Booking the cooks

Oisin Davis stirs it with the stars

TUNA ORECCHIETTE BY BLOODY BEETROOTS (SERVES FOUR)

It should come as no surprise, that when I first set out to document recipes given to me by bands and entertainers, I had a nerdy urge to feature acts whose names were actual food items. And while I have yet to interview Meatloaf or The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, back in December we ran a piece with Ham Sandwich and this month we’re featuring The Bloody Beetroots. Hey, we all have lists and that’s two notched off mine.

The opportunity for me to contact the Italian electronic maestro Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo (aka The Bloody Beetroots) came about through his upcoming Olympia gig in March. After doing a summer of DJ sets, he’s on the road again but this time with a stomper of a live set. First things first, I thought, do you actually like beetroot?

“I always detoxify before and after I go on tour. I always drink a lot of vegetable and fruit juices – I love ginger, orange, carrots, apple and sometimes, beetroots.”

With that elephant in the room firmly displaced, we got on to other topics, like tipples. Sir Bob is a Prosecco man, whether as an aperitif or at other occasions. In true rock’n’roll style, it almost never brings on a hangover for him but he does say: “I do get the munchies in the morning and if that happens, I eat pizza.”

That’s all well and good when the tour is in full swing but when he’s kicking back in the gaff, Sir Bob likes to chow down on his world-famous tuna pasta. Initially, he wanted to keep this recipe a secret. But after a week of emails, he finally capitulated and decided to share it with us. So that means we’ve covered two acts in this column whose names feature foodstuffs and had one world exclusive. Living the dream folks . . .

[ rockcookbook.com ]

Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo's Tuna Orecchiette

INGREDIENTS

500g of orecchiette pasta

Half a white onion

One clove of garlic

Salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese (an older cheese is always better)

Half an anchovy

Large tin of tuna in olive oil

A handful of fresh basil

A jar of tomato passata

Extra virgin olive oil

METHOD

Dice the onion and gently fry until slightly transparent, using a splash of extra virgin olive oil. Chop the garlic and add this to the pan – at this point you can add a bit of butter. While the garlic and onion are simmering, remove the tuna from the can and drain the olive oil. Then add in the full bottle of tomato sauce, the tuna and the fresh basil into the pan. Cook this over a low heat for 30 minutes.

Boil the pasta until it is al dente. Make sure you add a little bit of salt and extra virgin olive oil into the water. Once it has cooked through, drain the pasta, allow it to rest and dry. Then serve it with a large

spoonful of sauce dolloped on the top, accompanied by a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese and a basil leaf.

The Bloody Beetroots play Dublin’s Olympia Theatre on Friday March 8th.