For Rosa Matto, cooking seafood is not just about tasty nourishment, it’s about the inspiration that comes from a place of origin. These Goolwa pipis are quintessentially South Australian and packed with delicious flavours.

Recipes Rosa Matto | Styling Natalie Homan | Photographs Brendan Homan

serves 6

2 mild cacciatore sausages, diced
60ml extra virgin olive oil
4 spring onions, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp black mustard seeds
4 juniper berries, cracked
4 anchovy fillets
1kg pipis
1 cup dry sherry
125ml chicken stock
12 very small cherry tomatoes
12 pitted black olives
100g nduja (spicy, spreadable pork sausage)

Fry cacciatore sausages in half the olive oil in a large saucepan until browned, then add onions, garlic, mustard seeds, juniper and anchovies. Cook for 5 minutes, mashing the anchovies with a fork until they almost disappear in the liquid. Mix in the pipis, sherry and stock, cover tightly and cook for 5 minutes or until the pipis pop open.

Meanwhile, scoop nduja into teaspoon amounts and fry in the remaining extra virgin olive oil until lightly coloured. Scatter over the top.

Serve with potato pave.

 

For potato pave

*Start this recipe the day before

1kg potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced with a mandolin (I used Sebago potatoes)
150ml thickened cream
1 tbsp finely grated parmesan cheese
1½ tsp salt
freshly ground white pepper
30g unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line a loaf pan with baking paper, leaving an overhang on all sides and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together cream, parmesan cheese and salt.

Place slices of potato into the cream mixture, making sure they are all covered. Place two layers of potato slices into bottom of pan. Starting with this second layer, drizzle a little melted butter in between each layer as you continue with remaining potato.

Once you have used all potato slices, fold sides of paper over the top of the potato, then cover with foil and bake for 1½ hours or until potato is tender and there is no resistance when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife. Once potato is cooked, weigh the top with something heavy then place it in the refrigerator overnight to compress.

Before serving, slice the potato loaf into 6 equal pieces. Place the pieces, slices cut-side-down, onto a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes at 180C, then turn over and bake for a further 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp on the edges.

 

This recipe first appeared in the December 2023 issue of SALIFE magazine.