Archive for the 'pasta' Category

porcini, parsley and pine nut pasta

If you want a quick and easy pasta recipe which is totally delicious look no further than this sauce, called Tocco di funghi alla genovese, made with dry porcini mushrooms, parsley, garlic and pine nuts . It was shared on the picket line by a good colleague of mine (Annalisa), Italian like myself. Yes, I have been on strike for the past few weeks , together with thousands of other lecturers nationwide, to protest about the proposed massive cuts to our pensions. Let’s not go into details. However, I will say this: although it hasn’t been pleasant to stand outside in the cold and the rain these past few weeks, the upside has been the sense of camaraderie amongst the fellow strikers and the many interesting conversations struck (pardon the pun) with various people at different times. One of the many topics discussed was food. It is after all one of the pleasures of life. Annalisa kindly shared this amazing pasta sauce while on the “barricades”. As the name suggests it comes from the Liguria region, where Genova is situated. I guarantee that if you make it once you’ll want to make it again. Da leccarsi i baffi, per dirla in italiano! Continue reading ‘Porcini, parsley and pine nut pasta’

spaghetti with courgette, salmon and saffron

If one wanted one could make a different pasta sauce every day of the year. Pasta is so versatile! And yet we invariably end up  making the same sauces, week in week out. Am I right? All we need is a bit of inspiration. So ta dah! Here’s a quick and easy recipe for you to try.  It was  Manuela, my step mother, who made this lovely pasta dish for me, originally using pancetta. I substituted it with salmon, as I am  semi vegetarian now, and I thought it worked very well too. Of course, you can use any kind of pasta you like. So what are you waiting for: it’s quick, it’s easy and it’s tasty! No excuses to make that boring bolognaise sauce or carbonara yet again! Continue reading ‘Spaghetti with courgette, salmon and saffron’

penne all'arrabbiata

Can you believe it? I have NEVER in my whole life made or even attempted to make an arrabbiata sauce, which to the non Italians amongst you, means the “angry” sauce. The reason why it’s angry, in case you are wondering, is that it contains loads of chilli, making it quite hot, hence cross! If I’m not mistaken this sauce comes from the Lazio region . I got the inspiration to try it out when I went to Rome, the capital of Lazio, at the beginning of September. Also I had to use some beautiful chilli peppers which had been happily growing on my windowsill, courtesy of my youngest son who is a chilli fanatic and had given me a plant to take care of (I murdered the previous plant he gave me so I had been nurturing this latest one with tender, loving care and it promptly rewarded me with lovely plump red chillies). I understand there are different versions of arrabbiata sauce out there  but the one I made, after loads of searching on the internet, seems to be the kosha one. Continue reading ‘Penne all’arrabbiata’