Slow cooked spring vegetables, ricotta, prosciutto with spaghetti

The base of this dish is spring vegetables cooked slowly alongside garlic and basil in olive oil. From here you can take this recipe any way you like - it also makes an excellent side dish.  But of course I would make a pasta. It is so fresh, it is hard to beat, even though …

Reblochon Risotto

Basic concept. Make a vegetable risotto. Cover with slices of a strong alpine cheese, like Reblochon. Grill until the cheese melts and you can spoon mounds of risotto into bowls, oozing with strings of cheese that will delight your eager audience. I have made a butternut squash risotto here, because  I try desperately to sneak …

Hoisin Pork Meatballs, butternut squash and rice noodles

Noodles that achieve a balanced protein to vegetable to carb ratio are elusive. Even with the best intentions, we all know that the noodles are the best part and if you could take everything else out, you probably would.  Adding spiralled butternut squash to cooked rice noodles means you get the continual satisfaction of noodles …

Kimchi Fried Rice

Full of punchy flavour and mellowed with butter, this Korean favourite is a winner at all times of the day or night. First sampled at 2am in Clapham (what more  do you need to know), Kimchi Fried Rice is eternally satisfying, whatever the eating circumstance.  A family favourite in Korea, this recipe is very quick …

Seafood Risotto, inspired by Venice

This is one of the fastest risottos in my repertoire. It's made with no stock and the ingredients can be thrown in straight from the freezer. What makes this risotto "Venetian" is the addition of spices, which is a rather loose definition, but without doubt an identifying factor of the risottos from this region. In …

Fish and pistachio pasta

This is a Ligurian recipe, first sampled in the beautiful seaside town of Camogli. There, they made it using swordfish and trofie pasta, which is the typical pasta of the Liguria region. Trofie can be difficult to get your hands on unless you go to an Italian store.  I managed to find a tiny version …

Pasta alla Carbonara

Pasta alla Carbonara is a perennial favourite no matter what country you come from. These days, it's old news that cream is strictly forbidden when making an authentic Carbonara but it's not just this that makes Mamma's version so much better than anything you'll find at most Italian restaurants. We all know there's Carbonara and …

Cacio e pepe

Coming soon! The version in this photo (including the nifty parmesan cheese bowl) was created by Cara Viverito and myself one Friday night back in the days of the Ravenscourt Park flat. Since then, I have sampled more versions of Cacio e pepe than you can shake a stick at, so it's going to be …

Venetian Anchovy and Onion Pasta

This is one of my favourite all time pastas. Tried and tested on appreciative friends from London, to Paris, to Sydney for its sweet, slow cooked onions and how the anchovy melts to create a delicious sauce. You will find this dish in good restaurants all over Venice, known there as bigoli in salsa and, happily, …

Spaghetti con le Vongole

If you have known me for any length of time, I have likely served you a version of this Venetian classic. In New Zealand, we made it with tua tua and pipis gathered at One Tree Point, or we used the delicious South Island littleneck clams from the tanks at the Auckland Fish Market.  At …

Cheat’s Focaccia

This could not be more simple. Go to your local supermarket (eg. Sainsburys). Buy a pizza base. It needs to be one of the fatter style ones, which are always the cheapest, not the fancy thin pizza base you may find in the gourmet section. Pre-heat the oven to 180 fan bake. Liberally pour olive …