pasta andamp risotto

Just a handful of ingredients makes a fantastic carbonara and, done properly, it’s a thing of beauty. 

Gennaro's classic spaghetti carbonara

g Parmesan cheese

x 150 g piece of higher-welfare pancetta

spaghetti

garlic

extra virgin olive oil

Carbonara is a classic pasta sauce made with cream, bacon and Parmesan and is absolutely delicious. I've added gorgeous courgettes for a summery twist. Try to buy the best ingredients you can, as that’s what really helps to make this dish amazing. I’m using a flowering variety of thyme but normal thyme is fine to use. When it comes to the type of pasta, you can serve carbonara with spaghetti or linguine, but I’ve been told by Italian mammas (who I don’t argue with!) that penne is the original, so that’s what I’m using in this recipe. Before you start cooking, it’s important to get yourself a very large pan, or use a high-sided roasting tray so you can give the pasta a good toss.

Beautiful courgette carbonara

green and yellow courgettes

penne

eggs

ml single cream

Parmesan cheese

olive oil

higher-welfare back bacon

½ a bunch of fresh thyme (15 grams)

courgette flowers (optional)

You must try this one. Penne and rigatoni work well in place of orecchiette – and are widely available everywhere.

Broccoli & anchovy orecchiette

broccoli

anchovy

butter

red chillies

450 g dried orecchiette

Making a beautiful risotto is so easy! All it takes is a little love and care and this base recipe

A basic risotto recipe

1.1 litres organic stock

onion

celery

unsalted butter

400 g risotto rice

wine glasses of dry white vermouth (dry Martini

Making meatballs from scratch is a great way of using under-loved, cheap cuts of meat, plus you know exactly what’s gone into them. I’ve kept the pasta simple to let those Sicilian flavours really sing. 

Sicilian Meatballs Al Forno

g raisins

balsamic vinegar

500 g lamb neck

g sun-dried tomatoes

½ a bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley

g breadcrumbs

pine nuts

lemon

oregano

120 g buffalo mozzarella

red onion

red chilli

dried chilli

x plum tomatoes

cinnamon

red wine vinegar

sugar

½ a bunch of fresh basil

Tomato, red wine & chorizo risotto

shallots

chorizo

½ a bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley (15 grams)

750 milliliters–1 litre of organic chicken or vegetable stock

300 g risotto rice

ml red wine

Simple ingredients and little bit of love is all you need to make your own perfect pasta dough.

A basic recipe for fresh egg pasta

600 g Tipo '00' flour

The spicy sausage really fires up the light carbonara sauce – a great combo with the zesty salad! 

Chorizo carbonara

red chicory

green chicory

clementines

100 g baby spinach

mint

45 g Manchego cheese

sherry vinegar

runny honey

320 g dried penne

70 g Iberico chorizo

rosemary

fat-free natural yoghurt

This is a beautifully simple, classic Sicilian pasta dish – it’s incredibly satisfying, full of flavour, and feels like a great big hug in a bowl. It also contains two of your five-a-day (bonus!), and the nutty-flavoured wholewheat pasta is much higher in fibre than the white refined stuff (double bonus!), so is a fantastic switch to make. The aubergine takes on the most amazing texture, the capers and pecorino add a lovely saltiness to the sweet tomato sauce and the chilli flakes give it a lovely warmth.

Sicilian spaghetti alla Norma

aubergines

½ a bunch of fresh basil (15 grams)

chilli flakes

baby capers

320 g dried wholewheat spaghetti

g pecorino cheese

Pear & gorgonzola farfalle

150 g dried farfalle

g Gorgonzola cheese

radicchio

super-ripe pears

g unsalted walnut halves

This is a great basic recipe – it can be stretched in so many different ways to turn it into fantastically flavoured risottos.

Risotto bianco (white risotto)

There are a few techniques to making these little buggers. It’s one of my favourite pasta shapes, but weirdly tricky to master. I don’t want that to put you off – I’ve seen both 5-year-olds and 100-year-olds rattling it out in Italy very easily! Approach it with a Zen-like mind and I promise you’ll get into the rhythm soon enough.

Orecchiette

durum wheat flour

This delicious sausage pasta is one of my all-time favourites – and I  know you'll love it too!

Spicy sausage fusilli

fennel seeds

Italian sausages, Cumberland sausages or higher-welfare pork mince

ml white wine

fusilli

Super-nutritious broccoli is packed with vitamin K, keeping our bones strong and healthy, and contains folic acid and vitamin C, boosting our immune systems and helping us think properly.

Sausage pasta

higher-welfare chipolata sausages

onions

½ a bunch of fresh oregano (15 grams)

300 g dried wholewheat tagliatelle

Proper American-style mac and cheese – beautifully gooey and full-on, in-yer-face cheesy! Mac ’n’ cheese’ is a classic American pasta dish – everyone loves it. Sometimes it’s done so badly in the convenience area, it’s almost become famous for being horrible, but when you do it properly, trust me, it’s an absolute killer. Feel free to use any tubular pasta you want. I’ve made this dish my own by lightening it with sweet tomatoes and giving it some crunch with delicious breadcrumbs. Just you wait till you try it! This dish isn’t going to win any prizes in the nutrition department, but you can, and should, balance it with a nice salad. If you only have it once in a while as a special treat, it’ll do you no harm.

A killer mac 'n' cheese

plain flour

bay leaves

litre semi-skimmed milk

macaroni

tomatoes

g Cheddar cheese

thyme

Worcestershire sauce

nutmeg

breadcrumbs

Perfect for the weekend, this amazing risotto will blow everyone away. Slow-roasting the tomatoes transforms them into incredibly sweet, vibrant bombs of goodness that will explode in your mouth, while the combination of delicate seafood is a real treat. An utterly decadent dish, but totally worth it.

Seafood risotto

cherry tomatoes

½ a bunch of fresh rosemary (15 grams)

300 g mussels scrubbed, debearded,

500 g clams scrubbed, from sustainable sources

squid

300 g cooked white crab meat

saffron

heart of celery

fennel

½ a glass of white wine or rosé wine

fish stock (see tip)

butter (30 grams)

This herring pasta is great for so many reasons – it's really cheap, mega tasty and good for you!

Mediterranean-style herring linguine

500 g dried linguine

½ a bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley (15 grams)

x 40 g herring

This simple asparagus pasta has lovely earthy flavours – a great dish the whole family will love

Tagliatelle with asparagus, crispy pancetta and Parmesan

asparagus

pancetta

g Parmesan grated

sea salt

black pepper

Spinach lasagne

g flour

milk

bay leaf

spinach

ricotta cheese

300 g fresh lasagne sheets

Simple, beautiful and rustic, this dish originates from San Fele in the Basilicata region of southern Italy. The name essentially means stretched pasta with pangrattato (crispy breadcrumbs), but I’ve added an ingredient that’s unique to the region – a sweet, dried pepper known as peperone crusco (Senise), which are picked, hung and dried, and have long been integral to many local dishes. Toast them back to life in a hot pan, then chop and scatter them through your pangrattato for something truly special. A joy to eat.

Danny Devito's family pasta

kg ripe tomatoes

peperoni cruschi (dried Senise peppers)

Bringing together two big hitters – aubergine and lasagne – this recipe is guaranteed to make you smile. It’s cheesy, oozy and mega delicious, plus it’s really fun to make. First I steam the aubergine, to make it soft, silky and a total pleasure to eat, then I crisp it up with garlic, chilli, sage and lemon for added flavour, before turning it into the most scrumptious sauce. Enjoy!

Scruffy aubergine lasagne

each)

fresh sage (30 grams)

80 g mature Cheddar cheese

g almonds

This wonderful aubergine lasagne  keeps it simple with a few intensely delicious flavours – it has the same vibe as a Greek moussaka, but uses pasta rather than potatoes. 

Aubergine lasagne

basil

250 g fresh lasagne sheets

In Rome, Nonna Teresa introduced me to this method, which doesn’t use eggs. For restaurant service, when the gnocchi mix is made in advance, eggs are useful, but cooked this fresh you don’t need them. She believes the fresher the mix, the lighter the gnocchi, and she’s right – you get a very good result with this recipe. It’s an amazing gift to be able to make good gnocchi at home. It’s quick to cook, very cheap, and total comfort food.

Potato gnocchi

kg floury potatoes

flour

I've grilled the mushrooms and scattered them on top of the risotto for a gorgeous, nutty flavour

Grilled mushroom risotto

75 ml vermouth or white wine

wild mushrooms (try shiitake, girolle, chestnut

tarragon

lemon juice of

organic chicken or vegetable stock hot

porcini mushrooms

Without sounding too soppy, a well-made risotto is like a big cuddle from your mum; it just makes you feel good. Follow my basic risotto recipe, then create your own take on it. This version uses lots of lovely frozen veg. 

Freezer-raid springtime risotto

vegetable stock

g green veg, green beans and peas

Everybody loves super-quick pasta pesto – adding chicken and green beans makes it a great weeknight supper.

Pasta pesto

x 200 g skinless free-range chicken breasts

rapeseed oil

green beans

baby spinach

This is a celebration of delicious, sweet peas and is proper comfort food. It’s super-simple and quick to put together, and the beautiful sweetness of the peas is contrasted brilliantly by the salty depth of flavour from the guanciale. Pecorino is the Roman cheese of choice, made with sheep’s milk, and worth hunting out.

Tortiglioni

peas

80 g piece of higher-welfare guanciale (cured pig’s cheek) or smoked pancetta

½ a bunch of fresh mint (15 grams)

pea shoots to serve (optional)

This cheat’s vegan mac and cheese is just like the real thing – proper comfort food.

Vegan mac ‘n’ cheese

350 g dried macaroni

litre unsweetened organic soya milk

100 g dairy-free margarine

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Top Tags

Gennaro's classic spaghetti carbona...

Beautiful courgette carbonara

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The most viewed pasta andamp risotto recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine