There is a certain kind of Soho restaurant that seems to have always been there, that you cannot picture the street without, and that you assume – wrongly, smugly – you found first.
Forty Dean Street is one of them. Nima Safaei opened it in 2009 wanting to capture “the essence of what I’d seen when travelling around Italy”, and the room did what good ones do: it bred.
First, 64 Old Compton Street, then, most recently, 27 Old Compton Street – three siblings, each with their own temper, all raised on the same house rule, that “great Italian food does not need to be complicated to be extraordinary”.
Now there is a book, too. At Home With Nima: Simple Fresh Italian Food is his debut, and it sets out to do something quietly ambitious: fit 15 years of Soho into a domestic oven.
The conviction did not come from nowhere. Safaei arrived in London as a child and let the city do the teaching. “My passion for Italian food started well before I’d even realised my love for it,” he writes, which is the sort of thing you can only say with hindsight and a good memory of a crowded doorstep.
The restaurant proper was born at the kitchen table, out of “long conversations with my sister, Neda, about our time in Florence”, where she lived, and the easy way “Iranian generosity blended with Italian simplicity in our home”. Hold on to that phrase. It explains more or less everything that follows.
Because the book, like the man, is an argument for doing less and meaning it. “Italian cooking, at its heart, is about restraint,” he writes. “It’s knowing when to stop.”
If that sounds like a chef letting himself off the hook, the line he keeps returning to puts paid to it: “Simple does not mean careless. It means intentional.”
This is cooking as subtraction, and Safaei is evangelical about it – “the most memorable meals are rarely the most elaborate,” he says in the book, and he has 15 years of full tables to back him up.
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open image in galleryNone of which makes him a purist. He cannot resist “taking a classic and giving it a subtle twist” – a different herb here, a sharper note of citrus there – not for novelty but for the pleasure of making a dish his own.
His recipes, he writes, are “respectful of tradition, but not bound by it”, which is the polite way of saying he’ll do as he pleases and dare you to mind. What binds them is not a method but a mood. “If there is one thread that runs through every page,” he writes, “it is generosity. In flavour, portion and spirit.”
That is the tell: this is the generosity of a host, not a chef, and Safaei knows the difference cold. “Restaurants taught me consistency. Hosting taught me creativity,” he writes.
Hundreds of thousands of plates of pasta later – his count, not mine – he has watched first dates turn into engagements across those tables, and arrived at a faith that the food was only ever half the point. “Food is a bridge,” he writes. “Between cultures. Between generations. Between strangers who become friends over the course of a meal.”
So: three recipes. A pea and mint risotto, bright and barely there. The ham and artichoke lasagne that earned its keep at 64 Old Compton Street. And the pistachio tiramisu he still sends out at Forty Dean Street, which is about as close to a trade secret as he’s willing to part with.
You won’t need a wall of copper pans or a sous chef – “good produce, a little patience and the confidence to taste as you go” will see you right. Think of it as dinner at Nima’s, minus the table you can never get.
Peat and mint risotto
open image in gallerySummer is here, and with fresh peas in season, this light and summery risotto is a perfect dish to eat in the warmer weather. For a simple dish like this, use the best quality ingredients you can – you want the freshness of the peas, lemon,, and mint to really shine through the risotto.
Make this to savour for lunch in the sunshine, or as a light supper on a long, lazy evening. And why not enjoy a glass of delicious white wine, perhaps a Gavi or a Soave, as you stir the rice?
Serves: 2-4
Ingredients:
750ml good-quality vegetable or chicken stock
1 tbsp olive oil
25g unsalted butter
1 finely chopped onion
200g risotto rice (Arborio or Carnaroli)
50ml dry white wine
100g fresh young peas, podded (or frozen petit pois)
25g butter
50g parmesan
A small handful of mint, washed and finely shredded
Finely grated zest of one unwaxed lemon
Method:
1. Start by heating the stock in a pan until it comes to a gentle simmer. If using fresh peas, add the pods to the stock while bringing it up to a simmer, then discard before adding the stock to the risotto.
2. Next, blanch the peas in a pan of boiling water for one minute, then drain and rinse in cold water. Set aside.
3. In a wide, heavy-based pan, warm the oil and half the butter over a medium heat, add the onion and stir regularly until soft and golden.
4. Add the rice and stir well.
5. Tip in the wine (if using) and stir until it has all been absorbed.
6. Next, add a ladle of stock and keep stirring until the rice has soaked it all up. Continue adding stock one ladle at a time, stirring as you pour in constantly.
7. After about 20 minutes, check to see if the rice is cooked – you want it to be tender, but still a little al dente. If needed, add more stock and continue to cook for another two or three minutes.
8. Once the rice is ready, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the peas, half the mint, butter and parmesan, then cover and leave to rest for two minutes.
9. Season to taste and serve, garnishing each bowl with the remaining mint and lemon zest.
Pro tip: If you’re looking to make this dish vegan, swap out the unsalted butter with a tablespoon more of olive oil, the Parmesan for nutritional yeast, and use a vegetable stock base. Still just as flavourful whilst being accommodating for all diets.
Ham and artichoke lasagne
open image in galleryAs the evenings grow darker, o!en the best dishes are the simplest. This twist on the traditional lasagne offers warm and inviting early-autumn flavours with minimal effort. All you need is a handful of quality ingredients, a li#le time, and you’ll have a crowd-pleasing, hearty dish on the table that everyone will love.
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients:
680ml jar passata (Mutti is best)
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Good quality extra virgin olive oil
500g lasagne sheets (you might not need them all)
220g sliced Italian prosciutto cotto
3 x 125g balls of mozzarella cheese, torn into pieces
100g freshly grated Parmesan
390/400g tin of artichokes in water, drained and halved
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Season the passata with a good pinch of sea salt and a twist of freshly ground black pepper.
2. Pour a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over the artichoke halves and mix well.
3. Spoon a small amount of the seasoned passata into the base of a 20cm x 30cm ovenproof dish.
4. Layer lasagne sheets over the passata to cover the base of the dish. Spoon over one-third of the remaining passata, then add half the ham slices, one of the torn mozzarella balls, and a tablespoon of parmesan.
5. Cover with another layer of lasagne sheets, then top with half the remaining passata, all the remaining ham, another shredded mozzarella ball, and another tablespoon or two of parmesan.
6. Add the final layer of lasagne sheets. Scatter the halved artichokes over the top, then spoon over the last of the passata. Finish with the remaining mozzarella and parmesan.
7. Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbling and golden on top.
8. Leave to stand for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
Pistachio tiramisu
open image in galleryAs the days grow longer and spring begins to se!le in, desserts can feel a little lighter, but no less indulgent. This pistachio tiramisu is a fresh take on the Italian classic, swapping rich cocoa for the delicate, nutty sweetness of pistachio. It’s creamy, fragrant and just the right balance of comfort and brightness – perfect to follow a seafood lunch or dinner.
This is the exact recipe we serve at Forty Dean Street, a dish that has been a favourite with our guests for many years, and now you can recreate it at home.
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients:
250g mascarpone
375ml double cream
2 whole eggs
75g sugar
65g pistachio cream
40g fresh pistachios, finely chopped
40ml Grand Marnier
40ml Amaretto
Freshly brewed coffee, cooled (around 250ml, or as needed)
1 packet Savoiardi (ladyfinger) biscuits
Method:
1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until the mixture is pale and slightly thickened.
2. In a separate bowl, whip the double cream to soft peaks, then gently fold in the mascarpone until smooth and fully combined. Add the pistachio cream and mix until evenly incorporated.
3. Carefully fold the egg and sugar mixture into the mascarpone cream, keeping as much air in the mixture as possible.
4. In a shallow dish, combine the cooled coffee with the Grand Marnier and Amaretto. Briefly dip each savoiardo biscuit into the liquid – just a second or two on each side, enough to soak but not collapse.
5. Arrange a layer of soaked biscuits in the base of your serving dish. Spoon over a layer of the pistachio cream, smoothing it out evenly, then scatter over a small handful of chopped pistachios.
6. Repeat with another layer of soaked biscuits, followed by the remaining cream. Smooth the top, then finish with the remaining chopped pistachios.
7. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or ideally overnight, to allow the flavours to develop and the texture to set.
8. Serve chilled.
At Home With Nima by Nima Safaei will be available 9 July via Amazon (£25). The eBook is available to pre-order now here.