Gino’s Air Fryer Cookbook
Italian Classics Made Easy by Gino D’Acampo
Published by Bloomsbury on 24th October
(Hardback £22)
Photography credit: Haarala Hamilton.
You Can Make These New Gino D'Acampo Recipes in Your Air Fryer
The king of Italian cuisine is back with a new collection of exceptional air fryer recipes
All the indulgence of classic Italian dishes with none of the hassle, these air fryer recipes from Gino D'Acampo's new book make cooking like a real Italian a breeze.
Aubergine Parmigiana with Spiced Tomato and Oozing Mozzarella
No one can make melanzane alla Parmigiana like my mum could, not even me, but this – her slightly adapted recipe – comes close. I’ll be honest, this dish is still a labour of love even in an air fryer, but you don’t need to salt the aubergines as you do in the traditional recipe, as they won’t soak up oil the way they do in a frying pan, so that saves a step. If there is any left over, eat it at room temperature the next day in a crispy ciabatta: a must-try.
Serves
4
Ingredients
- 2 large aubergines
- 4–5 tbsp olive oil
- 250g grated mozzarella cheese
- 60g finely grated Parmesan cheese
- For the sauce
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 500g tomato passata
- 1–2 tbsp chilli oil, or to taste
- 20 basil leaves
- 50g mascarpone
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Trim and peel the aubergines, then slice lengthways into five millimetre–thick slices. Preheat the air fryer to 200C for three minutes.
Rub or brush the olive oil lightly over the aubergine slices, then set on a tray or plate. It will take about three batches to cook them all. Place your first batch in the air fryer fitted with the basket insert so they’re only overlapping a little and cook for eight minutes. Remove and repeat the process until all the slices have been cooked.
Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Place the olive oil and the garlic in a large shallow saucepan and fry over a medium heat for 30–60 seconds, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon. Pour in the passata, chilli oil, basil, one-and-a-half teaspoons of salt and one teaspoon of pepper and stir for two minutes.
Add the mascarpone, stir to combine, then reduce the heat slightly and leave to simmer for 12 minutes. Taste: this is the time to add a bit more chilli oil if you want a stronger kick. Set aside.
Reduce the air fryer temperature to 180C.
Lay one third of the aubergine in a deep oven dish that fits in the air fryer (mine measured 20 × 20 × 6cm), or directly into the air fryer drawer, if yours is the same size, ideally lined with a silicone liner. Ladle over just under one quarter of the sauce. Sprinkle over 60g mozzarella and 20g Parmesan. Repeat the layers twice more. You’ll have extra sauce and mozzarella left to make a last layer; this is absorbed through the dish while it cooks and helps keep it extra-moist. Sprinkle over a pinch of pepper and air fry for 10 minutes.
Reduce the air fryer temperature to 160C and bake for 20 minutes or until hot right through and browned on top. Leave to rest for 15 minutes, then serve.
Gnocchi in Pancetta, Tomato and Parmesan Sauce
This is my daughter Mia’s favourite way to cook and eat gnocchi and she could make this recipe all by herself when she was just 10 years old (with my supervision of course). Please make sure you buy the best-quality gnocchi you can afford, to get the best results. As soon as they all float to the surface of the boiling water, they are ready to drain. You can substitute the pancetta with chopped courgettes, and the parmesan with a vegetarian hard cheese, if you prefer.
Serves
4
Ingredients
- 150g pancetta lardons
- 1 large garlic clove, crushed
- 2 × 400g cans of chopped tomatoes
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 10 basil leaves
- 80g finely grated parmesan cheese
- 800g good-quality shop bought potato gnocchi
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the air fryer to 170C for three minutes.
Put the pancetta in the air fryer drawer and cook for seven minutes until crispy, stir in the garlic and cook for another minute. Pour in all the chopped tomatoes and add the tomato purée, basil, half the Parmesan, a half teaspoon salt and quarter teaspoon pepper.
Mix well using a wooden spoon, increase the air fryer temperature to 190C and cook for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally.
In a large saucepan, bring three litres water to the boil with one teaspoon salt. Cook the gnocchi according to the packet instructions, then drain, tip the gnocchi into the air fryer drawer over the sauce and mix gently but well. Top with the remaining parmesan cheese and cook for 10 minutes. Plate up and serve immediately.
Roasted Pumpkin Lasagne
I hate waste and so I created this recipe after making pumpkin lanterns with my daughter Mia during Halloween one year. Sweet pumpkin works really well with the salty speck, the Parmesan and the kick of the chilli. This is a really fantastic, tasty lasagne which can easily become vegetarian by removing the speck. You can substitute parmesan with pecorino cheese, speck with Parma ham, pine nuts with chopped blanched hazelnuts and the pumpkin with butternut squash, if you prefer; it will still be delicious.
Serves
4
Ingredients
- 1kg pumpkin, cut into 3cm slices
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp chilli oil, or to taste
- 6 fresh lasagne sheets, each about 16 × 11cm
- 100g sliced speck ham
- 30g pine nuts
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- For the béchamel
- 70g salted butter, plus 20g cut into cubes
- 60g plain flour
- 700ml whole milk
- 70g finely grated parmesan cheese
- ¼ small nutmeg, freshly grated
Method
Preheat the air fryer to 180C for three minutes.
Place the pumpkin, olive oil, a quarter teaspoon salt and a quarter teaspoon pepper in the air fryer fitted with the basket insert and toss well. Cook for 20 minutes until just tender.
Meanwhile, make the béchamel by melting the 70g butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Using a whisk, stir in the flour and cook for one minute until it is a light brown colour. Gradually stir in the milk, reduce the heat to low and cook for eight minutes, stirring continuously. Once thickened, remove from the heat and stir in 40g of the Parmesan and the nutmeg.
Season with a half teaspoon salt and a quarter teaspoon pepper, stir again and set aside to slightly cool, then adjust the seasoning and nutmeg to your taste. Reduce the air fryer temperature to 150C.
Spread one-third of the béchamel in a 21cm square baking dish, or directly into the air fryer drawer, if yours is the same size, then drizzle in one teaspoon chilli oil. Lay two lasagne sheets on top; you’ll need to trim one and add the trimmed piece to the gap above the sheets. Add half the pumpkin in an even layer, then half the speck and 10g pine nuts. Repeat these layers, then finish with a final layer of pasta and the remaining one- third of béchamel on top. Reserve the remaining pine nuts. Cook for 20 minutes.
Increase the air fryer temperature to 160C. Sprinkle over the remaining parmesan cheese, pine nuts and the 20g cubed butter, grind pepper over the top and cook for a final 20 minutes, until golden and cooked through. Let it rest for five minutes before serving.
