Weeknight pastas - three delicious and easy pastas to add on to your midweek rotation.

+ LOTS OF EXTRA PASTA IDEAS.

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Hello folks,

Nice to be here again!

This week I chat about one of the nations go-to dinner fixes - pasta! we’re not going in depth in this issue on hand rolling or own cavetelli or filling raviolis. In this issue I wanna take it back to some simple easy weeknight pasta ideas to get your home cooking juices going!

There’s an oozy, cheesy tomato and mascarpone lasagne thats far easier to throw together than its meaty cousin. For my paid subs there a slurpy ready in under 15 minutes kale aglio e olio and a delicious broccoli and walnut pasta from my friend Clare Cole!

+ lots of inspo for other quick fix pasta ideas + a guide to buying the best dried pasta - because I love all the added tips and tricks I can throw at you.

Happy Sunday, happy pasta slurping.

Esther x

Pasta with charred tomatoes, butter chilli and mint

Did you know I worked as a chef in Italy in my early twenties? thats when I learnt some of the most valuable cooking skills of my career. I lived in Tuscany on a small farm where I learnt to make perfectly creamy risottos, gelato and stuffed tortellini. But one of my most valuable lessons was spotting good quality dried pasta. Thats where I learnt that fresh isn’t always best!

GOOD VALUE PASTA

Spending a little bit more on your pasta and ditching the home brand stuff is something I did years ago and have never looked back! Honestly, spending a little bit more makes a lot of difference.

I’m really not a fan of supermarket ‘fresh’ pasta. Its usually marked at a higher price through false advertising, under the assumption thats its better because its from the fridge. But really the dried pasta imported from Italy is far better than the supermarket own fresh pasta. The only fresh pasta I think thats worth using are lasagne sheets. Fresh pasta doesn’t necessarily mean better, even in Italy a lot of what you’ll eat in the home kitchen and in restaurants is dried!

Easy to spot - A good quality dried pasta shouldn’t have a smooth, shiny feel. It should be rough between your fingers and a lighter pastel colour rather than a bright yellow.

Try mixing up you shapes. Its tempting to stick to penne and farfalle but trying shapes like Rigatoni and caserecce are a good place to start when you’re moving on from your classic shapes.

Best shop-brought brands -

Garafolo -Dried 100% durham wheat pasta made in Naples. Comes in 500g bags at about £2.30 a bag. Good texturally and they have a huge range of shapes and sizes. Favourites are Radiatori, Casarecce and Fusilli lunghi. I love the penne zitti which is essentially a smoother version of penne.

Rumo - I used to cook with this a lot when I lived in Italy. It has a nice, robust texture. Really good value for money and very popular amongst the Italians - so you know it will be acceptable if the nonnas use it! I like the Paccheri, Mezzi Rigatoni, gnocchi sardi and the linguini. Roughly £2.50 for a 500g bag - worth spending the extra pennies for!

De Cecco - This one comes in at the best value and I like their classic shapes like fussilli, rigatoni and penne. £2 for a 500g bag. You can buy this guy in most supermarkets!

WHEN YOU WANNA SPLASH THE CASH

I usually cook with the better stuff at weekends. Tbh I never scrimp on spaghetti as I really think the better quality stuff is FAR better. Its nearly always double length which is great. These are my absolute top dried pastas. Stock up on the cheaper ones but throw a few of the better ones in for nights when you want to treat yourself! Be warned, once you get hooked on the good stuff, its not easy to go back…

Mancini - Yikes this pasta is very good. Again I discovered it in Italy but you can buy it here in Eataly, Ocado, Natoora, online. Traditional shaping methods create a rougher, more porous texture, making it better for soaking up sauces. Dried slowly with no preservatives for an untouched, authentic flavour. I like the spaghetti and the Mezzo Maniche the best. Around £4.80 for 500g.

Gentile - Not the easiest to find, I often order it online or fill my suitcase with it when I go to Italy. You can buy it on the River Cafe online shop too! Its next level in texture, tastes like you’re in your own trattoria at home. The makers of Gentile use traditional methods of craftsmanship using fine Italian semolina enhanced by an ancient, unique drying method. I like the linguine and spaghetti but all of its good. £6 for 500g.

What about the cooking?

Salt - season that water guys, season it, then season it more even if you think its salty enough.

Pan - don’t undersize on the pan. The biggest, roomiest you have. Too small and some of the pasta will be undercooked and the lack of room will cause it to stick together.

Taste - Keep tasting from about 6 mins onwards every 30 seconds until its just al dente enough.

Water - keep that water after cooking to use in your sauce. More than you might need, then you can add as much as you need as you go!

Tongs - if you haven’t already got a good, long pair of tongs do so now. There the best implement for moving the pasta round and scooping it out to transfer it. I like ones with a good grip.

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QUICK PASTA IDEAS - each serve 2 but can be easily doubled

Anchovy, lemon, caper, chilli - Heat 70ml good extra virgin olive oil in a pan. Add two thinly sliced garlic cloves and fry for 5 mins or until golden. Add 6 chopped anchovies and mush them into the pan until melted then add 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes and cook for 1 minute. Cook 250g spaghetti or linguine, reserving 100ml the cooking water. Use tongs to transfer the spaghetti to the pan then warm everything over a medium heat with a splash of the cooking water, 1 tbsp drained capers and some seasoning. Finish with a handful finely chopped flat leaf parsley. - this would also work well with 150g mixed crab meat instead of anchovies!

Charred cherry tomatoes, butter, chilli and mint (pictured below!) - Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a pan. Add 300g cherry tomatoes and fry over a medium-high heat for 7-10 mins or until lightly charred on the outside and beginning to soften. Mash a third of the tomatoes down with the back of a spoon. Add 1 tsp Aleppo pepper and 1/2 tsp dried mint. Cook 250g pasta then add to the pan with 60g salted butter and a small dash of the starchy cooking water and some seasoning, the liquid should help emulsify the sauce and turn it glossy. Mix 150g thick greek yoghurt with some salt and a small grated garlic clove. Spoon the pasta into bowls and top with the yoghurt and some chopped dill if you like.

Roasted pepper and mascarpone - Tip 200g of jarred roasted peppers into a high speed blender with 100g mascarpone, 1 tsp red wine vinegar, 70g grated parmesan or a veggie alternative and 2 tbsp olive oil. Blend until super smooth. Cook 250g pasta, reserving 200ml cooking water. Add the pasta, pepper sauce and half the water to the pan and warm through, adding more of the water if you like it looser. Finish with half a small bunch of basil or fresh oregano, chopped. - add chilli to this if you like!

Sausage, fennel and Cavolo Nero - Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a large, deep frying pan. add 1 bashed garlic clove and cook gently for 8 mins, then remove with a slotted spoon. Squeeze the meat out of three free-range pork sausages into the pan, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon into nuggets. Raise the heat and fry for 5-7 mins or until golden brown. Add 1 tsp crushed fennel seeds and cook for 1 min. Add 200g sliced Cavolo Nero and fry for 5 mins or until wilted. Cook 250g dried pasta, reserving 150ml cooking water. Drain the pasta and transfer to the pan. Add a splash of water and 50g grated parmesan and raise the heat. Add the zest of 1 small lemon and season. Serve with lots of extra grated parmesan. - add 1/2 tsp chilli flakes to this if you like!

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3 good pasta recipes for the week

Tomato and mascarpone lasagne

My friends mum said she particularly liked this recipe because ‘Making the béchamel is the least fun bit!’ cant argue with that. This gives you a simpler fix of the layers of sauce and pasta we all love in less time and with less pans!

PREP 10 mins COOK 1 hour 30 mins SERVES 6

3 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

½ tsp dried chilli flakes

2 fat garlic cloves crushed

3 x 400g cans finely chopped toms – I used Mutti

1 tsp sugar

1 x 250g tub mascarpone

1 x 25g bunch basil

70g parmesan

4 x balls mozzarella – cows milk not buffalo

400g fresh lasagne sheets

Salt and black pepper

Heat the oil in a large non-stick casserole dish or saucepan. Add the onions and a good pinch of salt and fry over a low heat for 10-12 mins or until softened and translucent. Add the chill and garlic and fry for 2 mins. Tip in the tinned tomatoes and stir through the sugar. Simmer, uncovered for 20 mins, stirring regularly. Season well with salt. Leave to cool down for 20 mins then blitz with a stick blender until smooth and stir through the mascarpone. Chop half the basil and add it to the sauce.

Finely grate the parmesan. Thoroughly drain then pat dry the mozzarella. Tear the mozzarella into chunky pieces.

Heat the oven to 200C/180c fan. Spread a few tbsp of the sauce on the base of a 23 x 30cm baking dish. Add a single layer of lasagne, followed by some sauce, mozzarella, parmesan, seasoning and 5-6 basil leaves. Keep repeating these layers finishing with a good layer of basil, then mozzarella and finely parmesan. Drizzle with a little olive oil.

Bake in the oven for 40 mins or until golden and bubbling. Leave to rest for 10 mins before serving up. Finely grate a little more cheese over each slice, if you like.