Three recipes that prove traditional Irish food is better than you think

TV presenter Donal Skehan’s new book combines the traditional Irish cooking he learnt from his grandmother and the five years he spent in LA. Prudence Wade puts three recipes to the test

‘Home Kitchen’ proves Irish cooking has come a long way since the 1970s (Dave Brown/PA)

“I love the sticky sound this steamy pasta makes as you stir through pumpkin, walnuts and blue cheese until it forms a creamy sauce,” says chef Donal Skehan.

“It’s proper autumnal food – seek out smaller, sweeter pumpkins with interesting textures and skin colours; they are far more flavourful than the regular large orange ones.”

Autumn pasta with blue cheese and nuts

Studded with blue cheese and crisp walnuts, this is a warming seasonal dish (Dave Brown/PA)

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 pumpkin or autumn squash (about 1kg), peeled, deseeded and sliced

3-4 sprigs of thyme

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp salted butter

2 onions, thinly sliced

350g pasta shapes, such as conchiglie or rigatoni

100g blue cheese

75g walnuts, toasted and roughly crushed

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Best-quality extra virgin olive oil, to serve

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/400F/gas 6.

2. Place the pumpkin on a large baking sheet with the thyme sprigs and toss in the olive oil until all the pieces are coated. Season generously with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 40 minutes, or until tender and caramelised at the edges. Once cooked, keep warm.

3. While the pumpkin cooks, place a large heavy-based frying pan (skillet) over a medium-high heat and add the butter. Add the onions and season generously, tossing to coat completely in the melted butter. Reduce the heat and cook gently until the onions are sweet and caramelised, about 10-15 minutes.

4. Towards the end of the pumpkin cooking time, bring a large pan of water to the boil and generously season with salt. Once boiling, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and reserve a cup of the starchy cooking water for use in the sauce.

5. Increase the heat back up under the pan with the onions, then add the reserved pasta water and bring to a steady simmer. Meanwhile, mash half the cooked pumpkin and add this to the onions. Crumble in almost all of the blue cheese (keep a little back to serve) and stir until you have a smooth, creamy sauce. Working quickly, add the pasta to the pan and stir through until completely coated.

6. Serve the pasta hot in warmed plates topped with the remaining pumpkin slices and blue cheese. Sprinkle with toasted crushed walnuts and top with a generous drizzle of the best-quality extra virgin olive oil you have to hand and a last seasoning of sea salt and black pepper.

One-pot Moroccan-style meatballs

Make this dish ahead for an easy weeknight dinner (Dave Brown/PA)

“There are some recipes that are ideal for making ahead of time and seem to improve in flavour once you plonk them in the fridge for an overnight stay. This is particularly true of a tomato-based meatball stew like this one,” says Skehan.

“The spices have an opportunity to mingle with the lamb, the harissa paste has time to develop the deep hum of heat in the sauce, and you are left with a pot of something truly special.

“Make these meatballs while you have time on a Sunday night, and all you have to do to make a meal of them is serve them at the table with rice or couscous, and maybe some flatbreads.”

If you don’t have a slow cooker, make this in a casserole dish and cook, uncovered, in an oven preheated to 160C/140C fan/320F/gas 3 for one hour.

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

450g minced lamb

½ red onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 medium free-range egg

2 tsp ras el hanout

30g fresh white breadcrumbs

1 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

2 tbsp olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the sauce:

1 tbsp olive oil

½ red onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 heaped tbsp harissa paste

Grated zest of 1 lemon

400g tin chopped tomatoes

100ml chicken stock

400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed

To serve:

Handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Couscous, steamed

Greek yoghurt

Flatbreads, charred and torn

Method:

1. In a large bowl, mix the lamb with the red onion, garlic, egg, ras el hanout, breadcrumbs and parsley. Season well and with wet hands, shape into 20 walnut-sized balls.

2. Heat the two tablespoons of oil in a frying pan or using the sauté function on the slow cooker and brown the meatballs all over. Transfer to a plate.

3. Now for the sauce. Add the one tablespoon of oil to the pan or slow cooker and gently fry the onion for five minutes, then add the garlic, harissa and lemon zest, and cook for one minute more.

4. Transfer to the slow cooker (if you’re not already using it), then add the meatballs. Pour over the chopped tomatoes and stock.

5. Season well and cook on high for four hours, then add the chickpeas and cook for a further 30 minutes. If the sauce is too juicy at the end, remove the meatballs and reduce to your liking in a pan or using the sauté function on your slow cooker.

6. Serve the meatballs and sauce scattered with parsley, with steamed couscous, a dollop of yoghurt and flatbreads.

Irish coffee, hazelnut and chocolate tiramisu

A crowd-pleasing variation on a classic (Dave Brown/PA)

Tiramisu is one of Skehan’s “go-to desserts to feed a crowd”.

He says: “This version is the latest twist and an homage to that favourite after-dinner treat: Irish coffee topped with whipped cream.”

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

400ml double cream

250g mascarpone

4 tbsp caster sugar

75ml Baileys

300ml strong coffee

75ml whiskey

200g Savoiardi sponge fingers

100g hazelnuts, toasted and roughly crushed in a pestle and mortar

75g dark chocolate, grated

Method:

1. Put the cream, mascarpone and sugar into a bowl and whisk by hand with a balloon whisk until it is thick and luscious. Whisk in the Baileys and set aside.

2. Mix the coffee and whiskey together in a shallow dish. Dip the sponge fingers into this mixture and put a layer of them into a glass serving dish. Spread over a third of the mascarpone mixture and scatter with a third of the nuts and chocolate.

3. Repeat to make two more layers, finishing with a layer of cream scattered with nuts and chocolate. Chill for at least two hours before serving. This will keep well covered in the fridge for two to three days.

‘Home Kitchen: Everyday Cooking Made Simple And Delicious’ by Donal Skehan (Yellow Kite, £25).