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

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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