Eat in, eat out: Luca

Serving up refined Italian classics, Luca has fast become a London institution

Recipes ROBERT CHAMBERS
Photographs CLARE LEWINGTON

Sister restaurant to The Clove Club, Luca’s marriage of Italian cooking with seasonal British ingredients has won legions of fans since it first opened in 2016. Sleek, softly lit interiors with mid-century accents (or try the leafy terrace, fringed with jasmine and olive trees) set the scene for head chef Robert Chambers’ modern interpretation of Italian food. Start with antipasti of roast Orkney scallops with jerusalem artichoke and ’nduja, or Hereford beef tartare, then move on to plates of handmade pasta – perhaps tortelli of sheep’s milk ricotta with peas and Jersey Royals, or agnolotti carbonara with speck, cured egg yolk and puffed quinoa. Secondi feature the likes of cannon of Hebridean lamb with wild garlic, and Corno pepper cooked over hazelwood. Drinks might start with a glass of sparkling franciacorta or seasonal bellini, before diving into a robustly Italian wine list. luca.restaurant

Negroni highball

5 MINUTES | SERVES 1 | EASY

negroni batch 50ml (equal measures of gin, Campari and rosso vermouth)

lemon juice 25ml

sugar syrup 5ml

orange bitters a dash

blood orange soda

orange slice to garnish

1 Add the first four ingredients to a highball glass. Fill with ice, gently stir and top up with blood orange soda. Garnish with an orange slice.

Italian scotch olives

Luca serves these with a confit garlic mayo seasoned with a little lemon juice, and crispy sage leaves.

35 MINUTES | SERVES 6 AS A STARTER | A LITTLE EFFORT

olive oil 1 tbsp

onion 1 small, finely chopped

garlic 1 clove, finely chopped

fennel seeds 1 tsp

thyme and sage ½ tbsp of each, chopped

red wine 100ml

sausagemeat 300g

pitted Gordal olives 10, patted dry of brine

plain flour 150g, seasoned

egg yolks 6, whisked with 3 tbsp of milk

panko breadcrumbs 200g

vegetable oil for deep-frying

1 Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and cook the onion for 5 minutes until just softening, then add the garlic and fennel seeds, and cook for further 3 minutes. Add the herbs and wine, and reduce to a glaze. Spread the mixture onto a large plate and allow to cool for a few minutes.

2 Combine the sausagemeat and onion mixture in a mixing bowl, and work the ingredients together with a pinch of salt and pepper. Divide the mixture into 10 x 25g balls (each about the size of a quail’s egg).

3 Take an olive and wrap the meat around it until completely covered (just like a scotch egg). Roll the scotch olives around in the seasoned flour (use a plate or flat bowl) coating all over. Dip the scotch olives individually in the egg yolk, let the excess drip off, then coat thoroughly in the breadcrumbs. Put on a plate ready for cooking.

4 Fill a pan no more than a third full with vegetable oil and heat to 190C or until a cube of bread browns in 25 seconds. Fry the scotch olives in batches for 3-4 minutes or until deeply golden and crisp, and the meat is cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Serve with mayonnaise, if you like.

Hereford beef fillet with white asparagus

This beautiful beef is served in the restaurant with confit garlic emulsion and greens to go along with it.

3 HOURS 20 MINUTES + COOLING + CHILLING | SERVES 4-6 | A LITTLE EFFORT

BEEF SAUCE

vegetable oil 2 tbsp

beef trim 1kg, 80% meat 20% fat, room temperature

carrots 2, diced

onions 2, diced

chestnut mushrooms 250g

bay leaves 2

sherry vinegar 100ml, plus a splash

red wine 200ml

good-quality beef stock 2 litres

good-quality chicken stock 1 litre

BEEF DRIPPING POTATO TERRINE

reserved fat from the beef trim onions 3 large, sliced

thyme 4 sprigs

unsalted butter 150g

Maris Piper potatoes 2.2kg, peeled and thinly sliced

garlic 3 cloves, sliced

vegetable oil a dash

PARMESAN CRUST

breadcrumbs 85g

parmesan 15g, finely grated

thyme 2 tsp of leaves

Beaufort cheese 40g, finely grated

unsalted butter 125g, melted

WHITE ASPARAGUS

white asparagus 6 spears, trimmed and peeled

whole milk 200ml

thyme a sprig

lemon a piece of rind

BEEF

thyme a few sprigs

rosemary a few sprigs

aged beef centre cut fillet 800g, trimmed, room temperature

olive oil 1 tbsp, for frying

unsalted butter 60g

garlic bulb 1, cut in half through the head

1 To make the beef sauce, brown and caramelise the beef trim with a splash of vegetable oil in a large stock pot. Remove with a slotted spoon onto a plate and reserve the beef fat for the terrine. Lower the heat, add the diced carrots, onions, mushrooms and bay, and cook gently for 10 minutes. Add the vinegar and cook for 5 minutes, then add the wine. Cook until reduced by half. Add the browned meat trim and both stocks, turn up the heat and skim off any foam. Simmer for 2 hours, strain into a clean pan and reduce to a saucy consistency. Cool, strain and chill.

2 To make the potato terrine, heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and line a 20cm x 15cm tray with baking paper. Heat the beef fat in a frying pan and cook the onions over a medium heat for 15-20 minutes or until soft. Add the thyme and butter, and cook for 10 minutes over a low heat with a lid on. Once the onions are golden, remove the thyme, add a splash of sherry vinegar and sliced garlic, and cook for a further 2 minutes. Cool.

3 Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Mix the cooled onions with the potatoes and season well. Arrange the mixture neatly in the tray. Cover with baking paper and tin foil, and bake for 1 hour until tender. Cool for 1 hour, then put something heavy on top and press for at least an hour or overnight. Cut into portions with a ring cutter.

4 For the parmesan crust, blend together the breadcrumbs, parmesan, thyme, Beaufort, melted butter and a pinch of salt and pepper in a food processor. Tip out the mixture on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Cover with another sheet of baking paper and flatten out to the thickness of a £1 coin. Chill for 2-3 hours. Cut into rings with the same cutter you used for the terrine.

5 Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Lightly tie the herbs on top of the beef with string. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil over a high heat in an ovenproof frying pan. Season the beef and sear well on all sides, then slightly lower the heat and add the butter and the garlic. Keep basting for a minute and then roast for 8-12 minutes (depending on the thickness of the fillet).

6 Heat the vegetable oil in a pan and fry the terrine for 10-12 minutes, flipping halfway, until caramelised. Put the parmesan crust pieces on top of the terrine and grill for 1-2 minutes or until bubbling and golden. Reheat the sauce. Cook the asparagus for 3-4 minutes in 200ml of just-boiled water and the remaining ingredients until tender. Carve the beef fillet and season. Serve each piece with the terrine, veg and plenty of the sauce.

Warm molten chocolate and salted caramel tarts

This is served with milk ice cream at Luca but vanilla would work just as well. You will need a sugar thermometer for this recipe.

45 MINUTES + COOLING + CHILLING | SERVES 6 | A LITTLE EFFORT

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE 70%

dark chocolate 125g, roughly chopped

double cream 30g

unsalted butter 25g

egg yolks 45g

egg whites 120g

caster sugar 25g

CHOCOLATE PÂTE SUCRÉE

icing sugar 100g, sifted

unsalted butter 125g, beaten until smooth

egg 1 plain flour 210g

cocoa powder 40g, plus extra for dusting

SALTED CARAMEL SAUCE

dark muscovado sugar 8g

double cream 100ml

liquid glucose 10g

golden caster sugar 30g

lemon juice a few drops

1 Melt the chocolate, cream and butter in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water and add a pinch of fine sea salt. Remove from the heat and fold in the egg yolks. Whisk the egg whites with the sugar to stiff peaks. Fold half the whites into the chocolate, then fold in the remaining half. Spoon into a large piping bag and chill for at least two hours.

2 For the pâte sucrée, beat the icing sugar into the butter. Gradually beat in the egg, then add the flour, cocoa powder and a large pinch of fine sea salt and mix until smooth. Shape into a block and chill for two hours.

3 For the salted caramel sauce, put the muscovado sugar, cream and glucose in a pan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat. Tip the golden caster sugar into another pan and gently heat until melted, turn up the heat and cook to an amber-coloured caramel. Carefully add the hot cream and mix. Simmer until thickened and darker, and reading 102C on a sugar thermometer. Stir in a pinch of sea salt, the lemon juice and cool completely.

4 Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Bring the pâte sucrée to room temperature, then roll out to 2-3mm thick and cut six 8cm rounds to line six individual tart tins. Lightly prick the bases with a fork, fill with baking beans and blind bake for 8 minutes. Remove the baking beans and bake for 2 minutes or until dry to the touch. Carefully remove the tarts from the tins.

5 Heat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Put the tart cases on a baking tray, add 1 tsp of set caramel to the centre of each and pipe in the mousse until level with the top. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until wobbly but set. Dust with cocoa powder.

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