For chocolatier Gareth Mellor, there’s no finer way to relax than by making a loaf of bread or cooking a pasta dish (he often gets savoury cravings after so much chocolate tasting).
When we visit him he’s showing off his broader culinary skills with a delicious homemade ravioli made from a basic pasta recipe. He has stuffed the pasta squares with very finely chopped red and yellow peppers, aubergine, courgette and red onion, which have all been lightly sauteed in butter before being sealed inside the pasta with egg white and then cooked in boiling water for a couple of minutes.
A tomato ‘fondue’ is made by slow cooking a tin of tomatoes, to which he’s added three tablespoons of sugar to get rid of the metallic taste along with a clove of garlic, some basil and thyme as well as lots of tiny cubes of chorizo, which he has fried first until crisp.
He serves it with a garnish of baby basil leaves and it is, quite simply, gorgeous.
Recipe by Gareth Mellor
