Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
1
Our quest for good value lunches continues. And Piccolo certainly offers good value at £15 for two courses (and a tenner for just a main). And a goodly bit of variety – a dozen starters, followed by a range of salads, pizza and pasta dishes. It’s been there for years in the building built in 1841 as a Methodist chapel.
So, bruschetta to start for one of us. Crisp, toasted bread topped with flavoursome chopped tomato and onion, drizzled with balsamic. That was followed by a very decent lasagne. For the other, fried squid rings in a crisp coating, with garlic mayo, followed by a Chicken Caesar salad. Good lunch
8 Likes
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
2
Another bargain lunch menu still at fifteen quid for two courses.
I started with a soft, creamy ball of burrata. It comes with slices of lightly pickled beetroot (more subtle than the sort you’d throw on your Lancashire Hotpot)., a slice of Parma ham, a sweetish dressing and scattering of chopped walnuts for crunch. That was followed by calzone polpette – the folded pizza filled with meatballs, mozzarella, Parmesan and slices of red chilli. Alongside, a dish of very flavoursome tomato sauce and a salad garnish (disappointingly undressed). Across the table, arancini were nicely prepared, spinach and mozzarella flavouring the rice. There’s some of the salad (also undressed) and a smear of a nicely garlicky aioli. Pizza Rustica also had a good tomato sauce (probably the same served with the calzone). It’s topped with grilled courgettes, aubergine, peppers and a scattering of rocket and Parmesan. It all works well.
I positively adore arancini, and will order it every time I see one listed on a menu.
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
4
There’s a guy at a nearby farmers market who sells arancini. They freeze well so we usually buy several. My favourite is his smoked haddock one - sort of Northern England meets Northern Italy.
