Rick Stein’s latest no-nonsense gnocchi, mussels, tiramisu recipes

Gnocchi with Tomatoes, Prawns & Basil; Rick Stein. Photo / Supplied

Using a pack of ready-made gnocchi makes this a really quick supper. Peeling the prawns and boiling up the shells takes a few moments but it’s well worth it to extract every bit of their wonderful flavour.

Gnocchi with tomatoes, prawns & basil

Serves 4

Gnocchi with Tomatoes, Prawns & Basil. Photo / Supplied

• 300g raw prawns in the shell (defrosted if frozen)
• 40ml olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 250g cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 150ml chicken stock or water
• 600g gnocchi
• pinch of chilli flakes
• small handful of basil leaves, shredded
• salt and black pepper

Peel the prawns, cut the meat into small pieces and set aside. Put the heads and shells in a pan with half the oil, half the garlic and half the tomatoes, then fry gently for 3 minutes.

Add the chicken stock or water and boil until the liquid has reduced down to 4 or 5 tablespoons. Pass this through a sieve, taste and season and set aside until ready to serve.

Cook the gnocchi in a pan of salted boiling water until they pop to the surface, then drain.

Heat the remaining olive oil in the pan and add the rest of the garlic and the chilli flakes, then the prawns and remaining cherry tomatoes. Cook for a minute or so until the prawns are hot (and have turned pink), then stir in the gnocchi. Season with salt, pepper and shredded basil.

Divide between 4 bowls and spoon over the reserved sauce.

Green rice with garlic, parsley & mussels

I love these Spanish paella-type dishes. There’s a similar, but slightly more complicated and expensive, version of this recipe in my book Long Weekends. I remember filming it at a restaurant on the beach in Cádiz. I chose the arroz verde, but the crew went for seafood paella coloured with the extremely bright yellow of fake saffron. The camera pulled away from my demure green and white bowl to reveal everybody else wearing sunglasses while eating.

Serves 4–5

Green Rice with Garlic, Parsley & Mussels. Photo / Supplied

• 60ml olive oil
• 60g shallots, finely chopped
• 12 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 litre chicken stock
• 100g flatleaf parsley, leaves chopped
• 1½ tsp salt
• 400g short-grain paella rice
• 500g raw mussels, scrubbed
• Juice of ½ lemon

TO SERVE

• aioli (I like the Chovi brand available in supermarkets)

Heat the olive oil in a shallow flameproof casserole dish over a medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic, then fry gently for 5 minutes until soft. Stir in the stock, parsley and salt and bring to the boil.

Sprinkle in the rice, stir once, then leave to simmer vigorously over a medium-high heat for 6 minutes. Put the mussels on top and shake the pan briefly so that they sink into the rice slightly. Lower the heat and leave to simmer gently for another 12 minutes.

At the end of this time, almost all the liquid should be absorbed, the mussels opened and the rice will be pitted with small holes. Squeeze over the lemon juice and serve with aioli.

Last-minute cheat’s tiramisu

Obviously, there is nothing that can beat a proper tiramisu, but this is so quick and so lovely and it really does take just minutes to make.

Serves 4

Last-minute Cheat's Tiramisu. Photo / Supplied

• 150ml whipping or double cream
• 250g mascarpone, at room temperature
• 50ml Baileys or Marsala
• 40g icing sugar, sifted
• 150ml espresso coffee, cooled
• 8–12 sponge fingers or 4 trifle sponges
• cocoa powder, for dusting or a chocolate flake, crumbled

Lightly whip the cream in a bowl until it’s only just starting to thicken.

Whisk the mascarpone with the Baileys or Marsala to soften, add the icing sugar, then fold into the cream.

Pour the coffee into a separate bowl. Dip the sponges into the coffee and then divide half of them between 4 glasses or small bowls.

Add half the cream mixture, again dividing it between the bowls, then repeat the layers of sponge and cream. Dust generously with cocoa powder or crumbled chocolate.

Refrigerate until ready to serve or serve immediately if making at the last minute.

Rick Stein’s Simple Suppers. Photo / Supplied

An edited extract from Rick Stein’s Simple Suppers (Penguin, $65).