RECIPE NOTE: ‘Al forno’ in Italian translates as ‘to the oven’, or ‘baked’.
The one-pan meal is such a warm, generous and approachable way to cook. Not unlike the kind of food that’s made Mike McEnearney’s Kitchen by Mike venues (in the Sydney CBD and at Sydney International Airport) so beloved – dishes that are like a little piece of home, all plated up with plenty of love and an abundance of flavour.
But as McEnearney explains, the beauty of the one-pan meal extends far beyond the gratifying comfort factor (and the lack of washing up).
“When you cook things together, you get all the flavours moving together; it’s like this marriage made in heaven, in a pan,” he says. “And it’s there to put in the middle of the table, so you can share it with your favourite people.”
When it comes to making these recipes, McEnearney is eager to stress that you should feel free to experiment, and to embrace fresh, seasonal ingredients at their prime.
“Let the produce tell you what to do with it,” says the chef, who is also creative director of Sydney’s Carriageworks Farmers Markets. “I never write a shopping list when I go to the market. I’ll buy
