COME FOR SUPPER WITH... ROSIE KELLETT
The one where I visit someone else's kitchen to find out how they like to entertain. Plus the recipe for Rosie's aglio e olio
Hi and welcome to this weeks COME FOR SUPPER.
A special edition of the newsletter today where I visit someone else's kitchen to find out how they like to entertain.
I am so thrilled to have the brilliant Rosie Kellett on the newsletter this week. Rosie is a chef, food writer and supper club host who lives in East London.
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I am an inherently nosy person. I love knowing what condiments people keep in their cupboards, their favourite book, the films that remind them of their childhood, the song that reminds them of their first love, their death-row meal, their biggest fear and biggest dreams. As a general rule I go quite deep early on and I tend to find myself drawn to people who have big souls, big stories and a lot of heart.
I connected with Rosie first on instagram, inspired by her honest attitude to life and its changes as well as ALL the good food she cooked for her flatmates in the warehouse. Rosie lives communally with six of her friends in a warehouse. Each night they take it in turns to cook for each other and about a year ago Rosie began documenting the nights she was in charge of supper on instagram and Tiktok. Her infectious positive energy, soothing tone and comforting recipes captured the hearts (and stomachs) of many and Rosie is now publishing her debut cookbook In For Dinner in May next year. The book contains 101 delicious and affordable recipes designed to batch cook, share and enjoy. You can pre order it here.
When Rosie and I met IRL it was for breakfast. We ate fried eggs and tomatoes on toast at Towpath cafe on a particularly warm day. I remember Rosie asking if I was ‘up for sharing?’ I love people who love to share food. I’m someone who always wants a little bit of everything and so we bonded instantly as we divided up our plates of crispy fried eggs with sage butter and wiped tomato juice from our chins. Two hours and another round of coffees went by as we chatted about food, heartbreak and life in all its glorious, sometimes painful ways. It was one of those meetings where you feel immense gratitude for the joy that human connection can bring.
Rosie writes a brilliant newsletter called The Late Plate which is one of my favourite substacks to read. You can subscribe to it here.
OVER TO ROSIE
What are you cooking?
If I am completely honest with myself, nine times out of ten I am cooking pasta. It feels luxurious and celebratory to me but also achievable and a real crowd pleaser. I live with six friends and by the time a few of our boyfriends have popped in for dinner and a friend or two joins, we easily can have 12 round the table on a random Wednesday night, so I find myself cooking for large groups often and mostly I’m serving up a glossy bowl of pasta.
Tell me about the space?
To tell you about our dining space I would need to first explain a little about the building that I live in. Its an ex carpet warehouse, very industrial and barely converted into a residential space. So the concrete floors remain, as does the corrugated tin roof and the large warehouse windows. Our kitchen is one big sprawling room that’s been modified by past housemates over the years. We have a large kitchen table that can extend into an even bigger feasting table, which often happens when we invite lots of people over. We’re really lucky to have an old gas rangemaster, so lots of hobs and an oven that just about works. All the surfaces are covered in kilner jars of ingredients, a vast spice, vinegar and oil collection, the walls are adorned with hanging pots and pans. Our kitchen is a chaotic but charming space, so when I’m hosting I lean into that and add small touches like a few candles, maybe a flower in a jam jar and always music playing.
How would you describe your style of entertaining?
Relaxed, informal, accessible and generous! Theres definitely more of a sharing style in our house, I like to make lots of large platters of things and then for everyone to share and pass around the table.
On setting the table?
Truly the most basic style in our house, I don’t think things need to be fancy to feel celebratory and sometimes a piece of kitchen paper folded in half is just as good as a linen napkin. I sometimes use a table cloth, but I’m famous for staining and spilling so I usually go without. My one non negotiable is a few lit candles.
Do you have any hosting rituals? I love to have a snack and a glass of something as I’m cooking before everyone arrives.
Your favourite cookbooks? Anything by Nigella, Alison Roman’s ‘Nothing Fancy’ and Ella Mittas’ ‘Ela! Ela!’
Your go-to playlist? I always start with Aretha Franklin and see where it takes me.
A song to cook to? I Say a Little Prayer by Aretha Franklin
A song to eat to? Lamento às Águas by Os Tincoãs
What to drink?
A good natural wine, a really great chilled Lambrusco is one of my favourite options with a pasta, especially in Autumn.
Your go to drink for entertaining?
Like most people, I have recently discovered Botivo and become obsessed. It’s such a great option for hosting because it’s good for those who want alcohol and those who don’t. I have lots of friends who don’t drink so this really is a handy option. I like to fill a glass with ice, add a shot of Botivo, a shot of whisky (skipping this for my non alc pals), a shot of tonic, shot of sparking water, slice of pink grapefruit and give it a good stir – perfection.
If this dinner party was a movie and you were the star, who would play you?
Florence Pugh!
THE RECIPE
AGLIO E OLIO
There isn’t much to say about this pasta other than to keep it simple, use the best olive oil and parmesan you can afford, it makes a difference. Make it your own, leave out the lemon if you want it more authentic to the original Neapolitan recipe. Add more garlic, chilli or parsley to suit your taste, leave out the parmesan to keep it vegan.
Serves 6
100ml olive oil
8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tsp sea salt
0.5 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp chilli flakes
2 lemons, zested and juiced
a large bunch of parsley, finely chopped
50g parmesan, finely grated
500g spaghetti
Put a large pan of heavily salted water on to boil.
Heat a large frying pan to medium high, add the olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and fry for 5 minutes, stirring gently until the garlic is just starting to brown.
Add the chilli flakes, lemon zest and juice, stir to combine and turn the heat down to medium.
Cook the spaghetti till al dente and then scoop it out of the water and add to the frying pan with the garlic mix. Doing it this way will bring a bit of the pasta water with the spaghetti, making for a saucier pasta.
Toss the spaghetti with the garlic mixture until well coated in the sauce.
Add the parsley and toss again.
Serve topped with a generous patter of parmesan and a slick of olive oil.
Thanks for reading and see you next time
x💋x💋
This is a brilliant post. That looks absolutely amazing. Hope it’s available to pre-order in the US. I loved the comment inherently nosy person. Me too. It’s what inspired my first Rizzoli book Designers at Home. I wanted to see what they do and how the live when they don’t have to involve clients. Thank you for the recipe and introduction.