Potato pizza ingredients

• 800g  potatoes
• 150g scamorza or mozzarella
• 2 eggs
• About 50g Grana padano or Parmesan
• Butter
• Dry breadcrumbs

1. Boil and mash the potatoes. I prefer to boil them whole and unpeeled, allow them to cool for a few minutes and then peel.
2. Add the eggs and Grana to the potatoes and mix well.
3. Well grease a pizza tin or spring form cake tin with butter. Dust the tin with breadcrumbs.
4. Spread half of the potato mix over the base. Cover with the grated scamorze or mozzarell. Finally add the rest of the potato to form a layer over the cheese.
5. Sprinke the top of the pizza with some more dry breadcrumbs an dot with small knobs of butter.
6. Bake at 200°C for about 30 minutes. The pizza is ready when the top is nicely brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing from the tin.
7. Can be eaten hot, warm or even cold.

Potato pizza finished dish

• 50g of basil leaves (from Genoa of course)
• Extra virgin olive oil (from Liguria)
• 6 Tbsp grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano
• 2 Tbsp Pecorino (romano, toscano, sardo or siciliano)
• 2 cloves of garlic (can be omitted)
• 1 Tbsp pine kernels (from the Mediterranean area)
• 1 tbsp chopped walnuts can be substituted for the pine kernels (must be European from the species “Juglans regia”)
• Coarse sea salt

1. The traditional method uses a wooden pestle(where the dish gets its name from in a round about way) and a marble mortar. Start by pounding the garlic and salt until you get a smooth paste.
2. Add the basil, a handful at a time, and keep grinding using a circular motion until each batch of the leaves is incorporated. To preserve the essential oils in the basil, you shouldn’t be too rough with it.
3. Add the pine kernel and grind some more.
4. Add the cheese and mix well.
5. Add the oil, little by little, until the pesto has the right consistency – a matter of taste.
6. Serve with pasta or added to minestrone. The recommended pastas are troffie, trofiette or trenette, but it goes with just about any pasta. I usually serve it with spaghetti or linguine.

Mackerel in tomato sauce ingredients

• 1 kg Mackerel – cleaned.
• 3 onions – sliced
• 3 carrots – finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic – finely chopped
• 6 tbsp passata
• 3 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 glass of olive oil

1. In a pan big enough to accommodate the fish (a fish kettle would be ideal), soften the onions in half the olive.
2. Add the carrots, garlic and parsley and fry for a further couple of minutes.
3. Add the rest of the oil, 2 glasses of water and the passata. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Bring to a simmer and add the fish. If the fish isn’t covered by the liquid, add a little more hot water.
5. Cover and cook until the mackerel are done, about 10 minutes.
6. Allow to cool before serving. This dish is best served warm or cold.
7. Alternative method: Add the fish. When the liquid returns to the boil, remove from the heat, cover and allow the fish to cool in the liquid.

Mackerel in tomato sauce finished dish

Baked anchovies ingredients

• 800g fresh anchovies
• 60g pecorino – grated
• 80g dry bread crumbs
• 2 ripe tomatoes – sliced
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 clove of garlic – chopped
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• Dry white wine
• Olive oil

1. Clean and prepare the anchovies as above.
2. Mix together the pecorino, breadcrumbs, parsley, oregano and parsley
3. Grease an oven dish with a little  oil. I used 4 individual dishes.
4. Line the dish with a little of the breadcrumb mix. Add a layer of anchovies and cover with the breadcrumb mix. Repeat until all the anchovies are used up, finishing with a layer of breadcrumbs.
5. Top with the tomato slices and a little more of the breadcrumb mix.
6. Splash some wine and drizzle olive oil on top.
7. Bake at 180C until golden brown and sizzling.

Baked anchovies finished dish

• 320g bavette
• 800g clams
• 1 shallot – finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic – peeled, whole
• 1 chilli (fresh or dried) or to taste
• 300g courgettes – cut into match sticks
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 100ml dry white wine
• 200g tomatoes – peeled and diced

Bavette with clams and courgettes ingredients

1. Open the clams by  putting them in a dry pan over a high heat for about 5 minutes. Reserve any liquid that is produced.
2. Remove the clams from their shells and put aside.
3. Heat some oil in a pan and cook the shallot, chilli and garlic clove until softened.
4. Remove and discard the garlic.
5. Add the clams, courgettes and parsley and cook for a few minutes.
6. Add the wine and the liquid from the clams and allow to reduce for a while.
7. Add the tomatoes, season with salt and cook  until the sauce thickens – about 20-30 minutes.
8. Cook the bavette until al dente, drain and add to the pan with the sauce and mix well.

Bavette with clams and courgettes finished dish

Bass in acqua pazza ingredients

• 4 sea bass – filleted
• 400g cherry tomatoes – halved or left whole according to preference
• A few sprigs of parsley – chopped
• A clove of garlic – chopped
• 1 chilli – fresh or dried (optional)
• Dry white wine
• Olive oil

1. Fry the garlic and chilli in olive oil until the garlic has started to colour. Use a pan big enough to take all the fish in a single layer.
2. Add the tomatoes, parsley and a generous slug of white wine.
3. Add the fish in a single layer. Add water to bring the level of liquid up to about halfway up the fillets.
4. Cover and simmer until the fish is done. About 10 minutes for medium sized fillets.

Bass in acqua pazza finished dish

Sun dried tomato struzzichini ingredients

• Sun dried tomatoes – soaked for an hour in a mixture of water and vinegar
• Olives – stoned and cut into slivers
• Capers – soaked for a few minutes and drained
• Fresh basil leaves
• Anchovy fillets
• Olive oil

Assembling the struzzichini

1. Drain the tomatoes and dress with olive oil.
2. On top of each tomato place 2 capers, a piece of anchovy, a sliver of olive and basil leaf.
3. Roll up and secure with a tooth pick.

Sun dried tomato struzzichini finished dish

Sea bass on a bed of lemons ingredients

• 4 small sea bass – prepared as above
• 100g cherry tomatoes – chopped
• 8 whole cherry tomatoes
• 2 or 3 lemons thinly sliced
• A few needles of fresh rosemary
• 1 clove of garlic – finely chopped
• 1 or 2 sprigs of parsley – finely chopped
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil

1. Mix together the chopped tomatoes, rosemary, garlic,  parsley and a little olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity of the fish with this mixture.
2. Add two slices of lemon to each fish, one on each side of the cavity. They should look something like the leaves of an open book.
3. Add two whole cherry tomatoes to each fish and drizzle with a little more oil.
4. Crumple a sheet of aluminium and use this to support the fish and keep them upright while cooking.
5. Bake for ten minutes at 180C
6. Cover a serving plate with the rest of the lemon slices arrange the cooked fish on top.

Sea bass on a bed of lemons finished dish

Bavette with tuna ingredients

• 320g bavette (or spaghetti or linguine) I used bavettini – a smaller version of bavette
• 100g cherry tomatoes – halved
• 2 anchovy fillets – chopped
• 20g pine nuts
• 70g good quality black olives
• 200g fresh tuna – cut into small cubes
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic – finely sliced
• 1 shallot – finely sliced
• 1/2 glass white wine

1. Fry the shallot and the garlic in olive until the start to colour.
2. Add the anchovies, half the pine nuts, the olives and the tomatoes. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the capers and tuna. Cook for a further 2 minutes.
4. Add the wine and allow to reduce a little.
5. Remove from the heat. Add the lemon zest, parsley and the rest of the parsley.
6. Meanwhile cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and add to the pan with the tuna. Return to the heat and mix well.  Allow the pasta to take up the flavours for a minute or so, remove from the heat and serve.

Bavette with tuna finished dish

Spaghetti with gurnard ingedients

• 320g spaghetti
• 300g whole gurnard – cleaned
• Zest from 1 lemon
• Parsley – finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic
• 100g small or cherry tomatoes – sliced
• Stock vegetables (Onion, carrot, celery)
• Olive oil

1. Peel and chop the stock vegetables. Add to a pan with 3 litres of water and a large pinch of salt. Simmer for 30 minutes. You can omit this step if you are pressed for time.
2. Add the fish and poach for 5-6 minutes. The fish should be starting to flake, but not dissolving. Remove the fish and allow to cool slightly. Strain and reserve the stock.
3. Flake the fish taking care to remove all the bones.
4. Mince together the lemon zest, the garlic and the parsley.
5. Fry the fish gently in a little olive oil and add a little of the stock. Be careful not to add to much, you don’t want it too sloppy.
6. Cook the spaghetti in the stock until al dente
7. Just before the spaghetti is done, add the minced ingredients and the tomatoes to the fish and warm through.
8. Drain the spaghetti and add to the pan with the fish. Mix well and cook for a further minute or so.
9. Serve immediately.

spaghetti with gurnard finished dish

Cozze gratinate. From Puglia. I wanted to try this recipe to see if it makes a difference cooking the mussels from raw, rather than opening them in a hot pan first. I have to say it does! They were much nicer. Use a short knife to open the mussels over a bowl to catch the liquid. I still need a bit of pratice, but I was getting it towards the end. Serves 4 as a main course, more as an antipasti.

Gratinated mussels ingredients

• 1 kg mussels – well cleaned and opened on the half shell (reserve the liquid)
• 100g dry breadcrumbs
• 100g parmesan – grated
• A few sprigs of parsley – finely chopped
• A pinch of dried oregano
• A clove of garlic – finely chopped
• Olive oil

1. Mix together the breadcrumbs, parmesan, oregano, parsley and garlic.
2. Arrange the mussels on a baking tray and top each one with a little of the mixture.
3. Put a few drops of the mussel liquid on to of each one and drizzle with olive oli.
4. An alternative method is to mix the mussel liquid in to the breadcrumb mix to form a dryish paste. Press a little of the paste into each mussel and drizzle with oil as before.
5. Grill the mussels until they are golden brown and sizzling.

Gratinated mussels finished dish

Bucatini amatriciana with mussels ingredients

• 320g bucatini or spaghetti
• 1 kg mussels
• 400g passata
• A clove of garlic
• 50g pancetta – cubed
• 1/2 a glass of dry white wine
• Pecorino romano cheese – grated
• Chilli powder to taste
• Olive oil

1. Fry the pancetta in a little oil along with the whole garlic clove.
2. When the garlic has browned, remove and discard.
3. Add the chilli and fry for a few seconds.
4. Add the passata and cook over a low heat for about 30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile put the mussels in a pan along with the wine and cook over a high heat until the mussels have opened. Drain and reserve the liquid.
6. Shell the mussels, reserving a few for decoration.
7. Pour the mussel liquid into a large pan and add water to make it up to about 3 litres. Bring to the boil and cook the pasta until al dente.
8. Shorlty before the pasta is ready, add the mussels to the tomato sauce and allow to heat through for a minute or so.
9. Drain the pasta and add to the pan with tomato sauce.
10. Mix well and serve with the pecorino on the side.

Bucatini amatriciana with mussels finished dish

Spaghetti with prawns and courgettes ingredients

• 320g spaghetti
• 300g medium prawns, legs and antenae removed.
• 1tbsp capers – soaked for a few minutes and drained.
• 3 small or 1 large courgette -sliced thinly into rounds or quartered lengthways and sliced into quadrants if large.
• 1/2 onion sliced
• Tomato sauce or passata
• A pinch of dried thyme
• Olive oil

1. Fry the onion gently in the oil until it starts to soften.
2. Add the tomato sauce, the capers and the thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, uncovered, for about 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile fry the courgettes gently in olive oil until soft. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Add the prawns to the tomato sauce and cook for a further few minutes until the prawns are cooked.
5. At the last minute add the courgetttes to the sauce.
6. Meanwhile cook the spaghetti until al dente.
7. Dress the pasta with the sauce and serve.

Spaghetti with prawns and courgettes finished dish

Octopus Luciana ingredients

• 1 Octopus weighing about 1kg – cleaned and tenderised.
• 1/2 glass olive oil
• Parsley – chopped
• 1 clove of garlic – chopped
• Salt and pepper

1. Remove the eyes and beak from the octopus.
2. Place the octopus in a (preferably) terracotta pot. The pot should be just larger than the octopus so it’s a reasonably tight fit.
3. Add the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Go easy on the salt though.
4. Cover the pot with aluminium foil or grease proof paper and tie as tightly as possible with kitchen string. Cover with a lid.
5. Cook over a very low heat for two hours. Shake the pot from time to time to prevent sticking.
6. Remove the foil, add the garlic and parsley, and cook for another few minutes.
7. Serve hot or leave to cool in the cooking liquid and serve cold as an antipasto.

Octopus Luciana finished dish

Update: I’ve just realised that I cooked this recipe about a year ago and it’s already on the blog. D’oh! Oh well, it proves I like it I suppose

Grilled, marinated bream ingredients

• 1 medium sea bream per person – cleaned and scaled
• Plenty of chopped parsley (pref. flat leaf)
• Fresh lemon juice
• Fine dry breadcrumbs
• Olive oil
• Salt

1. Make a marinade by mixing together roughly equal amounts of lemon juice and olive oil. Add the parsley and season with salt and pepper.
2. Pour the marinade over the fish making sure that some gets into the cavity. Leave to marinate for a few hours in the fridge.
3. Drain the fish well, reserving the marinade. sprinkle with the breadcrumbs.
4. Cook under a medium grill for around 15 minutes (depending on the size of the fish). Turn two or three times during cooking. Baste with the marinade every so often.
5. Serve immediately.

Gamberoni alla brace. This recipe is claimed by Sicily, but prawns are cooked this way all over Italy, and indeed the world. It’s about as easy as you can get. The only thing to remember is to not overcook the prawns. If you are using a barbecue, leave a distance of around 30cm between the coals and the prawns.

• Large, raw, unshelled prawns
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Chopped parsley

1. Brush the prawns with oil and arrange on the grill.
2. Cook over a medium heat for a few minutes.
3. Serve immediately, sprinkled with parsley.

Polpettone alla napoletana. This is a tasty and economical recipe. In Naples it is also known as ‘polpettone in salsetta’ – meatloaf in sauce. The sauce is used to dress pasta for the first course and the meat is eaten as the second course. The recipe calls for buffalo mozzarella and Neapolitan salami, but I’m sure it would be fine with whatever you have handy. Thank to Gino for the advice. Serves 4-6.

Meatloaf ingredients

• 500g minced beef
• 4 eggs
• 50g cooked ham (about 2 slices)
• 50g Neapolitan salami (optional)
• 40g parmesan, grated
• 40g pecorino, grated
• 50g buffalo mozzarella, sliced (not too fresh)
• 2 cloves of garlic, whole but lightly crushed
• Flour
• 100g stale bread
• 400g chopped tomatoes
• 50g concentrated tomato puree
• A large sprig of basil, torn
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

1. Hardboil 2 of the eggs and allow them to cool.Slice them thinly.
2. Moisten the bread with a little cold water and break into small pieces.
3. Mix together the meat, the raw eggs, the bread, the parmesan, the pecorino and the parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Knead with your hands until all the ingredients are incorporated.
4. Spread the paste on a square of kitchen paper to form a 2cm thick rectangle.  Cover with the slices of ham, the salami, the mozzarella and the sliced eggs.


Meatloaf with filling

5. Using the kitchen paper to help, roll up, pressing together firmly, to form the meatloaf.


meatloaf ready to cook

6. Dust with flour and fry the loaf in olive oil in a large pan until it is browned on all sides. Lower the heat, cover and continue cooking for 30 minutes.
7. In a seperate pan, fry the garlic for a few minutes in 3 tbsp of olive oil. Add the tomatoes, the tomato pureemixed with a little water, the basil and a pinch of salt. Cook for 5 minutes.
8. Add the tomato sauce to the meatloaf and cook for a further 30 minutes.
9. When the meatloaf is cooked, remove it from the sauce and allow it to cool slightly. Slice into 1-2cm slices and serve with a little of the tomato sauce.

Meatloaf with tomato sauce

Summer meatloaf ingredients

• 200g minced veal
• 200g minced beef
• 150g minced pork
• 200g ricotta
• 2 eggs
• 50g grana padano, grated
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 sprig of marjoram (or 1/2 tsp dried)
• 1 carrot
• 150g french beans
• 100g frozen peas
• 3 large vine tomatoes (or 200g tinned chopped tomatoes, drained)
• 10 fresh basil leaves
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt & Pepper

1. Wash and top and tail the beans. Peel the carrot and chop into batons. Parboil the veg in salted water for 3-4 minutes.
2. Mix together the meat, the eggs, half the clove of garlic (finely chopped), the marjoram, the ricotta and the grana. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Lay a piece of grease proof paper flat on the work surface. Spread the meat mixture out so that you get a rectangle about 2cm deep.
4. Arrange the vegetables on top and, using the paper to help, roll up to form a meatloaf (like you would for a swiss roll). Press together firmly and make sure the ends are closed.


Summer meatloaf ready to cook

5. Transfer to a baking tin, cover with foil and bake at 200°C for an hour. Remove the foil 15 minutes before the end of cooking to allow the loaf to brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
6. Make the salsa by deseeding and chopping the tomatoes with the basil and the other 1/2 clove of garlic. Stir in the oil and season with salt and pepper.
7. When ready to serve, slice the meatloaf into 1-2cm rounds and spoon a little of the salsa onto each slice

Summer meatloaf with salsa

IMHO Pasta al forno Pugliese. Baked pasta is popular all over Italy. This version comes from Puglia. It uses Scamorza cheese instead of mozzarella. If you can’t find scamorza you can use mozzarella, but make sure it’s not too fresh as it will make the dish too wet. Actually, that probably wouldn’t be a problem outside Italy It is traditionally made with pecorino, but nowadays most people use parmesan. There is a lighter meatless version that leaves out the meatballs. Thanks to Grazia and Tiziana for the advice. Serves 6

Baked ziti ingredients

• 500g mezzi ziti or rigatoni
• 200g scamorza cheese, finely diced
• 50g pecorino Romano or parmesan
• 800g passata
• 1 onion
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

For the meatballs:

Meatballs ingredients

• 250g minced beef
• 50g pecorino Romano or parmesan
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp breadcrumbs
• 2 medium eggs
• sprig of parsley, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper

1. Make a tomato sauce by frying the onion for a few minutes in plenty of olive oil. Add the passata, season and cook over a low heat for about 30 minutes.
2. Make the meatballs by mixing all the ingredients together. Form into small balls about the size of a hazelnut. Fry in olive oil until well browned. Drain on kitchen paper.


fried meatballs

3. Boil the pasta until it is very al dente, two or three minutes less than the usual cooking time.  Dress with a couple of ladles of the tomato sauce and half the parmesan.
4. To assemble the dish take a high sided baking tray and put a layer of the pasta in the bottom. Cover with tomato sauce and sprinkle with meatballs, diced scamorza, and parmesan.


Partially assembled dish

5. Continue until you have used up all the pasta. The last layer should be pasta covered with tomato sauce. Sprinkle the top with parmesan


Assembled dish

6. Bake in a hot oven for 25 minutes.

Baked ziti

Alfredo's restaurant

Fettuccine dressed with butter and parmesan has been eaten for hundreds of years in Italy. The story goes that in 1914 Alfredo di Lelio

Alfredo

had the bright idea to add a lot more butter. Apparently he thought it might help his heavily pregnant wife keep her lunch down. Just what you need when you’re feeling queasy, half a pound of butter With the help of a bit of nifty PR (courtesy of Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford), the dish became popular in the US. Alfredo’s restaurant still exists in Rome and enjoys a great deal of custom from American tourists. Alfredo’s now also has three restaurants in the states. Over the years American chefs have amended the recipe to include cream.

This is the original recipe from Alfredo’s restaurant. The recipe is for 4 portions, but it’s sooo heavy, I reckon 6 would be nearer the mark.

By the way, it does taste very nice, but I think I can feel my arteries hardening as I type

Fettuccine Alfredo ingredients

• 450g fresh fettuccine
• 170g unsalted butter at room temperature.
• 170g Parmesan, grated

1. Beat the butter and cheese together in a bowl until you get a smooth paste.
2. Cook the fettuccine for  3 minutes.
3. Drain the pasta quickly and add to the bowl with the cheese and butter. You should allow a little of the cooking water to cling to the pasta.
4. Toss the pasta in the sauce and serve.

Fettuccine Alfredo

Lasagne Bolognese. There isn’t one authentic recipe for lasagne Bolognese, but there are lots of things you can do to make an inauthentic one. One of my friends in Bari is still in shock from the time he was served a lasagne in Newcastle which included sweetcorn

Sweetcorn aside, the main difference between lasagne Bolognese served in Italy and those commonly served in other countries is that the Italians use far less cheese and usually have only about four layers of pasta.

This recipe uses fresh homemade pasta. I really recommend trying it with fresh lasagne, you’ll really notice the difference. The next best choice would be shop bought fresh lasagne, then dried egg lasagne which you need to precook and last, and definitly least, dried lasagne that needs no precooking.  Serves 4-6

• 1 quantity Ragù for baked pasta
• 1 quantity Basic white sauce
• 1/2 quantity Pasta dough
• 25g butter
• 70g parmesan cheese

1. Roll out the pasta into sheets. They need to be a little thicker than for tagliatelle. On my pasta machine I use the setting which is two up from the thinnest.
2. Cut the pasta into rectangles which are roughly 10cm by 8cm.


Lasagne sheets

3. Cook the lasagne, a few at a time, in plenty of salted boiling water. About 2-3 minutes. If you add a little oil to the water it helps to stop them sticking together.  Drain and lay them on a damp tea towel.
4. Grease a lasagne dish with a little butter.
5. Arrange a layer of lasagne on the bottom of the dish. Spread one third of the ragù on top, spoon on some white sauce and sprinkle with a little cheese. Dot with some of the butter.  Cover with a layer of lasagne.
6. Repeat until you have used all of the ragù, finishing with a layer of lasagne. Cover with the rest of the white sauce.
7. Bake in an oven preheated to 200°C for 30 minutes. Be careful not to let the top get too brown.
8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before dividing into portions.

Lasagne Bolognese

• 300g minced beef
• 75g carrot, finely chopped
• 75g onion, finely chopped
• 50g celery, finely chopped
• 100ml dry white wine
• 250g passata
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper

1. Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion, carrot and celery. Fry gently for a few minutes until the onions start to go translucent.
2. Add the meat and break up with a wooden spoon. Cook until it is well browned.
3. Add the wine and continue cooking until it has almost completely evaporated.
4. Add the passata, season with salt and cover.
5. Cook very slowly for at least 2 hours. Add a little water if it starts to dry out.
6. At the end of cooking, season with freshly ground black pepper.

Ragù for baked pasta

White sauce ingredients

• 50g butter
• 50g plain flour
• 500ml milk (or half milk half water)
• a few grates of nutmeg (optional)
• salt and pepper

1. Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat.
2. Add the flour and stir quickly with a wooden spoon until smooth.
3. Add add a little of the milk and beat until smooth.
4. Continue in this way until all the milk is added.
5. Bring to a very low simmer and cook for around 15 minutes, stirring frequently to stop the sauce catching on the bottom of the pan.
6. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg

White sauce (béchamel)

Red wine risotto ingredients

Serves 4

• 400g risotto rice
• 2 glasses full bodied red wine
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• About 1 1/2 litres vegetable sock
• 40g parmesan, grated
• 25g butter
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper

1. Fry the onion in the olive oil until they start to become transparent.
2. Add the rice and stir for few moments.
3. Add the red wine and cook over a medium heat, stirring all the time, until the wine has been absorbed.
4. Add a ladle of hot stock and continue cooking as per the standard risotto recipe.
5. When the rice is cooked al dente , remove from the heat, season and stir in the butter and parmesan.
6. Allow to rest for a few minutes before serving.

Red wine risotto

Pasta alla puttanesca from Campania. The translation of the title of this dish is “whore’s pasta”! There are a lot of stories as to how it got it’s name, but one of the most common is that it was a dish that the working girls could quickly prepare between customers. Another version is that is was cooked in brothels so customers would be lured in by the enticing aromas. I don’t really buy that one. I think food would be the last thing on the customers minds It is a relatively modern dish, probably dating back to the end of the second world war. Both Lazio and Campania claim it as their own. This is the Campania version. The recipe comes from Accademia Italiana della Cucina.

A note about the olives. Use the best you can find. Don’t use pitted black olives as properly matured olives are too soft to have their stones removed mechanically, so they will almost certainly be green olives which have been dyed with ferrous glucomate (E151, a synthetic coal tar).

Puttanesca ingredients

Serves 5

• 500g bucatini, linguine, spaghetti or similar
• 500g peeled tomatoes (fresh or tinned)
• 2 anchovy fillets (salted or in oil)
• 100g good quality olives, rinsed. The recipe calls for Gaeta olives, which of course can be green or black, but I have only ever seen this dish prepared with black olives. You can leave them whole or stone them and roughly chop. I prefer half and half.
• 50g capers, rinsed and roughly chopped. The recipe doesn’t stipulate salted or in brine. I prefer the salted variety
• 100g olive oil. This seems a lot but you need a fair amount to allow the anchovy fillets to dissolve properly. Use less if you wish
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
• 1 chilli (fresh, dried or a good pinch of chilli flakes)
• Chopped parsley

1. Gently fry the garlic, chilli and anchovy fillets in the oil. Mash the anchovies with a wooden spoon until they have completely dissolved.
2. Remove the garlic. You can also remove the chilli if you don’t like it too hot. If you prefer a really fiery dish, crush or finely chop the chilli before frying.
3. Add the tomatoes, olives and capers. Mash the tomatoes thoroughly with a fork and cook over a medium high heat for 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Cook the pasta until al dente, drain and add to the pan with the sauce. Toss the pasta with the sauce and heat gently for a couple of minutes.
5. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Pasta Puttanesca

Rabbit with mushrooms ingredients

• 1 rabbit cut into portions
• 400g mushrooms
• 100g passato
• 1 carrot
• 1 stick celery
• 1 onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp flour
• 100 ml chicken stock
• 1 glass dry white wine
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper

1. Chop the carrot and celery into small strips and thinly slice the onion.
2. Add to a pan with 3 tbsp of olive oil and cook over a medium heat until the onions start to go translucent.
3. Add the rabbit pieces and brown. Sprinkle them with the flour.
4. Thinly slice the mushrooms and sautè them in a separate pan with the rest of the olive oil and the whole, lightly crushed clove of garlic. Cook until they are well coloured and start to give off their juice.
5. Add to the pan with the rabbit and add the wine. Cook over a high heat until the wine has reduced by half.
6. Add the passata and stock, season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook for about and hour over a low to medium heat.
7. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve with polenta.

Rabbit with mushrooms

Tomato sauce ingredients

• 250g tinned tomatoes or peeled fresh tomatoes
• A pinch of sugar (optional)
• 2 cloves of garlic, lightly crushed
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 10 fresh basil leaves, torn
• salt

1. Put the tomatoes and their juice into a saucepan along with the garlic, sugar and a good pinch of salt. Cover and heat gently for about 30 minutes without stirring.
2. Remove the garlic and mash the the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. If you’re using tinned tomatoes cook uncovered for a further 15 minutes  until the sauce has reduced.
3. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
4. Immediately before serving, stir in the olive oil and the basil.
5. Use to dress pasta

Tomato sauce

Linguine with tomato sauce

Risotto nero con le seppie. From Venice. This is quite a spectacular dish, but probably not to everyone’s taste. If you can’t find cuttlefish you can use squid. The tricky part is removing the ink sac when you clean them. I have to admit that I chickened out and bought a preprepared sachet. 50c well spent in my opinion. The recipe called for fish stock, but I used water as the cuttlefish has quite a strong flavour and I don’t think you’d be able to taste the difference.

Black cuttlefish risotto ingredients

Serves 4.

• 1kg cuttlefish, cleaned and the ink sacs reserved
• 1 litre fish stock or water
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 small clove garlic, finely chopped
• 175ml dry white wine mixed with 150ml water
• 350g risotto rice
• 25g butter
• salt and pepper

1. Cut the cuttlefish into strips or dice.
2. Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and cook over a low heat for a few minutes, stirring from time to time.
3. Add the cuttlefish and season with salt and pepper. Go easy on the salt as cuttlefish can be quite salty. Cook until the pieces have turned white.
4. Add the wine and water, cover and simmer over alow heat until tender. Timing depends on the size of the strips, but it’l probably be around 20 minutes.
5. Stir in the rice and cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently until most of the liquid has been absorbed.
6. Add a ladle of hot stock (or water) and continue according to the standard risotto method.
7. When the risotto is ready stir in the butter and serve.

Black risotto

Tagliatelle nere con gamberi. From Campania. You can get black tagliatelle in larger supermarkets or good delis. I made my own. Just add a sachet of cuttlefish ink to the basic pasta recipe.

Black tagliatelle with prawns ingredients

Black tagliatelle

Serves 4

• 350g black taglatelle (dried)
• 450g chopped tomatoes or tomato pulp
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
• 400g prawns, shelled weight
• a handful of rocket, chopped
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper

1. Fry the garlic cloves in the oil until lightly browned. Remove the garlic and discard.
2. Add the chopped tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and cook over a high heat for about 10 minutes.
3. Add the prawns and cook until the prawns are done. Not too long as you don’t want them to shrivel.
4. Stir in the rocket and serve with the cooked pasta.

Black taglatelle with prawns

Fresh filled pasta takes a bit of time to prepare, but it’s really not that difficult, especially if you have a pasta machine. Ravioli are probably the least fiddly to make, but tortellini look more impressive . Once you’ve made the first couple it gets easier. This recipe comes from Accademia Italiana della cucina. It was registered with the Bologna Chamber of Commerce on the 7th of December 1974. An authentic tortellino bolognese must have the following filling. Makes about 800g or 100 tortellini.

Tortellini ingredients

Serves 6

• 100g loin of pork
• 100g mortadella sausage (It MUST come from Bologna of course )
• 100g parma ham (actually, they don’t specify that it has to come from Parma.It seems any raw ham will do)
• 150g parmesan (parmigiano reggiano)
• 1 egg
• A few grates of nutmeg

You will also need one quantity of pasta dough.

1. Make the filling by frying the pork loin gently in a little butter. Chop roughly and whiz together with the other ingredients  in a food processor until you get a smooth paste.


Tortellini filling

2. Roll out the pasta as thin as you can.
3. Use a pastry cutter or a glass to stamp out 7cm diameter discs or cut into 7cm squares.
4. Place a small amount of filling on the centre of each disc (about 5g)


Tortellini with filling

5. Moisten one edge and fold in half to make half moons. Be careful to avoid air pockets.
6. Using your finger and thumbs bring the edges (at the widest part) towards each other so that the dampened corners stick together.


Finished tortellino

7. Allow to dry for about an hour before cooking.


Tortellini ready to cook

8. Tortellini are traditionally served poached in meat broth. On this occasion I served then dressed in a little butter and topped with parmesan.

Tortellini finished dish

Tuna loaf ingredients

• 2 200g tins of tuna in brine
• 2 egg whites
• 20g grated grana or parmesan
• 2 tbsp capers in vinegar
• 4 anchovy fillets in oil
• 6 basil leaves
• 1 unwaxed lemon
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• salt

1. Drain the tuna and mash with a fork.

2. Combine the tuna, egg whites, grana, the zest of the lemon and the drained anchovy fillets and whiz in a food processor until you get a uniform paste. Mix in the whole capers.

3. Soak a sheet of grease proof paper in water for a couple of minutes and lay it flat on the work surface.

4. Place the tuna mix onto the centre of the paper and form into a thick sausage shape. It help if you do this with wet hands.

5. Roll up the paper and twist the ends to form a ‘Christmas cracker’ shape. Tie the ends with kitchen string.

   

   Tuna loaf ready to cook

   Poach the roll in just boiling water for 45 minutes. Remove from the water and allow to cool. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

6. When ready to serve, unwrap the loaf and cut into 1-2 cm rounds.

7. Make a dressing by mixing the olive oil, the juice from the lemon, chopped basil leaves and a pinch of salt.

8. Serve with green salad leaves (rocket, lambs lettuce etc. anything you fancy)

Tuna loaf

Spaghetti all’ amatriciana. From Lazio. This is another Italian classic. Pasta with pancetta (or guanciale if you want to be really authentic), tomatoes and chilli. It is more traditionally served with bucatini, but is just as often served with spaghetti. Serves 4.

Spaghetti amatriciana ingredients

• 360 grams Spaghetti
• 100 grams pancetta — cubed
• 1 onion — thinly sliced
• 500 grams tomatoes — peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1 fresh (or dried) chilli — seeded and chopped
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• Parmesan or pecorino Romano cheese to serve (optional)

1. Grease a flameproof casserole with oil, add the pancetta and cook over a low heat until the fat starts to run.
2. Add the onion and cook until lightly browned, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the tomatoes and chilli, season with salt and pepper, cover and cook for about 40 minutes. If it looks like drying out, add a little water.
4. Serve with the cooked spaghetti.

Spaghetti amatriciana

• 360 grams spaghetti
• 1 clove garlic — peeled
• 80 grams tin of tuna — drained and flaked
• 3 tablespoons concentrated tomato puree
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper

1. Heat the oil in a pan, add the garlic, cook until browned and remove and discard.
2. Add the tuna and mix well.
3. Loosen the tomato puree with a couple of tablespoons of warm water and add to the pan and stir well. Cook over a low heat for 15 minutes.
4. Remove from the heat, stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper.
5. Serve with the cooked spaghetti.

• 8 sausages (preferably Italian but any high meat content sausage will do)
• 100 milliliters dry white wine
• 250 milliliters passata
• salt and pepper

1. Prick the sausages with a fork, put the in a pan and add 2 tablespoons of water. Cook over a low heat, turning occasionally. When the water has evaporated the sausages will start to fry in their own fat. Continue until they are golden brown.
2. Add the wine and cook until it is completely evaporated and the sausages are just starting to fry again.
3. Add the passata, season with salt and pepper, cover and simmer for around 15 minutes.
4. This dish can be cooked with small sausages and served cold as an antipasto.

• 1 medium rabbit — cut into portions, washed and dried with kitchen paper
• 2 egg yolks
• plain flour
• the juice of a Lemon
• 1 whole Chilli – fresh or dried
• olive oil
• 1 knob butter

1. Lightly dust the rabbit with flour.
2. Fry the pieces in a little olive oil to which you’ve added the knob of butter.
3. When the rabbit is nicely coloured, season with salt, add a ladle of water and cook over a low heat for around an hour and a half. If it looks like drying out, add a little more water.
4. When the rabbit is done remove to a serving plate and keep warm.
5. Beat the egg yolks together with the lemon juice and add the mixture to the cooking liquid left in the pan. Stir rapidly until you have a smooth sauce.
6. Top the pieces of rabbit with the sauce and serve.

• 360g farfalle
• 100g smoked pancetta, diced
• 250g tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 fresh chilli (or dried), seeded and chopped
• 200ml double cream
• 25g parmesan cheese, grated
• olive oil

1. Heat a little oil in a pan. Add the pancetta and chilli and cook until the pancetta is lightly browned.
2. Add the tomatoes, season with salt and cook over a low heat for around 30 minutes. Reduce the heat to minimum and stir in the cream. Cook very gently until the sauce starts to thicken – about 5 minutes.
3. Cook the pasta, drain and add to the sauce. Cook for 30 seconds or so, stirring all the time, to allow the pasta to take up the sauce.
4. Serve topped with the parmesan.

• 360g spaghetti
• 500g ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 10 basil leaves, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic,peeled
• salt and pepper

1. Put the tomatoes into a large bowl along with the oil, whole garlic and basil. Season with salt and pepper and mix well.
2. Cover and leave in a cool place to allow the flavours to develop – at least 1 hour but the longer you can leave it the better. Remove the garlic before serving.
3. Cook the spaghetti until al dente, drain and mix with the sauce.

• 360g spaghetti
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 1 small onion,peeled
• 2 fresh sage leaves
• 1 stick celery
• 3 plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 350g courgettes, thinly sliced
• 150g mozzarella, diced finely
• 25g parmesan cheese, grated
• salt and pepper

1. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the whole garlic clove, the whole onion, the sage leaves and the stick of celery and cook over a low heat for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes and increase the heat to medium. When boiling add the courgettes. Season with salt and pepper, cover and cook for around 15 minutes.
3. Remove the garlic, onion, celery and sage and discard.
4. Cook the spaghetti, drain and the toss first with the sauce, then the mozzarella and finally with the parmesan.

In truth there probably isn’t one authentic recipe for Ragu alla Bolognese, but this one is close enough. There are however countless inauthentic ones. It bears little or no resemblance to the dish known as Bolognese or Bolognaise found outside of Italy. It is also never served with Spaghetti!

• 400 grams fresh tagliatelle or fettucine
• 300 grams minced beef – The recommended cut is thin flank aka skirt (finta cartella in Italian) but any good quality mince will do.
• 150 grams unsmoked pancetta — minced very finely
• 50 grams carrot — finely chopped or minced
• 50 grams celery — finely chopped or minced
• 50 grams onion — finely chopped or minced
• 30 grams triple concentrated tomato puree(if using double concentrated, increase the quantity by about a 1/3)
• 1/2 glass red or white wine
• 180 milliliters fresh milk
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

1. Fry the pancetta gently in a little olive oil until it starts to release its fat. Be careful not to burn.
2. Add the vegetables and fry until the onions are transparent, stirring from time to time.
3. Add the beef and cook until it is lightly browned. When it starts to make popping noises, it’s done.
4. Add the tomato puree and the wine and mix well.
5. Add the milk, little by little until it is completely absorbed.
6. Season with salt and pepper, cover and cook very slowly for 3 to 4 hours.
7. Stir occasionally and if it looks like drying out, add a little more milk.
8. Serve with Fettuccine or Tagliatelle (NOT Spaghetti!)
9. Serve with Parmesan cheese on the side. Alternatively toss the pasta first in a little butter and then in Parmesan before adding the meat sauce.
10. Variation: The Academy allows the addition of Porcini mushrooms.

This is a more detailed explanation of the dish from Bologna Cooking School

A ragu Bolognese style is a meat sauce that is slow simmered for at least an hour to develop a complex flavor and proper thickness. Cooking the ragu in a heavy-duty enamel or similar pot will hold the heat steady and help to give a velvety texture to the ragu. Bolognese ragu is a classic sauce for lasagne and tagliatelle. The sauce also freezes beautifully.

Bolognese sauce (ragù alla bolognese in Italian) is a meat- and tomato-based pasta sauce originating in Bologna, Italy. It is typically made by simmering ground meat in tomato sauce, white wine, and stock for a long time (often upward of four hours), so that the meat softens and begins to break down into the liquid medium. The original sauce is not done with minced meat; instead, whole meat, usually beef or veal, is chopped with a knife.
Spaghetti alla Bolognese, or spaghetti bolognese which is sometimes further shortened to spag bol, is a dish invented outside of Italy consisting of spaghetti with a meat sauce. In Italy, this sauce is generally not served with spaghetti because it tends to fall off the pasta and stay on the plate. Instead, the people of Bologna traditionally serve their famous meat sauce with tagliatelle (‘tagliatelle alla bolognese). Outside the traditional use, this sauce can be served with tubular pasta or represent the stuffing for lasagna or cannelloni.

While “Bolognese” is undoubtedly the most popular ragù in this country, it is also the most misunderstood.
The ragù you get by that name is usually a characterless tomato sauce with pea-like bits of ground beef floating in it, bearing little resemblance to anything you’d find in Bologna.
And not, in any sense, a ragù.
True ragù alla Bolognese contains no tomato sauce — just enough fresh or canned tomato to add a hint of sweetness and another layer of flavor to a subtle, complex mix. Like all ragùs, Bolognese is characterized by its long, slow cooking, which in this case starts with simmering the meat in milk (to mellow the acidity of the raw tomatoes added later) and wine (some use white, others red), after which the tomatoes are added. The whole lot is cooked together for about two hours

Fusilli Ai Funghi. This dish works best if you use a mix of different types of mushrooms. To all my Czech wild mushroom hunter friends – this is the perfect recipe . It works with any type however, and on this occasion I cooked it with standard field mushrooms. Serves 4.

• 320g fusilli
• 800g mushrooms (as many different types as possible), chopped
• 250g tomatoes (tinned, pasatta or fresh – skinned seeded and chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 sprig parsley, chopped
• parmesan cheese, optional
• 1 knob butter, optional
• salt and pepper
• olive oil

1. Wash and chop the mushrooms. How finely you chop them depends on taste and the varieties you are using. I could only get standard field mushrooms, so I chopped them quite finely.
2. Fry the onion and mushrooms in olive oil until the mushrooms start to release their liquid.
3. Add the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, cover and cook over a low heat for 45 minutes.
4. Remove from the heat and add the parsley.
5. Cook the fusilli in plenty of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain and toss with a knob of butter (optional).
6. Mix the pasta with the mushroom sauce and serve with parmesan cheese on the side.

• Beef, veal or horse fillet, sliced very thinly
• Lemon juice
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Aromatic herbs, chopped – optional
• Parmesan cheese, shaved – optional
• Green salad leaves, optional

1. Marinate the meat in the lemon juice for around an hour.
2. Remove from the marinade and arrange on a serving plate.
3. Season with salt and pepper and dress with olive oil.

1. Variation: Add some chopped aromatic herbs (parsley, basil, mint etc.) to the marinade.
2. Variation: Top with shaved Parmesan
3. Variation: I like to serve the carpaccio on top of some green salad leaves.

• 320 grams bavette
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• olive oil
• salt
• a small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
• a small bunch of basil, finely chopped

1. Heat plenty of oil in a pan, add the garlic and cook over a medium heat until it is well coloured.
2. Remove from the heat and add the herbs. Leave to infuse for a minute or so.
3. Add the cooked pasta to the pan and mix well.
4. Variation: You can use other fresh herbs eg. mint, chives, dill etc. Whatever you fancy. Don’t try it with dried though.