I was given a marrow.  I’ve come to the conclusion I must be unusual among my peers because I was very pleased to have it.  Apparently that’s not the general emotion when confronted with a marrow …?  Also, I never have the slightest difficulty getting through a courgette glut either.

 

Shall we do the debate on when is a marrow a marrow?  Does it have to have stripes and seeds which are hard to the bite?  Or is it just the courgette you didn’t spot until it had become a marrow????

Personally, I am content to think of it as supper and it’s the perfect ‘carrier’ for lots of good things ..

I live in a town which is dubbed ‘little Italy’ because we have the largest concentration of Italian families in the UK.  The 1950s saw a sudden influx of Italian immigrants, primarily from Sicily and villages in Campania, who came to work for the London Brick Company.  The Italian connection means it’s as easy for me to get pancetta as it is bacon.  I’m feeling the Italian vibe …

There’s no need to add any oil to the frying pan.  Low heat and wait for the pancetta’s own fat to melt.

Brush the mushrooms of any dirt, trim and chop them.  When the fat is oozing out from the pancetta, add them to the pan.

Cook over a medium/low heat until the mushrooms have softened and the water released from them has cooked away.

Place them in a bowl.  Add the chopped parsley and thyme, the fresh breadcrumbs and lots of freshly ground black pepper.  Pancetta is salty so you are unlikely to need to add any additional salt, but there’s no reason not to give the mix a taste.

And that’s the filling done.

Pre-heat your oven to 190ºC/375ºF/Gas Mark 5.

Peel your marrow.  (I must remember to get myself a new peeler, mine is feeling blunt.)

Then cut into slices.  Being as how this was a 2kg plus beast of a marrow I went for 2″ slices.  When confronted with a smaller marrow I cut 1½ slices and would serve two rings per person.

Misusing my fish filleting knife, I remove the seeds core.

The seeds I throw away.  The end of the marrow you can chop up and add to your filling mixture or sauté in a little olive oil and freeze to add to soups and the like.

Butter a shallow dish and arrange your marrow rings in a single layer.  Season with salt and pepper.

Then fill the hollowed out spaces with your pancetta and mushroom filling.  Pack it down.  Drizzle with olive oil.

Tightly cover the baking dish with foil so that the marrow will steam as well as bake.  Place in the oven (Aga:  bottom set of runners in the Roasting Oven) until the marrow is tender to the point of a knife.  Set the timer for 45 minutes.

Set to work on the spicy tomato sauce.

I find red onions are less prone to making me weep so sometimes dispense with my lovely pink onion goggles.  Otherwise cutting the onion is the same.  Leaving the root intact, cut off the top of the onion and then in half.  Peel back the outer layer and make narrow vertical cuts.  Put the flat of your hand on the top of the onion, nice and out of the way, and cut through towards the root but not through it.  This sauce isn’t whizzed to smoothness so it’s worth remembering the size of onion you cut is the size you are going to eat.  Cut down and, miraculously, you are producing neat cubes.

Soften in 1 tablespoon of olive oil.  Gently.  It needs to be soft and translucent and will take about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic. I grate mine with a fine microplane grater as I find it means I don’t have any discernible ‘blobs’ of garlic in my sauce. Plus I no longer own a garlic crusher because I hated washing it up!  Have your tomatoes ready.  Garlic burns quickly and burnt garlic tastes revolting.  So, thirty seconds, no more …

Add the tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, caster sugar and cayenne pepper.  England doesn’t have a great climate for the growing of tomatoes so you get a better result using good quality tinned tomatoes imported from Italy, but the caster sugar is added to give a little sweetness that sun-ripened straight off the vine would have naturally if picked in Campania.  So far, this is a fairly standard sugo al pomodoro …

Only I like a hit of chilli – and that makes it arrabbiata.  Chilli flakes work fine.  If you’re using fresh, the ‘heat’ is in the pith that holds the seeds inside.  If you roll your chilli on your work surface you will dislodge the seeds, which is aesthetically better.  More vigorous rolling will dislodge the pith, which lessens the fire.

Cut off the stalk end and turn it up so the seeds and pith can fall out.  This method of de-seeding minimises the contact your hands have with the chilli fire and makes any inadvertent touching of your eyes less tortuous.  Cut down the length of the chilli and then across into cubes.

Or just chop.  I don’t worry about the seeds as I like it spicy and I added a second chilli as a cautious nibble told me these were quite mild.  Add to the tomato sauce and simmer for half an hour until it’s exactly the consistency you want to eat it at.  When it’s ready it can be left to cool and re-heated before serving.  I pop mine in the warming oven and forget about it until supper.

If your marrow doesn’t give beneath the point of a knife it’s not ready.  Pop the foil back over and put into the oven again.  My big marrow took an hour.

Serve with the spicy tomato sauce.

Italians don’t seem to feel any meal is complete without bread.  I feel the same about candlelight and a generous glass of red wine ..!  Buon appetito.

Pancetta and Mushroom Stuffed Marrow with Spicy Tomato Sauce – Serves 6

For the Pancetta and Mushroom Stuffed Marrow:

• 6 4-5cm/1½-2″ slices of marrow
• Olive oil
• 300g pancetta
• 600g chestnut mushrooms
• 3 tablespoons of chopped parsley
• 3 tablespoons of chopped thyme
• Salt and pepper
• 100g/4oz fresh white breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/Gas Mark 5.

Remove the seeds from the marrow rings.  Butter a dish which will hold all six and arrange them in a single layer.  Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

If using a whole piece of pancetta, cut into cubes.  Place the cubed pancetta into a dry pan and heat to release the fat.

Brush the mushrooms free of dirt, trim and chop.  Add to the pancetta and lightly fry for about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

Add the chopped parsley and thyme, freshly ground black pepper and the breadcrumbs.  Stir.

Fill the marrow cavities with the pancetta and mushroom mixture.  Drizzle with olive oil.

Cover the dish with foil so the marrow will steam as well as bake.  Cook until the marrow is tender to the point of a knife.  Between ¾-1 hour.

Serve with the tomato sauce.

For the Spicy Tomato Sauce – Serves 6

• olive oil
• 1 large red onion or two small, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed/grated
• freshly ground black pepper
• 3x400g tins of good quality Italian chopped tomatoes
• 1½ tablespoon of tomato puree
• 1½ teaspoon of caster sugar
• ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan and fry the red onion over a medium heat until it is soft and translucent.  This will take about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic and cook for a few seconds before adding the tomatoes, tomato puree, sugar and cayenne pepper.  Simmer for 30 minutes until it has reduced and thickened.

Serve with the marrow.  (Any extra can be frozen and makes a great pasta sauce.)

Eat.

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