It’s in the bag: England vs Italy

Whenever we visit the Romeo family in Italy we end up coming home with our suitcases full of food and busting the scales. This left me thinking about what the players (and their mums) might be putting in their suitcases when packing for the biggest football competition on earth:

One all!

On the night of the match we’ve been invited to a Wild West 4oth. Give me any excuse to whack on a pair of cow-girl boots and a hat and I’m all over it! I’m not sure if it’s a Giuseppe (or an Italian or man) thing but he’s less keen on the whole idea of fancy dress. Before I could tell him about my grand plan for him to dress up as Toy Story’s Woody and me to go as Jessie, he said he already had the night booked out with the boys to watch the football at Donna Margherita’s in Clapham.

Dressing up as Woody Vs gay pizza and football with the Italians? I didn’t stand a chance (re: gay pizza that’s not me reverting to playground insults, they really do sell ‘Pizza gay’ at Donna Margherita’s – it’s apparently very good). Anyway, I’m happy to leave him to it and make mine a girlie night (and go as fancy dress-crazy as humanly possible)!

Huumm Pizza lesbica? So Pizza gay isn’t just a google translate mishap for happy pizza then.

If you’re supporting Italy on the 14th, I’m sure Donna Margherita is a great place to be – heaving with Italian passion [school boy humour] and pizza!  http://www.donna-margherita.com/

World cup TV nibbles

If you’re planning on watching the match in the comfort of your own home here’s some fab Britalian-style TV nibbles. They also make a great starter – I’m going to be serving these up to my old dad to kick off his Father’s day menu:

Mini fish finger open sarnies

50g plain flour
1 egg, beaten
Zest of 1 lemon, plus 1/2tbsp juice, plus lemon wedges, to serve
75g ciabatta breadcrumbs,  plus 4 slices
275g skinless cod fillet, cut into 12 x approx 6cm x 3cm fingers (See Britalian tip)
4tbsp mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic (1 crushed, 1  halved)
Vegetable oil, for shallow frying
Peashoots or watercress, to garnish

1 Place the flour onto a plate. Pour the beaten egg into a shallow dish. Mix the lemon zest into the breadcrumbs, season to taste, then tip onto another plate.

2 Take a piece of fish and dust it in the flour, next dip it in the egg (allowing any excess to drip off) and finally into the breadcrumbs. Chill for 1 hour – this will firm up the fish and make them easier to handle.

3 Meanwhile, mix the mayo with the crushed garlic and lemon juice. Chill until ready to serve.

4 Preheat the grill to hot. Wipe the cut halves of garlic over the ciabatta slices and set aside.

5 Heat the oil in large frying pan, add the fish fingers and cook over a medium heat for 2-3 mins either side until golden-brown and cooked through (you may need to do this in batches – keep already cooked fish fingers warm in a low oven). Remove the fish fingers from the pan and place on kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil.

6 Literally just show the ciabatta slices to the grill, to warm, then pile on the fish fingers. Add a spoonful of the garlic and lemon mayo and garnish with the watercress or pea shoots. Serve with extra lemon wedges (if you remember – I forgot for the pic!).

Britalian Tip

If you can only get cod fillet with the skin on, you will need approx 350g, when the skin is removed you should have approx 275g of fish left.