Category: 2.8 Pasta

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Wild Garlic Carbonara

A quick simple pasta, the wild garlic adds a woodland vibe.

Prep: 3min Cook: 12min

Quick carbonara

Ingredients

200g spaghetti or linguini

125g portabella or chestnut mushrooms roughly chopped

4 rashers smoked streaky bacon chopped

Small bunch wild garlic leaves, shredded

1 egg, beaten

2 dstspn sour cream

grating of parmisan,

ground black pepper

Method

  1. Put the pasta on to cook in boiling salted water.
  2. When there is about 7 min to go start cooking the bacon with some olive oil in a frying pan on a high heat.
  3. As the bacon starts to colour, turn the heat down slightly and add the mushrooms.
  4. Cook the mushrooms to remove excess water, when they are done turn off the heat and mix through the wild garlic to wilt it.
  5. In a bowl, mix the egg, sour cream, parmesan and black pepper to a smooth emulsion.
  6. When the pasta is cooked, drain it and place it back in its pan on a low heat (2/10 on induction), immediately mix through the bacon/mushroom/garlic mix and then ass the egg mix.
  7. Stir this though for 15sec and the heat will cook the egg and produce a lovely emulsion covering the pasta.
  8. Serve.
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Fresh Pasta

My basic do everything pasta recipe. I use medium eggs – if you use large reduce the water content. If the dough is too sticky add extra strong flour.

There are alternatives on the internet, and you can get Tipo 00 flour easily enough in most places. I can’t without buying in bulk off the internet – hence this recipe was born.

Prep: 5min Rest: 20min Roll: 5min

Ingredients

60g strong bread flour

60g semolina flour

60g plain flour

1 egg

80ml water

Method

1. Put all the flour in a bowl and add the egg, mix gently.

2. Add most of the water and stir until it almost comes together, add the last bit of water if you need it, but always err on the side of crumbly.

3. Tip it onto a board and work (knead) for a few minutes until you have a smooth dough. Add extra strong flour or water if you need to.

4. wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for 20min – this is important because the dough rests and the consistency changes a lot – it becomes much more elastic.

5. you’re ready to roll…

Rolling out the pasta is where the skill comes. A pasta machine is just so easy I totally recommend one. I have an ‘Atlas’ and any decent pasta machine will last you a lifetime. I only make pasta sheets, linguini and tagliatelle pasta with it, but I also use it for dim sum and gyoza wraps, and for making super fine pastry sheets (for samosas) because it just works so well.

The key is to roll the pasta through every stage – don’t skip a setting. And put it through a few times on ‘0’ fold and repeat to get a perfect dough – it feels silky and smooth, almost oiled. For linguini I stop at ‘5’ for tagliatelle and pasta sheets ‘6’ for some pastry wraps ‘7’. If the pasta crinkles as it comes out – then fold it in half and go back one step. If it keeps crinkling you’ve made it too thin.

Just try it, do it once to get the hang of it then it becomes easy. Rather than making chefy loop like they do on ‘masterchef’ etc I just cut the raw pasta into 4 and roll these as strips.

To cook – it takes about 3min in boiling water – keep testing after 90 seconds and drain immediately it’s ready. it will carry on cooking on the way to the sink and I always add a tiny bit of oil to the drained pasta before serving or mixing with a sauce.

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Winter Lasagne

I’ve got two lasagne recipes, one for winter and one for summer. They differ in the richness of the sauce and the use of seasonal veg. This is the winter one, and has a couple of variations. The cooking times are based on using fresh pasta sheets. If you use dry you’ll need to soak/pre-cook I guess.

Prep: 10min Cook: 10min Making the layers: 3min Cooking: 18min

Lasagne just out of the oven

Ingredients white sauce

25g butter

1 heaped dstspn plain flour

500ml milk

50g grated cheddar

1 chopped mozzarella

20g grated parmesan

2 sheets Leerdammer chopped

Ingredients for layers

200g venison mince (can use beef)

200g cubed squash (crown prince/butternut)

1 chopped onion

500ml passata

1 basil cube

2 crushed garlic cloves

50ml red wine

Method sauce

  1. melt the butter into a small pan, mix in the flour and cook gently.
  2. slowly add in the milk stirring the ensure a smooth white sauce. Add the cheddar, Leerdammer and 1/2 the parmesan.
  3. Season with salt and pepper.

Method filling

  1. Fry the onion, mince and squash in olive oil. When the mince is browned add the garlic and basil.
  2. After a few second to fry off the garlic add the passata and red wine and cook until you have a thick bolognaise type sauce. Season with salt and pepper.

Method – layering up and cooking

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 225c (fan)
  2. put a thin layer of the bolognaise in the bottom of a lasagne dish,
  3. cover with fresh sheet pasta.
  4. repeat this (so two layers of bolognaise) then do one layer with about 1/2 the white sauce.
  5. Follow this up with 1 more layer of the bolognaise before topping out with the rest of the white sauce.
  6. Sprinkle of the parmesan and mozzarella.
  7. Cook for 18 min until golden.
Just going in the oven

This is a winter dish – the cheeses and the red wine add lots of richness. I use about 300g fresh pasta rolled into sheets to give me the right amount for this dish (see the pasta recipe), and remember that weight includes the water…

I always like to add one layer of the white sauce into the middle – to me it adds something to the overall unctuousness. If you want to (and it’s great), for the layer of white sauce, mix this with 150ml of courgette base/soup. You heat the courgette, make sure it’s seasoned then mix with some white sauce. This bulks the dish up and makes it even richer.

To tone down the richness you can omit the red wine, and mozzarella.

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Rustic pasta

This is a firm favourite of mine, simple, lots of taste and warming for a winters night after a hard day outside. I use either meatballs made from venison or lamb, or if it’s a quick meal I’m after then I’ll chop up some sausages into 2cm pieces and use them as my meatballs.

The thing to remember here is a good quality balsamic vinegar, I use Belazu – it’s a real luxury but you only need a teaspoon for this dish, for basic balsamic you’d need at least a table spoon and it would take a lot more cooking down. If you’ve not got Balsamic then use a good glug of red wine – the richer the better, claret or rioja. Add this with the passata and cook it for an extra couple of minutes.

Ingredients

200g pasta (shells or twists ideally)

200g meatballs

1 onion finely chopped

1 finely chopped pepper

500ml passata

a generous teaspoon of balsamic vinegar

1 clove garlic

grated parmesan, salt, pepper

Method

  1. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water.
  2. While it’s cooking heat some olive oil with the balsamic vinegar in a frying pan, to drive off the acetic acid.
  3. Add the onion and pepper and soften them, then add the meatballs and seal and brown them. It will all take a glorious colour from the balsamic.
  4. add the garlic for 20sec to cook before adding the passata. Cook this for 5min to thicken the sauce and ensure the meatballs are cooked through.
  5. Season to taste, mix through the drained pasta and serve with parmesan and a good grind of black pepper.

If you want to use fresh pasta then I use linguini, it’s easy to make and works well with the sauce. I’d make 175g flour plus the egg to make a portion.

If you want to be chefy about it seal the meat balls first then put them aside, adding them back in a couple of minutes before the end – it keeps them very tender, but if your meatballs are good it makes less difference.

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Pasta Bake

An old favourite for me, I love it when the sauce is just a little sloppy and you can just get the zing of black pepper coming through – the tray is a pain to clean but sooo worth it.

Prep: 10min Cook; 25min including 16min in the oven

Ingredients

200g pasta shapes (shells or twists)

500ml passata

4 rashers streaky smoked bacon chopped

200g mushrooms finely chopped

1 onion finely chopped

2 garlic cloves crushed/chopped

1 dstspn sour cream

1 mozzarella cubed

basil (1cube or a handful fresh)

salt and pepper

Method

  1. pre-heat the oven to 225c (fan).
  2. Par boil the pasta in salted water for 8min then drain.
  3. While the pasta is cooking, fry the onions, bacon and mushrooms in olive oil. I add the bacon for a minute first to that when the onions are soft the bacon has a little colour.
  4. Add the garlic to the frying pan for 30 sec then add the passata and cook the sauce.
  5. When you drain the pasta turn the sauce down low 3/10 (induction) and when the sauce reduces from the simmer add the sour cream, basil and some salt and pepper.
  6. Mix through the pasta, and place it all in a lasagne dish, sprinkle the chopped mozzarella on top and put it in the oven for 16min.
  7. When the mozzarella is golden brown it’s ready to serve.

I use passata because the extra liquid is needed to fully cook the pasta (but not over-cook it) when it’s in the oven. If you use fresh tomatoes add a little of the pasta water to make up the sauce and reduce the salt you add to balance it out. You can add a chilli if you like, and a drizzle of basil oil on top when you serve doesn’t go amiss.

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Tomato Basil Pasta

A super simple summer pasta.

Prep: 5 min Cooking: 12 min

Ingredients

4 deseeded tomatoes chopped into small (less than 1cm) squares

1 mozzarella cut into small cubes

a handful of fresh basil leaves roughly ripped

200g spaghetti or linguini

Method

  1. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water, add a drop of olive oil to stop it foaming.
  2. When the pasta is ready for your taste drain well, drizzle a little olive oil and serve.
  3. Sprinkle the tomato, then mozzarella, then basil on top of the pasta add a sprinkle of salt and fresh black pepper.

This dish is so simple – but incredibly fresh and tasty. I first had this in Rome as a tiny out of the way restaurant. With fresh tomatoes from the garden, still warm from the vine, and home grown basil (which is stronger and more pungent than shop bought), this is tangy and feels luxurious, like being on holiday.

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Pasta with Spinach and Pine nuts

Quick and easy pasta tea, with a glass of wine this is perfect for an easy evening.

Prep: 5 min Cooking: 12 min

Ingredients

200g pasta (twists)

30g pine nuts

4 rashers smoked streak bacon chopped finely

75g spinach, well washed

100g sliced mushrooms (chestnut for preference)

1 garlic clove crushed/finely chopped

1 dstspn sour cream

parmesan, salt papper

optional – small know blue cheese

Method

  1. Put the pasta into boiling salted water, stir once to stop it sticking together.
  2. In a dry frying pan add the pine nuts and toast lightly. keep a close eye on them as they brown suddenly. reserve in a small dish.
  3. Return the pan to the heat, add olive oil and bacon and mushrooms, cooking until it starts to colour. If you’re using field mushrooms (the white ones) wait a minute before adding them as they give up water and stop the bacon frying.
  4. Next add the garlic, spinach and a pinch of salt. The spinach will give up liquid after a few seconds stopping the garlic cooking too fiercely – but this also stops the bacon browning any more. Depending on your tastes and the bacon it might not need salt – up to you.
  5. When the spinach has wilted turn the heat right down, and when the mix has cooled add the sour cream. If you’re adding the blue cheese do this now and stir through.
  6. Drain the pasta and add this and the pine nuts along with a grinding of black pepper -stirring it all through. You may want to add an extra drizzle of olive oil, both for the taste and to help the sauce and pasta come together
  7. Serve in big pasta bowls and grate parmesan and a bit more pepper on top.
  8. Pour some wine and enjoy!
Simple heart pasta

Like I say a quick and easy pasta, you can substitute other greens for the spinach, using land cress or rocket you just cook it the same., depends what’s available in the garden.