This selection of delicious northern italian pasta recipes is designed to provide a sumptuous starter guide to the best the region has to offer. From Tuscan bean pasta and classic bolognese sauce to minestrone soup and fresh green pesto, it’s all here… explained in simple steps and written with cooks of every level in mind. […]
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Pasta With Meat Sauce (AKA: ragu for impatient cooks!)
STEPS 4 INGREDIENTS 9 TIME 90 MINS I call this molten pork and tomato dish pasta with meat sauce because my wife Laura laughingly stopped me naming it ‘ragu-lite’ (ragu usually features beef and pork y’see). But it really is just as delicious as ragu… and so much quicker to cook. This Italian beauty (the […]
‘Dish of the Night’ Pasta Puttanesca Recipe
STEPS 5 INGREDIENTS 6 TIME 35 MINS If you’re keen on olives and capers, you’ll love this risqué pasta puttanesca recipe. Just take olives, plum tomatoes, a spoonful of capers, fry ‘em all up, and mix with twizzly spaghetti to get a sumptuous dish full of flavour and textures. Why risqué? Well in Italian puttana […]
‘EGGcellent’ Spaghetti Carbonara Recipe
STEPS 7 INGREDIENTS 4 TIME 25-30 MINS Essentially a bacon-packed, raw-egg sister of this tasty breakfast pasta, this spaghetti carbonara recipe totally does the do. Whether you’re serving everyday guests or just looking to fill a hunger gap, this recipe is a great one to learn. ‘Scrummy’ doesn’t begin to describe how moreish this dish […]
Easy Carbonara Sauce Recipe
STEPS 6 INGREDIENTS 3 TIME 20 MINS This carbonara sauce recipe is a bonafide, real-deal Italian classic. With its scrummy eggy sauce and chunky bacon bits, it’s a perfect sauce for any long pasta. (It is traditionally combined with spaghetti). And… you’ll be pleased to know that it’s super-quick (20 mins) and simple to prepare. […]
Pasta Recipe With Bacon and Peas (‘Pasta Piselli’)
STEPS 4 INGREDIENTS 8 TIME 1 HR This easy pasta recipe is my brother-in-law Mauro’s favorite pasta meal, and I don’t blame him a bit because this soupy dish is full of tasty stuff. Packed with sweet green peas and juicy chunks of belly bacon, this dish uses broken spaghetti, which is simply cooked in […]
Pasta Flour 101
Jump onto Google to learn about the different types of pasta flour and you might soon get confused. I was at first… However, having learned more, made various fresh pasta doughs (both with and without egg), and having cooked with different types of flour – I now feel I can clearly explain what’s what. Here […]
Go Green… with this Traditional Ligurian Pesto Pasta Recipe
STEPS 5 INGREDIENTS 9 TIME 25 MINS It doesn’t get much fresher than this basil and bean-touting pesto pasta recipe. Coming at you direct from Liguria in the North-West of Italy, this basil beast is crunchy-to-munch and truly aromatic. This pesto pasta recipe takes the pesto sauce ingredients of basil, pine nut and a touch […]
The Super Sicilian: Nuccia’s Vegetable Pasta Recipe
STEPS 5 INGREDIENTS 8 TIME 50-60 MINS This stupidly easy, meat-free vegetable pasta recipe comes courtesy of my mamma-in-law’s good Sicilian friend, Nuccia Pelliccia. (What a great Italian name!) Nuccia obviously knows her stuff too, because for this ‘penne zucchine pomodoro’ dish she combines zucchini (or courgette) with fresh chopped tomatoes, fresh basil and a […]
How to Make Fresh (egg-free) Vegan Pasta
STEPS 3 INGREDIENTS 6 TIME 15-20 MINS Vegan pasta is simple to make from scratch, utterly scrumptious, and takes under 20 minutes. (Looking to buy vegan pasta? Try here.) Why make fresh pasta rather than eating the packet stuff? • It tastes better than packet pasta • It holds its sauce better • Contains no […]