At Vox's request, Tobias van Slooten of Pizzacafé DESEM put together a cheap and not too complicated three-course menu. Ideal for anyone on a tight budget who still wants to impress their friends and family.

Because of inflation, a lot of students are struggling to make ends meet. How can you cook a tasty Christmas menu for your friends with little money? Tobias van Slooten can help. He is the owner of Pizzacafé DESEM. ‘We make sourdough pizzas with local grains from the mill around the corner, plus a few other dishes,’ he explains in the kitchen of his restaurant on Smetiusstraat. ‘We serve beer and natural wine to accompany our pizzas.’

What is his favourite pizza? ‘I’ve eaten so many pizzas in my life, but at the end of the day a simple Margherita tastes the best.’

Schnitzel paradise

In his previous life, Van Slooten was a student at Radboud University. ‘I once tried to study political science, but one exam was enough to make me realise that it wasn’t my thing,’ he says, laughing. The restaurant owner then switched to history, and earned himself a Bachelor’s degree.

But much more than the lecture hall, the catering industry is Van Slooten’s natural habitat. At 14, he already had a job at a Balkan grill restaurant in Groningen. ‘A schnitzel paradise, so to speak. I loved it.’

Towards the end of his studies in Nijmegen, Van Slooten worked as a sommelier at De Nieuwe Winkel, which has since twice been named best vegetable restaurant in the world and has two Michelin stars. It was here that the idea of starting his own restaurant came to fruition. He joined forces with a colleague who had similar plans, and opened Pizzacafé DESEM.

‘When the pandemic hit and the restaurant had to close for a while, I wondered if I’d made the right decision. At the time, we were still a start-up, so it was pretty stressful. But fortunately, pizzas also lend themselves to takeaway service. It was an incredibly boring period, but we came through it fairly well.’

Frozen pizzas

During the pandemic, they also had the idea of making and selling frozen pizzas in addition to takeaway. ‘Five years ago, I would have laughed at the suggestion, but we ended up doing it. We now sell frozen pizzas in several shops in Nijmegen, Arnhem, Utrecht, Tilburg and Ede.’

Would he advise other people to start a pizzeria, from a financial point of view? Van Slooten laughs loudly. ‘No way. But I studied history, which is also not recommended if you want a healthy financial future.’ So it’s better not to ask Van Slooten how to get rich, but rather how to make devilled eggs, gnocchi, or panna cotta. He shares his recipes with the Vox team like an accomplished TV chef. ‘Personally, I always enjoyed watching Jamie Oliver the most,’ he says. ‘He made cooking look like so much fun. And he also made really tasty dishes. I’m curious to see if I can do the same.’

The recipes (for four people)

Starter

Devilled eggs

Ingredients: 8 eggs, mayonnaise, paprika, chives, pepper and salt.

Preparation: Boil the eggs for eight minutes and peel them. Cut the eggs in half and remove the yolks with a small spoon, or with your hands. Mix the yolks with a spoonful of French mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Put the mixture in a piping bag and fill the egg whites with it. Garnish with paprika and chives.

Main course (for four persons)

Gnocchi with mushrooms

Ingredients: 400g boiled floury potatoes, 180g semolina, 500g mixed mushrooms, sage, butter, garlic, parmesan, crème fraîche, salt and pepper.

Preparation: Boil the potatoes until tender (until they fall off your fork or knife when you prick them) and drain them. Mash them with a fork; if you want extra tasty gnocchi, press them through a sieve with a spoon. Mix with the semolina and knead for 10 minutes to form a smooth, not too sticky dough. Roll the dough into a ball and let it rest in cling film for 15 minutes. Divide the dough into four equal pieces. Roll these pieces into long sausages, from which you cut the gnocchi. Let the gnocchi rest on a plate under a towel. Now make the sauce. Quarter the mushrooms and finely chop the sage. Heat a pan on the cooker. Put in lots of butter (or olive oil). Add the mushrooms and sage to the pan and fry the mixture for a while on a high heat. Turn down the heat a little and add the garlic. Add salt and pepper. Cook the gnocchi in liberally salted water. The gnocchi are ready when they float up to the surface. Add the gnocchi to the sauce together with a spoonful of crème fraîche, Parmesan, and some cooking liquid. Let the sauce thicken for a while. Serve with some more Parmesan.

Chicory salad

Ingredients: 5 chicory stalks, crème fraîche, olive oil, vinegar or lemon juice, pepper, salt, chives

Preparation: For the dressing: Mix one tablespoon of crème fraîche, olive oil, vinegar (or lemon juice) and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Remove the leaves from the chicory, add them to the dressing and stir. Arrange the chicory in a tower on a plate. Garnish with chopped chives.

Dessert

Buttermilk panna cotta

Ingredients: 200 ml single cream, 315 ml buttermilk, 2 gelatine leaves, 40g sugar (for the panna cotta) and extra sugar for the caramel sauce, vanilla pod (optional, as more expensive)

Preparation: Soak the gelatine in cold water. Heat the cream with sugar and stir the gelatine into the mixture. Remove from the heat for a moment. Mix in the buttermilk and add a vanilla pod if you want. Pour the panna cotta into pretty cups and let it set in the fridge for at least six hours. Shortly before serving, make the caramel sauce. To do this, caramelise the sugar in a pan. Heat the whipping cream and pour it into the caramel. Then pour the caramel over the panna cotta. Allow to cool briefly and serve.