Rafanata

Rafanata

• Handful of rocket salad
• 400g  potatoes
• 2 knobs of butter
• Splash of milk
• 50g pecorino or Parmesan cheese (grated)
• Small piece of freshly grated horseradish
• 2 large eggs
• 50g of smoked pancetta
• 70g coarse stale breadcrumbs
• Salt and pepper

Method:
Peel and chop the potatoes and boil in a pan of salted water for around 15 minutes or until tender.  Drain and leave to steam dry in the pan.  Add a knob butter, splash of milk, horseradish and most of the cheese (reserve some for later).  Crack in the eggs, season and then mash away until you get a nice smooth mash and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.  Slice the pancetta and place in a cold 18cm non-stick ovenproof frying pan.  Heat the pan over a medium heat and when the pancetta starts to sizzle add the breadcrumbs, toss over the heat until crisp and golden and then mix into the mash.

Press the mash in to the frying pan, smoothing it out.  Fry over a medium heat for 5 minutes, loosen the edges with a spatula then lift slightly and pop the remaining knob of butter into the pan underneath.  Once melted, put a plate on top of the pan, carefully flip over and slip the rafanata back into the pan.  Bake in the oven for around 30 minutes or until golden.  Place the rafanata onto a plate and top with the rocket salad and the remaining grated cheese. 

I served this with a couple of thinly sliced sirloin steaks, rocket and asparagus, however you can eat it with anything you fancy.  Whilst we enjoyed the dish I have to say it looked nothing like the picture in the cookbook, but still very tasty.

Recipe adapted from Jamie Cooks Italy.