pasta allo scarpariello

This delicious pasta recipe is like a creamy, spicy, cheesy version of a classic sugo recipe.It’s a great meat free dinner or dinner party dish, with a salad. You can make it with any pasta you fancy but it works particularly well with a big ass chunky pasta. I made it with papadelle, but also look forward to making it with manicotti, calamarata or any large pasta.

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pasta con le fava fresche (pasta with broad beans)

Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of the ingredients in this Italian recipe, its blinking tasty and tastes deliciously fresh and summery, although, I would eat it all year round as it’s all store cupboard. The texture of the broad beans works so well with the spaghetti and all it’s plant based if you don’t add parmesan or pecorino.

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pasta alla checca with fennel

The flavours of this really sum up Italy for me, it’s a really fresh delicious pasta recipe which dates back to the sixties in Rome, the area where my Italian family come from. There’s lots of versions but my favourite has ground fennel in it which I love, I grind the seeds in my coffee grinder or with a mortar and pestle so it’s super fresh. Its the perfect dinner for al fresco dining and you can add a burrata on top, or fried capers. I just serve it with a salad.

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Italian aubergine pasta pie (tamburello di melanzane)

This delicious Italian recipe is a proper dinner party or special occasion centre piece. It looks amazing as well as tasting fantastic. It’s not the quickest of my recipes but it’s really worth the effort. You can serve it after anti pasti with a salad and it’s a bit like a pie version of Pasta Alla Norma, so if you like that you will love this.

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panpapato

this rich chocolate coated Italian cake tastes so deliciously Italian, it’s not that sweet and packed with cocoa, honey, spices and almonds. It’s traditionally served in the winter and at Christmas in Italy with a glass of wine or beer and it’s perfect after dinner with an aprés dinner cheese course. It can also be entirely plant based, as it says in my recipe notes. I find it tastes even nicer after a few days when all those delicious spicy flavours have matured.

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karedok

This is my version of the all raw peanutty salad that comes from Indonesia, the ingredients I put in it are readily available in the supermarket, but if you can get Thai aubergines, which I couldn’t get, then you can add chunks of those too if you want it to be even more authentic, but it is delicious either way(it’s also a good fridge clearer outer using up veg from the fridge) You can serve it with rice if you want, or just on it’s own as a tasty healthy salad. 

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pumpkin ravioli

Pumpkin ravioli is one of the most delicious things ever and worth the effort. It is a labour of love but the flavours are sublime. The pumpkin is slightly sweet and combines so well with the delicious flavours from the nutmeg and sage. It’s a great starter to a dinner party or as a main meal with a salad and a glass of wine and perfect for a dinner date.

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