Pasta with mussels in tomato sauce – Simple recipe

I just love the flavour of the sea. Pasta with mussels is usually a dish I make at weekends simply because the mussels need to be really fresh and therefore bought on the same day but, as this is an easy dish and of quick preparation, you could certainly make it during the week if…

Pasta with cherry tomatoes, olives and burrata – quick & easy

Ah summertime! Don’t you feel amazing when the sun is out? Right now all over Europe temperatures are exceptionally high whereas here in England the weather has been a bit mixed so far but it is getting hotter now. When the sun is shining it is particularly beautiful over here because it is never too…

Chef Aldo Zilli makes pasta alla chitarra

During the past 8 years as a blogger I have been fortunate enough to meet several well known British chefs and get cookery lessons from them as well. Most of them were Italians or somehow they had a link with Italy. Because of the power of the media, you see these people on television and…

Black ink spaghetti with crab – “The long and the short of pasta”

Pasta is a feeling as well as fuel” Most people love pasta and I certainly do so, that’s why I was pleased to review “The Long and Short of Pasta”, a book which has a collection of over 70 Italian pasta dishes. The authors, Katie and Giancarlo Caldesi cover the basics of fresh pasta and…

Carrot Gnocchi

Carrot gnocchi is something that has intrigued me for a while. Basically instead of potatoes, like for the classic gnocchi recipe, you use carrots instead.. and quite of few of them. The result is a gnocchi with a delicate flavour, a little sweet and actually something more like a pasta rather than gnocchi as the…

Pasta with carrot pesto – easy recipe

Pesto with carrots? Oh yes please! This is healthy, delicious and very tasty indeed. Spring is here and I am on the look for delicious and healthy meals for the family. All you do is whizzing the carrots with walnuts and basil in a blender. Add enough olive oil to get a nice and smooth…

Zucchini Lasagna with bacon

Give me lasagna any day of the week.. or almost! Lasagna tastes of mamma.. at least for an Italian. Lasagna takes me back to those Sunday lunches in my childhood with plenty of food on the table. My mum always used to make the classic meat lasagna and only later she became more adventurous and…

Rigatoni with olives, peppers and ricotta – easy mid-week meal

Pasta always comes to the rescue when you need a quick and easy dinner. It is March and in this part of the world we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.. yes it will be spring soon.. more sunshine, more time outdoors and lots delicious fresh vegetables like peas…

Simple mushroom and tomato spaghetti

My weight is shifting nicely but I am eating! I am no under no punishing regimes at all. I am eating the same but in smaller quantities. After Christmas I had a “foggy” mind and I was tired and a little overweight too, but now just 3 weeks later I feel much more alive and…

Spaghetti alla Vesuviana – Vesuvio style spaghetti

An explosion of flavours of the Mediterranean, that’s how I would describe pasta “alla Vesuviana” or pasta “Vesuvio style”, the Neapolitan vulcano! As you might expect this is a spicy one although, of course, you can choose how much spicy you want it to be. Very similar to a Puttanesca pasta but without the anchovies,…