Ave Mario recipes

Published: December 1, 2022 at 12:36 PM

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With its big portions, an even bigger bar and a basement with a Sopranos-themed bathroom, Covent Garden’s Ave Mario is a restaurant geared to bring all your senses to life. Head chef Filippo La Gattuta shares his favourite recipes, including burrata al tartufo and black seafood risotto

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Bold, bright and buzzing – the Big Mamma Group doesn’t do things by halves, and Ave Mario is proof of that. With a menu sourced from more than 100 Italian family-run suppliers translating to truffle-stuffed starters, Neapolitan-style pizzas and sumptuous desserts (almost impossible to leave room for but a must if you’ve a sweet tooth), it’s a feast for the eyes and the belly. Keep an eye out, too, for Big Mamma’s Jacuzzi, a four-storey Italian mansion dedicated to the finest Italian food, coming to Kensington in January 2023. bigmammagroup.com

Menu decoder

Burrata

Burrata means buttery in Italian and, after one taste, it’s easy to understand why. Break the mozzarella casing and out oozes stracciatella – stretched curd or ‘pasta filata’, mixed with cream. Ave Mario sources from Emanuele Cammarota in Puglia, a supplier it has worked with for more than seven years.

Truffle

Earthy, nutty truffle adds a touch of luxury to any dish, and we mean a touch – its scarcity and the fact it takes many years to cultivate makes it a pricey ingredient to keep in the kitchen. Romani Tartufi source fresh truffles for Ave Mario throughout the year.

Cuttlefish

Big Mamma sources all its seafood from Cornwall’s Flying Fish Seafoods, including the cuttlefish used in the black seafood risotto. Popular in Italy and affordable, its tough flesh is perfect for a slow-cooked ragu. However, if you have trouble sourcing it, you can switch to squid as we did here, adjusting the cooking time to suit.

Timut pepper

A long way from Italy, timut pepper (also known as the timur berry) hails from Nepal and is known for its zesty, grapefruit-like flavour, and the slight numbing, tingly effect it has on the tongue. As a result, go easy when using. Add a little to stir-fries, marinades or to a G&T for a more complex flavour profile.

Ave Mario recipes

Burrata al tartufo

This impressive starter of oozing, milky burrata with mushroom and truffle only takes 15 minutes to make, so is ideal for a dinner party.

a silver plate of burrata covered in shavings of truffle

Black seafood risotto

This risotto serves up to four and comes packed with clams, mussels, squid and langoustines.

A red and white patterned bowl full of risotto with squid, clams and langoustines

Christmas pavlova

These individual pavlovas are filled with caramelised pineapple pieces, topped with vanilla-infused cream and finished with a passion fruit coulis to make for a truly stunning dessert.