Fillet of veal in Parma ham and a black olive crust, with courgette risotto, burnt shallots and an onion mustard cream

In the last fortnight we’ve had sunshine and 26C. Then suddenly temperatures dropped to a cheek-chilling 6C. This I know because I took the bins out in my pyjama bottoms and let me tell you my little buns got frosted pretty darn quickly. That said, at least the sunshine has stayed. Spring is most definitely here so I got the urge to do something green. Ideally it should’ve been something using the first asparagus of the season. Instead I opted for something completely not interesting—courgette risotto.

Cos I had courgettes.

All I can say is thank god it’s a risotto. I mean, courgettes—meh. On the plus side, it’s not aubergine. There was a time when I wouldn’t touch a courgette. They were black-listed after a cucumber trauma. I’d better explain that! I was a student. Very hungover on a Saturday morning we traipsed into town. It was yawn, burp and touch-and-go all the way. I decided food might help. I was a bright student. We bought Doner kebabs with all the trimmings. Clearly I wasn’t a bright student. To this day I can’t explain why we procured sustenance typically associated with the end of the night before. Anyway, the inevitable happened. At Leicester Square I was doubled over a bin calling for someone named “Huey”. Ever since, I’ve had a dislike of cucumbers. You’d think it’d be the uniquely spicy meat. Nope. The cucumber. So traumatic was this experience that the courgette was shunned just for looking like a cucumber.

I still avoid cucumber, though I’ll eat it if I must. My attitude towards the courgette has however improved. Some years ago I desperately devoured a courgette soup in a chalet in the French Alps around 2am. We’d been travelling for 19 hours because the snow conditions were horrendous. And we were only coming from Gatwick. The soup was delicious. Since then, and over time, I’ve just became less fussy. Alcohol helps—try my courgette Sake martini. Then of course, at Le Cordon Bleu, I promised myself that I would always taste everything. You have to.

Enough jabbering on.

Courgette. Risotto. What can I add to make it zing? I know—veal.

Since the fistul of veal I’ve cooked many things. Roast chicken in a Béchamel sauce, a chicken jambonnette, British dairy cow, Blanquette de Poulet, Torta Barozzi, shrimps and gnocchi, and a roulade filled with leftover chicken mousse. That’s a lot of chicken, you say. Don’t I know it. Somehow, my last order from Turner & George delivered 5 whole chickens. WTF. During this Covid-19 pandemic many people are hoarding toilet paper—I’m hogging chickens. I still don’t know how I managed to get 5 chickens in my basket. I’m 2 down with 3 to go. Anyway, after piggin’ out on poultry, I feel like I want veal again. And luckily there’s more fillet in the fridge.

BTW I don’t blog about everything I cook. If only! I do however keep a photographic record on my Instagram. So, if you want to know what I’m cooking day-to-day but you’re not on Instagram, you can always see the last 20 picture-posts in the gallery.

Now then. Veal. There was that dish at Le Cordon Bleu; it was really veally good, I remember. Maybe a spin on that.

I decided to keep the veal almost the same, with a black olive crust but wrapped in Parma ham instead of Bayonne ham. To accompany the courgette risotto, I served burnt shallots and a mustardy onion cream. No stuffed pepper because I didn’t have the ingredients.

Veal fillets wrapped in Parma ham and cling film

The pieces of veal fillet each weighed around 175g. Each piece was first wrapped in a slice of Parma ham and then tightly in cling film before going into the fridge to firm up.

The risotto was made with a courgette purée using pretty much the same method as the beetroot risotto. To make the purée, a courgette was cut in half lengthways and then into quarters. The seedy centre was discarded and the remaining courgette was roughly diced then blanched for 3 minutes in salted boiling water. A few pieces of blanched courgette were reserved and cut into shards. These were warmed in butter for service. The rest was immediately blitzed for 3 minutes or so, then passed through a chinois. When making purée it’s best to blitz when the ingredients are hot adding a little liquid gradually if required. Also, for green vegetables, add a squeeze of lemon juice at the end, then into the fridge as quickly as possible to prevent the colour from fading.

The purée was a deep green but it lost its vibrancy in the risotto. Bollox. I added it toward the end of cooking, just before adding the onion cream, thinking the less it was on the heat the more it would retain its colour.

Seared veal fillets wrapped in Parma ham ready to go into the oven

The onion cream was made from a roasted onion blitzed with olive oil and lemon juice. A little bit was reserved and mixed with a roasted garlic clove and a hit of Dijon mustard for a little garnish.

Shallots were cut in half and fried in their skins, cut side down until they charred, then into the oven to cook through. Cool. Peel. And separate the layers.

The veal was quickly seared in a very hot pan then into the oven to cook through. When it reached a core temperature of 54C, the tops of the fillets were brushed with Dijon mustard and covered with the olive crust. The crust was made with fresh breadcrumbs, a Brunoise of black olives, and clarified butter. I threw in some chopped chives and chilli flakes for fun. Use enough clarified butter so that the mix binds together but not so much that it becomes greasy and claggy. Lastly, gratinate under a very hot grill then rest.

To serve I added a bit more green with a sprinkle of pea shoots and a handful of peas cooked in butter.

Veal fillet wrapped in Parma ham and topped with a black olive crust served with courgette risotto

Worked a treat. Nom nom. That boring courgette risotto ain’t boring no more. I fall in love with veal more and more.

Really vealin’ it