Jessica Hughes

Jessica Hughes

Lentil Pasta (‘Pasta e Lenticchie')

Ingredients (for 4-ish people)

Lentils - 300g (we used lenticchie di Castellucio)

Short pasta - around 200g (we used ‘pasta mista’ which is a mix of several different shapes; you could also just use broken up bits of spaghetti. NB break BEFORE cooking!)

Fresh parsley (also v. nice with coriander, although that’s not in the traditional Italian recipe)

Chilli, Garlic (2-3 cloves), extra virgin olive oil, salt.

Instructions

Boil the lentils until soft. No salt needed at this point - just plain water.

In another, larger pan, lightly fry the garlic in olive oil, together with the chilli. Don’t let the garlic turn yellow/gold though!

Tip in the lentils, and add salt to taste.

Boil the pasta in a separate pan. When it is still very al dente (even halfway through its recommended cooking time), drain and add to the lentils. Then cook together for a few more minutes. Note that the pasta will continue to cook in the lentils.

Add the fresh parsley and drizzle some olive oil.

Eat from a wooden bowl with a handcarved spoon, preferably around a fire with friends :)

Broccoli Pasta (‘Orechiette e Broccoli’)

Ingredients (for 4 people)

Broccoli (2 x small heads, or 1 x large). You can use any kind of broccoli, or even replace with kale or another brassica.

Olive oil.

Garlic.

Peperoncino.

Anchovies (or leave out, for the vegan/vegetarian version).

Orechiette (‘little ear’) pasta, or another short-shape pasta like rigatoni.

Instructions

Boil the broccoli florets in a large pan of salted water. Make sure the pan is large enough to cook the pasta in afterwards!

When the hardest bit of the stem has softened, take out of the pan and put aside in a dish. Use a lovely sieve with hand-carved wooden handle if you have one ;) Don’t throw this water away, since you’ll be using it to cook the pasta later.

In another large pan (e.g. a frying pan), put some oil, garlic, anchovies and peperoncino.

Very lightly fry (never let the garlic go brown - this applies to all Italian cooking).

Add the broccoli and start to fry them, turning up the flame up. Slightly mash them as you go. Keep adding a bit of the cooking water, to stop them from burning.

After around ten minutes (when all the flavours are mixed together), turn off the heat.

Then reboil the water that you cooked the broccoli in. Add the pasta and cook until it is almost ready.

Take the pasta out of the water (again - keep the water!) and add to the frying pan. Stir together with the broccoli. Turn on the heat again, and keep stirring and adding some of the cooking water, until you have a nice texture and everything is mixed together.

Let it cool a bit, and then serve. Add pecorino romano (or parmesan) if you like before serving.

Pasta, Beans and Asparagus

Ingredients (for 4 people):

Two tins of white beans (cannellini – you can also cook these from dried, after soaking overnight)

Asparagus

250g ‘short’ pasta (e.g. ‘tubetti’ or another small pasta shape – even broken spaghetti works well).

Peperoncino (Hot Chilli)

Instructions

In a big pan, add oil, garlic, and peperoncino. Lightly fry until the garlic is just turning yellowy (take care not to burn the garlic!).

Add the beans, together with the liquid from the can. Salt to taste.

Bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes, then add the raw asparagus. [NB. some cooks only use the asparagus tips here, while others use more of the asparagus, chopping it into thin slices and discarding only the hard ends].

Cook for 5 minutes, then add 250g of ‘short’ pasta. Cook for 7-8 minutes, and serve with a drizzle of olive oil.

For a ‘red’ variation of this dish (‘in rosso’), add a teaspoon of tomato concentrate together with the beans.

Spaghetti with Courgettes (‘Spaghetti alla Nerano')

Ingredients

Courgettes (and courgette flowers if you have them)

Garlic

Onion or shallots

Olive oil

Basil (very important!)

Parmesan

Spaghetti

Salt and pepper

Lemon


Instructions

Cut courgettes into roundels.

Crush the garlic.

Cut shallot(s) into semicircular slices.

Crush garlic

Take large heavy-based pan and put lots of oil in it - for four people probably about 1/2 glass of oil.

Pul the garlic and shallots and courgettes all in together (in the cold oil), and add a finger of water, and salt.

Cover with a lid and cook on a medium heat.

Once the courgettes are halfway done (just a few minutes, until they start getting soft), take the lid of and let the water evaporate. The courgettes will start to fry lightly - but make sure they don’t burn!

When they are done, take off the heat.

Boil water for the pasta and add salt. This recipe works well with pasta that is quite starchy, so you could use slightly less water than usual.

Cook the spaghetti. Halfway through cooking, take the spaghetti out of the water (best to use metal pincers if you have them - but if you need to drain them in a colander, just save a big cup of water for later). Put the spaghetti in the pan with the courgettes, garlic and onlon.

Add some of the saved cooking water, and mix in the pan. (This technique uses the starch from the boiling water to emulsify the oil, which creates creamy texture - without adding cream).

Tear up a handful of basil leaves, and add to the pan. (Turn off the heat at this point).

Add some lemon zest and pepper to taste. You can also add a few drops of lemon juice to the pan.

Up to this point, the recipe is suitable for vegans.

If you’re not vegan, add some parmesan and stir into the pasta.

Serve and enjoy.

Pumpkin Pasta ('Pasta e Cocozza')

Ingredients

500g of pumpkin, cut into cubes

200g of ‘tubetti’ (or other short pasta shape)

Olive oil (around 8 spoons), parsley, salt, 2 cloves of garlic and a pinch of pepperoncino/chilli.

Instructions

Lightly fry the garlic in the oil until lightly browned (you can take the garlic out at this point, or leave it in until later if you prefer).

Tip the pumpkin cubes into the oil, then add the pepperoncino together with some salt.

Mix, cover, and cook on a low flame, adding some water if necessary.

The pumpkin should become soft and creamy, almost to the point of being a purée.

Tip in the dry pasta and cook together with the pumpkin for 10 minutes or so (adding some water if necessary), then sprinkle in the parsley and mix together.