There are plenty of days when we just CBF with cooking. It can require too much energy and patience, especially if we also have to follow lengthy instructions or work with unfamiliar ingredients. However, at this stage in lockdown, we also don’t want to resort to yet another takeaway – at least not every day of the week. So, we’ve enlisted the help of executive chef Tristan Rosier, from Sydney’s Arthur, to inspire us to try an Australian twist on an Italian classic. The best part is you can have this dish ready to eat in less than half an hour. Simply cook the meatballs as you’re making the pasta.
“The Australian twist comes from using fresh, local ingredients,” says Rosier, who trained alongside Josh Niland under Peter Doyle at Merivale’s Est. At Arthur, the executive chef showcases some of Australia’s best produce; for this dish it’s Borrowdale pork and Tasmanian parmesan. You can opt for what’s easiest to access from your local grocer or supermarket, but Rosier tells us cavolo nero is readily available right now.
The seasonal dish is perfect for this time of year, when the days feel like summer’s come early but the nights are still wintry. “It’s super comforting but light enough to eat on a warmer day,” says Rosier. “Our food philosophy has always been to work with the best of what’s in season, and to us that’s an obvious approach to running an Australian restaurant.
“I like to take high-quality produce at its peak, then prepare it quite simply but use interesting supporting ingredients to elevate the hero ingredient,” he adds. Though we can’t dine in at the brasserie-style restaurant right now, Rosier’s dish is something he’s considering for future menus. “We’re thinking of better times and what we’d love to be putting on the menu if we were open.”
To make it the Arthur way, stick to Australian-only produce and sustainably sourced meat. It’s entirely beginner’s level – “basically a cheat’s way of making meatballs,” says Rosier. So have fun with it, and if you don’t have an eschalot, substitute a yellow onion instead.
Tristan Rosier’s pork, cavolo nero and tomato orecchiette
Serves 2
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
200g orecchiette
150g pork sausage mince, squeezed from skins
1 eschalot, peeled and sliced
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
150ml olive oil
300ml water, reserved from pasta
½ bunch cavolo nero leaves, chopped
70g parmesan, finely grated or microplaned
Salt
Fresh black pepper
Method:
Fill a medium-sized pot with water and bring to the boil on a high heat. Add pasta and cook for 11 minutes, or until al dente.
While the pasta is cooking, preheat a large frying pan on medium heat. Pinch the pork mince with your hands into rough 15g balls and add to the pan, leaving space between each ball of mince. Render the fat and caramelise each side of the pork.
Add eschalot and tomatoes to the mince. Reduce the heat to break down the tomatoes so they become part of the sauce. Once the tomatoes have broken down, add the olive oil and
ladle in 300ml of pasta water. Bring to the boil and let the sauce reduce by half, stirring occasionally.
Drain the pasta and add to the frying pan. Add the cavolo nero and toss it all together. Add the parmesan and season to taste.
This recipe is shared with Broadsheet via Arthur executive chef Tristan Rosier.
Looking for more recipes? See Broadsheet’s recipe hub.
