Baked mozzarella in salami piccante sauce

Serves: 2
Course: Main Course
Cooking Time: 1 hr 0 mins
Ingredients
  • 2tbs olive oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
  • ½ a chicken or vegetable stock cube
  • Drizzle of honey
  • Pinch of chilli flakes
  • ½tsp smoked paprika
  • Juice of 1 mandarin orange
  • 1 tin of chickpeas, drained
  • 80g sliced salami, shredded
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 mozzarella balls
  • Some torn fresh basil

1 Set the oven to 185 degrees.

2 Pour the oil into a pan and add the garlic. Cook it very gently for a minute until it turns golden and then immediately add the tomatoes.

3 Crumble in the stock cube and add the honey, chilli and smoked paprika. Bring to a gentle simmer then reduce by one third.

4 Add the mandarin juice followed by the chickpeas and the salami. Season, then transfer into a baking dish and put the mozzarella on top.

5 At this point, when the sauce is cool you could put the dish in the fridge until needed. It will keep very happily until the next day (just give it an extra five minutes in the oven). If cooking it straight away, place the dish in the oven for 20 minutes, scatter the basil on top and eat with crusty bread.

Paul Flynn

Paul Flynn

Paul Flynn is a chef, restaurateur and contributor to The Irish Times. He and his wife, Máire, run the Tannery restaurant and cookery school in Dungarvan, Co Waterford