Gino's fabulous italian supper... made in the airfryer!
When you think of Italian cooking, air fryers might not immediately come to mind, but can Gino convince you to ditch the oven for the airfryer? He’s showing you how to cook some all time Italian classics, without even switching your oven on. Gino serves up a delicious dinner for the entire family to enjoy, with his pizza-style chicken breasts with bay leaf and butter baked hasselback potatoes - airfryer style.
Gina D’Acampo’s Pizza Chicken Breasts (Recipe taken from Gino’s Air Fryer Cookbook)
Serves: 4
Ingredients
60g tomato passata 1 tbsp tomato purée1 garlic clove, crushed¼ tsp dried oregano10 basil leaves, half finely chopped, half left whole 4 skinless boneless chicken breasts, about 130g each 2 tsp olive oil 2 x 125g mozzarella balls, drained, excess water gently pressed out, finely slicedSalt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
1. Preheat your air fryer to 190C for 3 minutes.
2. In a small bowl, mix the passata, tomato purée, garlic, oregano, chopped basil and ¼ tsp each of salt and pepper and stir with a metal spoon. Set aside.
3. Rub the chicken breasts with the olive oil and sprinkle over ½ tsp salt, then set evenly spaced out in the air fryer fitted with the basket insert. Bake for 6 minutes.
4. Turn the chicken breasts over carefully with tongs, then equally spread the tomato sauce over each breast, evenly top with mozzarella slices and cook for a further 7 minutes.
5. Sprinkle over a little pepper, top with basil leaves and serve.
Gino D’Acampo’s Butter and Bay Leaf Hasselback Potatoes(Recipe taken from Gino’s Air Fryer Cookbook)
Serves:4
Ingredients
900g even-sized flour potatoes, such as Maris Piper, scrubbed (about 90g each) 70g salted butter, cubed 1 tbsp olive oil 5 bay leaves8 thyme sprigsSalt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
1. Pour 2.5 litres water and 1 tbsp salt into a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Once it gets to a fast boil, add the potatoes and cook them for 16 minutes until almost tender. You want them to hold their shape, so be careful not to overcook. Drain and leave in the colander to dry for 5 minutes.
2. Melt the butter in a small bowl in the microwave, add the oil, ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper and mix well.
3. Preheat the air fryer to 180C for 3 minutes.
4. One at a time, place a potato on a chopping board and lay wooden spoons or chopsticks along both of the long sides. Use a sharp knife to cut the potato across into about 5mm slices, stopping when your knife reaches the spoons or chopsticks so the potato stays intact at the bottom. Repeat the process with the rest of the potatoes.
5. Place the potatoes sliced side up in a 19cm pie dish or cake tin. Brush two-thirds of the seasoned butter generously over the potatoes, then slot the herbs in the cuts at random.
6. Cook for 15 minutes, then remove, brush the remaining butter over and continue to cook for a further 15 minutes until golden. Serve immediately.