner we cooked up in one of my online Cook Alongs. We used lots of lovely Extra Virgin Olive and Garlic Olive Oil from my friends at Filippo Berio. Each guest got sent a bottle of each to use as we cooked together.

To create a spring inspired diner we combined smashed new potatoes, alongside roasted veg and a medley of fennel and courgette with a zesty finish of lemon, all served up along a choice of chicken, fish or vegan alternatives.  

Olive Oil and Mediterranean diets

Olive oil is central to a Mediterranean or Italian diet and it is something I use daily in my cooking. No Italian kitchen is ever without quality olive oil. It is used daily to season dishes, salads and vegetables—and there is always a bottle on the table for extra flavouring or drizzling over crusty bread.

Grilled and roasted vegetables

One of my absolute favourite contorni to have in Italy is a plateful of grilled or roasted veg with some fish or grilled meats – this is often prepared on a griddle style pan, but I make it super easy for this dish and use the oven for a similar effect, and drizzled in the subtle but flavoursome Garlic Olive Oil from Filippo Berio with some dried herbs - it’s the perfect accompaniment to this spring dinner.

Cooking with fennel

I also wanted to show another way to prep some veg and to use a fennel bulb which lots of people hadn’t cooked with before, we combined this with courgette and lemon zest for a fresh finish perfect for spring and to accompany fish in particular.

Bring it all together to get the perfect spring dinner

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Spring Inspired Dinner

Servings: 2

Recipe by: Cooking & Carafes

Prep time: 15 MinCooking time: 30 MinTotal time: 45 Min

A combination of some of my favourite side dishes to accompany chicken, fish or vegetarian / vegan alternatives.

Ingredients

Smashed Potatoes

• New potatoes
• Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Roasted Vegetables

• Choose from one or two of the following:
• 1 aubergine
• 1 courgette
• 1 pepper
• Filippo Berio Garlic Oil
• Dried herbs

Fennel and Courgette

• 1 fennel bulb
• 1 courgette
• ½ lemon, zest and juice
• Italian mixed dried herbs
• Small glass of white wine
• Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Filippo Berio Garlic Oil

Instructions

Choose from Chicken, Fish or Vegan Alternative

1. I showed various options of chicken and fish, or even veggie sausages or quorn. We kept it simple, creating a foil parcel to keep all the lovely juices contained.
2. For the fish we simple drizzled Extra Virgin Olive Oil over and seasoned with a little salt and pepper and optional chilli flakes.
3. For the chicken we cut a slit into the breast, spread with some soft cheese and seasoned with salt and pepper, fresh herbs and wrapped in prosciutto.
4. We then surrounded them with cherry tomatoes and drizzled in Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Filippo Berio, and sealed our parcels.
5. Approximate cooking times on a preheated oven at 190 degrees: Chicken 30 minutes, ensure juices run clear, fish 1 -20 minutes, vegan alternative follow pack instructions.

Smashed Potatoes

1. Boil your new potatoes for 15 – 20 minutes until soft
2. Drain and coat in Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil, season with salt & pepper
3. Lightly break with a fork or masher to crush them slightly
4. Place on a baking tray, drizzle with a little extra olive oil and roast for 20 minutes at 190 degrees (fan oven)
5. You might also like my Smashed Pesto Potatoes recipe on Filippo Berio

Roasted Vegetables with Garlic Olive Olive Oil

1. Slice your courgette or aubergine lengthways about 1cm thick to create long, thin slices of courgette.
2. If using pepper cut large pieces from around the core
3. Place on a baking tray with some baking parchment, brush them in Filippo Berio Garlic Olive Oil and scatter with dried herbs such as oregano or basil.
4. Roast in a pre-heated fan oven at 190 degrees for 20 – 25 minutes. Drizzle in additional Filippo Berio Garlic Olive Oil when serving.

Fennel and Courgette

1. Chop a courgette into chunky quarter pieces. Halve and remove the hard bulbous part of the fennel bulb and slice into 1cm pieces
2. Heat 1 tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a shallow pan on a low heat, add your fennel and courgettes. Add 1sp of dried herbs.
3. Cook slowly for about 10 minutes until they start to soften, next add your lemon zest, juice and splash of white wine and increase the heat. Stir through some garlic olive oil at the end before serving.
4. Plate everything up together and enjoy!

https://www.cookingandcarafes.co.uk/recipes/italian-inspired-spring-dinner

spring dinner, smashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, garlic olive oil, italian food, mediterranean diet

Dinner

Italian

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Created using The Recipes Generator

This recipe is from my series of Cook Alongs and is part of a paid collaboration with Filippo Berio.

We’d love to see if you recreate any of our dishes so please tag @FilippoBerio_UK, @CookingCarafes

Find out more about Filippo Berio

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