Introduction
Just like pesto, trofiette hails from Liguria in Northern Italy and is one of our all-time favourite pasta shapes to pair with pesto. Traditionally, this quirky little shape would be served with green beans and potatoes, but when we're serving it with top-quality pesto, we like to eat it in its full, unadulterated glory with little more than fresh Parmesan shavings as a garnish.
The name trofiette is based on troph, the Greek word for nourishment, and is basically the shorter, chubbier relative of its more famous cousin, trofie. Whereas it was once a highly regional shape, passed down from mother to daughter, these days it is mass produced in huge quantities with specialist dies and machinery. Pasta di Liguria makes a decent box of trofiette, but for companies to keep their customers coming back for more, they must provide an endlessly reliable product that has a predictable size, shape, and cooking time. That's all very well, but reliability comes at a cost. The result is so formulaic that it lacks any kind of charm, character, or poetry.
If you've ever had the chance to enjoy fresh, handmade trofiette, you'll know there is no going back. To truly fall in love with fresh pasta, you need to learn to not just accept but enthusiastically embrace imperfections. In the same way that every snowflake is unique, every handmade pasta shape will be a little bit different from anything that came before it; and that makes for a diverse, interesting, and enjoyable eat.
When we set about learning how to make trofiette, we watched a dozen YouTube clips of nonnas sitting on the roadside, churning out dozens of these shapes at such blisteringly high speeds that it made our heads spin. They make it look so easy that we were crest-fallen when the inevitable realisation hit that this simple looking shape is actually far harder to perfect than would first meet the eye.
The theory of making trofiette can be taught in 2 minutes flat, but the execution must be learned over many hours of practice, trial, and errors.
Made from nothing more than durum wheat semolina, water, and a little salt, trofiette are made by dragging small nuggets of dough between the palm of your hand and a wooden surface. Pulling the dough diagonally towards you with the right amount of pressure causes it to curl and form its distinctive shape of a twisted middle and tapered ends. The resulting shape is brilliant at holding sauces.
]]>Introduction
If we were Italian, our family would probably disown us for serving pesto with pappardelle.
We're the first to admit that pappardelle is most at home when paired with hearty, chunky sauces like ragù, but it's one of our favourite pasta shapes to eat, and we have no problem pairing it guilt-free with pesto.
This legendary pasta shape hails from Tuscany and gets its name from the Italian verb pappare, meaning "to eat with enthusiasm." The broad, flat, ribbon-like noodles look a bit like fettuccine but are significantly wider. You can buy it dried in most major supermarkets, but it won't have the luxurious, egg-rich flavour of the fresh alternative.
Pro tip
The confit egg yolk is optional but recommended. Simply place the yolks in an oven proof dish and submerge in olive oil. Cook in a 65°C fan oven for 45-60 minutes. Your efforts will be rewarded with a gloriously jammy egg yolk that will ooze over your pasta when you puncture it with your knife.
Introduction
This dish is all about colour, flavour and textural contrasts. We've opted for dried fusilli pasta, as its corkscrew shape with plenty of twists and grooves makes it one of the very best shapes to pair with pesto.
You could use fresh fusilli if you wanted to, but you won't be able to achieve the al dente texture, which we think is so important with this dish.
Pro tip
If we have the time, rather than just fry the bacon, we like to glaze the rashers with maple syrup and place them in a low-temperature oven. This dehydrates the rashers, concentrates their flavour, and ensures they shatter when you snap them.
Introduction
Known as lasagna al forno aperta in Italian, open lasagne is a delicious and visually appealing alternative to traditional layered lasagne. In fact, ever since we were first introduced to it at our favourite Italian restaurant, this is now the only style of lasagne we make.
The one thing that's always annoyed us with traditional, oven-baked lasagne is that because you're cooking it "blind," you have no idea how well the pasta is cooking. Inevitably, you end up with some of the pasta being overcooked and mushy, while the outer edges are overcooked and positively crunchy. Open lasagne solves that problem because you're cooking the pasta separately from the rest of the ingredients and so have complete control over its texture.
Pro tip
While pre-cut, dried lasagne sheets are perfectly fine for a quick weeknight meal, making your own pasta sheets is well worth the effort. The recipe couldn't be simpler: one egg and a pinch of salt for every 100g of flour. See our silk handkerchief pasta recipe for instructions.
Introduction
It's not often we find ourselves with leftover roast pork, but because it tends to dry out, we like to shred it and toss it with some pesto to give it a new lease of life.
Here we're pairing pork and peas with trofie, one of our all-time favourite pasta shapes. Colloquially called strofie, this thin, twisted shape can be traced to the tiny town of Testana in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, although it's now mostly associated with the coastal town of Recco.
According to local legend, a woman created this quirky shape by accident when she added too much water to her dough, causing it to stick to her hands. To dislodge the dough, she rubbed the palms of her hands together briskly, and off fell these quirky little sticks of pasta.
Video clips of women effortlessly making trofie would imply that it's a cinch to make, but nothing could be further from the truth. It took us around six hours of practice until we could produce something even remotely passable. The basic technique is to take a small ball of dough and roll it diagonally across your worktop using the palm of your hand. Get it right, and you will end up with a cute, twisted shape with tapered ends.
If you have the patience, it really is worth trying to make trofie yourself because the mass-produced stuff is far too uniform for our liking. The rustic charm of handmade pasta is that no two pieces are the same, and that ensures that every mouthful is different, making for a more pleasurable eating experience.
]]>Introduction
Supermarket gnocchi has saved many a weeknight meal at GO! Pesto HQ, but once you've tasted fresh gnocchi, there really is no going back.
Homemade gnocchi are not hard to make, but it's going to take you an hour or so from start to finish. The secret to the fluffiest, most pillow-like dumplings is to use as little flour as possible.
There's no easy way to describe when you know your gnocchi is ready for shaping, but the second it stops sticking to either your hands or the work surface, that's when you'll know.
Recommended equipment
Potato ricer
Gnocchi board
Pro tip
Gnocchi making is all about less is more. Work the dough too much, and you'll end up with gummy dumplings. Use too much flour, and your dumplings are going to be overly dense. Cook them for too long, and they'll disintegrate when you try to stir through the pesto.
Introduction
We can understand why some people, bunny owners in particular, are squeamish about eating rabbit. As with so many foods (frog legs and snails being the obvious ones), our friends on the continent are far more relaxed when it comes to eating things that in the UK are considered unusual.
The fact is, wild rabbits, despite being cute, are officially considered pests due to their lightening reproduction speed and ability to cause significant destruction to agricultural crops, vegetable gardens, and plant borders. They also happen to be lean, affordable, and exceptionally tasty, so we happily tuck into them whenever we can without an ounce of guilt.
We think once you've tasted our rabbit ragù with an added dollop of pesto, you'll be a convert and never be satisfied with a beef ragù again.
As for our choice of pasta, well, pici was new to us when we took a trip to Tuscany where we found it being served with pretty much any sauce under the sun. It’s basically linguine’s fatter cousin, so chubby that it takes a little longer to cook and, in many ways, bears more similarities to Asian udon noodles than Italy's more famous pasta shapes.
Recommended equipment
Casserole dish
Digital kitchen scales
Pro tip
While it seems counterintuitive to add anything fish-based to your meaty ragù, we urge you not to skip the fish sauce. Not only does this fermented anchovy liquor add a ton of savouriness but it also has the super-human ability to make meat taste meatier without adding even a slight hint of fishiness. One day, we'll get our heads around the science behind this amazing freak of nature.
Ingredients for four
Pasta | 300g |
Wild rabbit | x1 |
Tomatoes | x2 tins |
Onion | x1 |
Carrots | x1 |
Celery rib | x1 |
Garlic | x4 cloves |
Red wine | 125g |
Pesto | 50g |
Sherry vinegar | 10g |
Fish sauce | 15g |
Pancetta | 100g (optional) |
Dried mushrooms | 5g (optional) |
Dried oregano | 1g (optional) |
Tomato paste | 10g (optional) |
Bay leaves | x2 |
Seasoning | as needed |
Parmesan | as needed |
Fresh herbs | as needed |
Oil | as needed |
Method
Your life will be a lot easier if you can source pre-butchered rabbit legs, but in the UK, it's much more common to find whole frozen rabbits. All the gory stuff (skinning, gutting, etc.) will have already been done, leaving you to simply remove all four legs and separate the ribs from the saddle. There are plenty of videos online showing the process, and it really is no great hardship.
Add a generous glug of oil to a casserole dish and heat on a hob until the oil is shimmering and just starting to show wisps of smoke. Add the rabbit and sear until nicely browned all over. Remove it and set aside.
Peel and finely dice the carrots, onion, and celery, and add them along with the pancetta to the casserole dish. Sauté on a low heat until softened but not browned, about 10-15 minutes.
Crush the garlic and add, continue cooking for another 2 minutes, then whack up the heat, add the wine (we favour a full-bodied red wine like Malbec or Chianti), and cook off the alcohol.
Add the bay leaves, fresh herbs (rosemary, sage, and thyme are a winning trilogy), tomatoes, vinegar, oregano, mushrooms, and rabbit to the dish and cover securely with a lid or tinfoil. Simmer on the lowest heat you can muster (or cook in a 160°C oven) for 2-3 hours, or until the rabbit meat is beautifully tender and starting to fall off the bone.
Remove the meat from the casserole dish and allow it to cool slightly. Shred the meat from the bone, either keeping it chunky or super fine; your call. Make doubly sure to remove all the bone fragments, as there's nothing more disappointing than getting a fragment of bone stuck in your tooth after all this effort.
Add the shredded meat back to the saucepan and keep warm while you cook your pasta.
Add the pasta to a pan of salted water and cook until al dente, about 12-14 minutes. Add the pasta to the sauce along with the pesto and stir well. Plate up, adding a generous amount of Parmesan before devouring and wondering how you've ever lived without this incredible dish in your culinary repertoire.
]]>Introduction
Frank Sinatra’s love of pesto is legendary, and he never liked it more than when paired with silk handkerchief pasta. It's one of the most luxurious, elegant, and graceful foodstuffs you will find anywhere on earth.
Called mandilli de saea in the Genovese dialect (but sometimes called fazzoletti di seta or lasagnette), some say this Ligurian style of pasta is one of the most perfect pairings for pesto you can get.
We understand the temptation to try and cheat by using shop-bought lasagna sheets, but you will end up seriously disappointed. The whole charm of silk handkerchief pasta dish is that the sheets are so thin you can practically read a newspaper through them, and the only way you're going to achieve that is by making them yourself.
Recommended equipment
Dough scraper
Digital kitchen scales
Pasta machine
Pro tip
One egg for every 100g of flour is the standard formula for making fresh pasta, but because eggs vary in size so much, we opt for a belt and braces approach and weigh exactly 57g of egg for every 100g of flour.
Introduction
Maltagliati is the undisputed champion of frugal pasta shapes. Well, we say "shapes," but it's not really a shape at all because it's essentially all the scrappy bits of pasta that are left over from homemade pasta making.
Meaning "poorly cut" in Italian, traditionally these odds and sods would be given away to the poorest members of the community. These days, it's rather different. Pasta companies know that people love maltagliati, so they actively produce it. That's fine, but because customers expect their pasta to cook evenly, shop-bought maltagliati is so uniform that it rather misses the point.
As for the best sauces to pair with maltagliati pasta, the irregular shape means you can pretty much serve it with whatever you want. Traditionalists would serve it in a soup or a broth, much like su filindeu, while others prefer a meat or tomato-based sauce.
In all honesty, it's not really an optimal shape for pesto. The lack of twists, turns, and grooves doesn't give pesto much to cling on to. The only reason we don't completely shun commercially made maltagliati is because the best stuff is produced using a bronze die, which makes it much easier for sauces to stick to it.
Ingredients for two servings
Maltagliati pasta | 150g |
Pesto | 100g |
Smoked salmon | 100g |
Parmesan | to taste |
Method
Bring a pan of salted water to a boil, and cook the pasta until al dente. This can take anywhere from 5-10 minutes, depending on how thick or thin the shapes are.
In the meantime, roughly slice the smoked salmon.
Drain the pasta, but reserve about 20g of the starchy pasta water. Mix the pasta, pesto, and water, and serve with a generous helping of Parmesan.
]]>Introduction
Hailing from Genoa in northern Italy (which also happens to be the birthplace of pesto), it's no great surprise that corzetti pasta and pesto make for a pair of well-suited bedfellows.
Sometimes called croxetti, the hallmark of this pasta is, quite literally, a hallmark that is embossed into the circular dough, traditionally with a handmade stamp. As well as looking pretty, the stamp increases the surface area of the pasta, which enables sauces to stick to it much better than if the surface were completely flat.
Different regions have their own interpretation of what corzetti pasta should look like. For some, the pasta is a figure of eight shape. Others consider it to be more of a concave disk, very similar to orecchiette. For us, though, the quintessential shape of corzetti is a flat disk, which resembles a coin more than pasta. That makes much more sense, since the name is derived from corzetto, a type of 14th century Genovese coin.
This pasta is essentially the culinary equivalent of a wax sealing stamp, a way for the great and the good to show their dinner guests that they were affluent enough to have their coat of arms literally etched into their food.
Pro tip
For complete authenticity, follow the one and only recipe endorsed by the Pesto Genovese Consortium.
Ingredients for two
Corzetti pasta | 150g |
Pesto | 100g |
Parmesan | as needed |
Method
Cook your pasta according to the pack instructions in well salted water until perfectly al dente.
Drain the pasta, reserving a tablespoon or two of the cooking water.
Fold the pesto through the pasta, add a little of the starchy pasta water, and stir until fully emulsified.
Enjoy with lashings of Parmesan.
]]>Introduction
Just when we thought we'd eaten every pasta shape on earth, we got thrown a curveball.
We never thought we’d have to question whether what we were eating was pasta or bread, but that’s because we’d never been to Tuscany before and tried testoroli (which you will also find called testarolo).
Some call it the oldest form of pasta, while some call it bread. Even Wikipedia, the font of 80% accurate knowledge, is on the fence and declares it to be “bread or pasta.” Anyway, the waiter at the unassuming Florentine trattoria where we first tried it was adamant it was pasta, and he was at least twice our size, so who were we to argue?
What we know for sure is that testaroli originates from the Italian region of Lunigiana, where it is traditionally served as a first course accompanied by basil pesto. The bread/pasta is made from nothing more than wheat flour, water, and salt and is cooked in a huge, flat pan called a testa, which is where it gets its name. When cooked, testaroli resembles a giant caramelised pancake.
The disc must then be sliced in a particular way and cooked for just a brief moment before being tossed in an obscene amount of basil pesto, the recipe for which has been perfected over centuries. Serve with a criminal amount of Parmesan.
Ingredients for two as a starter
Testaroli
|
75g
|
Pesto
|
50g
|
Parmesan
|
to taste
|
Method
Get a large, sharp knife and chop your huge disc of testaroli into as evenly sized diamond shapes as you can muster.
Bring a pan of salted water to a boil and add the pasta. Cook for no more than two minutes before tossing with a generous amount of pesto.
Dish up and serve with the finest Parmesan you can afford.
]]>Introduction
We've already documented our riff on soupe au pistou as well as our pea soup that we spike with some English-inspired pesto and cook in the microwave for outrageous simplicity.
Every now and then, though, we like to go the extra mile. Stock is the base for so many French dishes, and you can't make a truly epic soup without an epic stock supplying the base flavours.
As for the pasta, well, because chicken soup is widely regarded as the perfect comfort food, we favour anelli as it reminds us of the Heinz Spaghetti Hoops that we grew up on as children. The telltale sign of 5* dried pasta is if there's a noticeable texture on it. That means it has been extruded through a bronze die and is brilliant at making sauces cling to it.
Pro tip
Homemade stock featuring your own additions (star anise, anyone?) is the starting point of any restaurant-quality soup. Use a premium supermarket stock at a pinch, but we much prefer going down the homemade route if we can justify the additional time and investment it requires.
Ingredients for four portions
Chicken legs | x2 |
Chicken stock | 1.5l |
Pasta | 200g |
Carrot | 1 |
Onion | 1 |
Celery rib | 1 |
Bay leaf | 1 |
Fresh thyme | 1 sprig |
Rosemary | 1 sprig |
Sage | 1 sprig |
Garlic | 2 cloves |
Seasoning | to taste |
Method
Dice your vegetables to your preferred chunkiness. We've experimented with dicing them pea-sized, die-sized, completely random sizes and loved all the results.
Put all the ingredients, apart from the pasta, in a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. You don't have to constantly babysit it, but you'll end up with a better soup if you occasionally remove any impurities that rise to the surface.
Continue to simmer until the chicken legs start to fall off the bone, around an hour or so, depending on the age of the chicken and the strength of the simmer. Remove them, let them cool a little, and then shred with a pair of forks. Adjust your shredding technique depending on whether you want chunky or fully shredded chicken pieces in your soon-to-be masterpiece.
Over a bowl or large Pyrex jug, strain the vegetables through a sieve. Next, strain the cooking liquor through muslin or cheesecloth to remove the really small particles, which will make your soup cloudy if you don't get rid of them.
Add your strained cooking liquid to a clean saucepan and bring to a simmer. Season to taste, and then add the pasta and cook according to the pack instructions.
Two minutes or so before your pasta is perfectly cooked, add the vegetables and shredded chicken to the saucepan. Continue simmering until the pasta is al dente and everything is warmed through.
Serve in your favourite soup bowls, and dollop a generous tablespoon of pesto on top before serving.
Enjoy with crusty bread, or a generous glass of chilled Lucozade if you're one of those people who reserves chicken soup for when your loved ones are feeling poorly.
Serving suggestions
Warm olive focaccia
Deep-fried mozzarella in carrozza
Kheema chapati
Mixed platter of charcuterie
Ratatouille with crispy onions
Introduction
Thanks to being the most streamed movie of 2021, Disney-Pixar's smash hit Luca has done more to introduce children to trenette al pesto than anything before.
This legendary Ligurian dish (trenette al pesto con fagiolini e patate) makes no fewer than four guest appearances in this sweet, coming-of-age animation, most famously when Luca and his pal Alberto are introduced to it for the very first time.
At first slightly skeptical and intimidated, the protagonists soon discover the game-changing joys of trenette al pesto.
The "Trenette" part of the name refers to the type of pasta used. This flat, narrow shape is a joy to eat but hard to track down in the UK. Unless you're prepared to import some, the solution is either to make it yourself or settle for the next best thing: linguine or fettuccine.
Traditionally, trenette is served with a pesto that is as close as possible to the original recipe, but we've tried it with all kinds of pesto, and think it works just as well with sauces that get their principle flavour from tomato, chilli, coriander, and many more.
The dish is rather unusual due to the pairing of pasta and potatoes, which at first glance seems like carbohydrate overload. To be honest, it probably is, but despite our initial reservations, it turns out to be a combination that, for some baffling reason, does work.
If all those carbs are making you feel guilty, the inclusion of green beans provides a nice textural contrast and means you can rest just a little bit easier knowing you’ve had at least one of your five-a-day.
Recommended equipment
Digital kitchen scales
Pro tip
The secret to making the very best trenette al pesto, just like in Luca, is to incorporate a little of the starchy water that the pasta and potatoes are boiled in.
Luca pasta recipe for two
Trenette pasta | 150g |
Potatoes | 150g |
Green beans | 100g |
Pesto | 100g |
Parmesan | as needed |
Seasoning | to taste |
Fresh herbs | for garnish |
Method
Start by peeling the potatoes (any variety will do, but we reckon if Luca had ever tried fingerling potatoes, he’d agree with us that this wonderfully nutty variety works perfectly in this dish). Chop into equal-sized cubes, about the size of a die.
Top, tail, and halve the green beans and set aside.
Bring a pan of salted water to a boil and add the pasta and potatoes.
Simmer for 5 minutes, and then add the beans. Continue simmering until the pasta is al dente and the potatoes are tender and creamy, about another 6-7 minutes.
Strain through a colander, but reserve about a tablespoon of the starchy pasta water.
Stir through the pesto (it will warm in the residual heat, so there’s no need to heat it), and then stir through the starchy water that everything cooked in. This will turn your creation from a very acceptable weeknight dinner into a wonderfully glossy dish that would sit comfortably in a fine-dining restaurant.
Enjoy with lashings of Parmesan, some fresh herbs for garnish, and maybe Luca streaming in the background.
]]>Introduction
Out of all the meals in the Western world, we reckon the humble pasta bake must have saved more weeknight mealtimes than any other. For many families, this cheesy, bubbling dish of goodness is on constant rotation, and there's no wonder why. Not only is it endlessly customisable, but it enables mums and dads to sneak some vegetables into their kids' diets without them even noticing.
Admittedly, there may not be that many people over the age of seven who would describe pasta bake as their all-time favourite dish, but then again, there's also not many people who would score a good pasta bake less than a seven out of ten.
We've tried to increase the chances of upping that score to an eight or a nine with the inclusion of, you guessed it, a little pesto.
We're not the only ones who think tuna is at its very best eaten raw, but sashimi-grade fish would be totally wasted on this recipe. We're not snobs when it comes to tinned food, and for this dish, we actively encourage you to use the tinned stuff.
As for the pasta, well, we've seen pasta bakes made with all kinds of shapes. The tube shapes like rigatoni and penne are particularly popular, as are the shell shapes like conchiglie. Here, though, we've opted for the macaroni-style spirali, a shape we'd never normally be seen dead pairing with pesto.
Recommended equipment
Digital kitchen scales
5l roasting dish
Pro tip
This recipe works well with any tinned fish: salmon, mackerel, sardines, and more. It thereby provides a great way to introduce youngsters' palates to a wider range of fish.
Ingredients for 6-8 servings
Spirali | 400g |
Onion | x2 |
Garlic | x3 cloves |
Tuna | x3 tins |
Sweetcorn | 250g |
Frozen peas | 200g |
Cheddar | 200g |
Mozzarella | 125g |
Heavy cream | 150g |
Pesto | 190g |
Stock | 300g |
Breadcrumbs | 100g |
Olive oil | as needed |
Method
The only "difficult" thing about making a good pesto pasta bake is deciding when to stop simmering the pasta because it will continue to cook when you put it in the oven. As a rule, we simmer the pasta in salted water according to pack instructions, but we drain it about 2 minutes before we think it's going to be perfectly al dente. It's a case of trial and error rather than hard and fast rules.
While the pasta is simmering, dice the onions and fry them in a little olive oil until softened but not browned. Mince the garlic and add it to the pan. Continue to cook for another two minutes before removing from the heat and transferring to a large bowl.
Grate the cheddar and add 100g of it to the bowl, followed by roughly teared mozzarella, and drained sweetcorn, and tuna. Give it a good stir and add the cream, pesto, and stock. Season to taste.
When your pasta is done, drain it, allow it to cool for a minute or two, and add it to the bowl with the rest of the ingredients.
Give everything a good stir and transfer to a large roasting tray.
Top with the remaining 100g of cheddar and breadcrumbs and cook in a 180°C oven until the top is golden brown and bubbling and the pasta is warmed through, about 15 minutes.
Serving suggestions
Prosciutto-wrapped asparagus
Tangy cucumber salad
Roasted Brussel sprouts
Sautéed mushrooms and spinach
Griddled corn on the cob
Introduction
Mary Berry suffered the wrath of traditionalists when she used white wine instead of red wine in her Bolognese recipe. On that basis, our take on the classic ragù, which calls for pesto in place of passata, is no doubt going to be seen as utterly scandalous.
We're not purposely trying to commit an atrocity against traditional Italian cuisine, but because we don't make traditional pestos, we figure all bets are off.
Try it before you dismiss it. By taking a stripped-back Bolognese recipe and sneaking some red pesto in via the back door, we reckon we've come up with a more than acceptable meaty pesto sauce that we can serve without fear of getting whacked.
Pro tip
The customisable nature of Bolognese gives cooks the freedom to add all kinds of extras. Oregano, chilli flakes, porcini mushrooms, and chicken livers are all fair game. If we’re feeling really fancy pants, you’ll find us adding fish sauce, whole milk, and a Parmesan rind too.
Ingredients for six
Beef mince | 500g |
Penne | 450g |
Tinned tomatoes | x1 tin |
Pesto | 150g |
Onion | x1 |
Carrot | x1 |
Worcestershire sauce | dash |
Garlic granules | pinch |
Seasoning | as needed |
Canola oil | as needed |
Garnishes | optional |
Method
In a saucepan or wok, heat up the oil until you start to see wisps of smoke. Fry your beef mince in batches until well browned. Set aside.
Thinly slice the onion and chop the carrot into pea-sized cubes and sweat in a little oil or unsalted butter until softened and fragrant, but not browned.
Add the beef, tinned tomatoes, garlic granules, and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a gentle simmer. Continue simmering for 10 minutes, then remove from the heat and stir in the pesto.
Fill a clean pan with water and season with a few pinches of salt. Add the penne and cook according to the pack instructions until al dente, about 10 minutes.
Drain the pasta and combine it with the sauce.
Dish up and garnish with plenty of Parmesan and chives.
]]>Introduction
Orecchiette isn't an easy pasta shape to track down in the UK, so unless you're lucky enough to have an artisan pasta maker at your nearest farmer's market, your best bet is to roll up your sleeves and make it yourself.
The "recipe" for the traditional egg-free dough couldn't be simpler: 2 parts semolina flour to 1 part tepid water. The technique is not so simple. Head over to the Pasta Grannies YouTube channel for tips from the pros.
As for our choice of protein, well, some people are a little squeamish about "odd" cuts of meat or fish, but cod cheeks are truly delicious and considered a delicacy in many parts of the world.
Pro tip
If your dinner guests squirm as you serve this, just tell them to get on YouTube and investigate the production of those cheap fish fingers they have in the back of their freezer.
Ingredients for two
Orecchiette | 150g |
Pesto | 100g |
Cod cheeks | x2 |
Whole milk | 1 pint |
Cress | for garnish |
Parmesan | to taste |
Seasoning | as needed |
Method
In a saucepan, add the milk, cod cheeks, and a little seasoning and warm over a medium-low heat. When the milk starts to simmer, turn the heat right down and cook for 5-8 minutes, or until the cod practically falls apart as you remove it from the pan.
Salt a clean pan of water and bring it to a boil. If you've managed to get hold of some dried orecchiette, simply cook according to the pack instructions (typically 10-12 minutes). If you're working with fresh pasta, it should take no more than 3-4 minutes.
Drain the pasta, but not before confiscating a tablespoon of the starchy pasta water and adding it to your pesto.
Shred the cod and mix it with the pasta and pesto. Garnish with some cress and top with a generous amount of Parmesan.
]]>Introduction
We appreciate that "odd" cuts of meat make some people, even the most dedicated carnivores, a little queasy, but for our money, pig cheeks are hands down the very best part of the animal.
There's a reason why you don't tend to find them on butchers' counters. In part, it's because they are remarkably cheap and don't bring in the revenues of prime cuts. The main reason, though, is that your butcher knows how good they are and is keeping them to herself.
Spoiler alert
If the idea of eating pig cheeks offends you, you should probably avoid sausages from here on in.
Pro tip
Cooking the cheeks for 9 hours in a 77°C water bath is our ultimate way to cook them, as it gives them a braise-like, melt-in-your-mouth texture that is virtually impossible to replicate using any other cooking method.
Ingredients for two
Tagliatelle | 150g |
Pesto | 100g |
Pig cheeks | x4-6 |
Onion | x1 |
Parsley | to garnish |
Method
Pork cheeks are very much a "low and slow" cut of meat, so you're going to have to give this dish some forward planning. You can speed things up dramatically by using a pressure cooker, or you can take the easiest option and use a slow cooker.
If you don't have either of these, the safest way is to braise the cheeks in a tasty liquor, cider complements pork brilliantly, in a 160°C oven for around 3-hours.
While your meat is cooking, finely slice an onion and deep-fry in a couple of inches of neutral oil (canola, rapeseed, or peanut are all good options) until brown and crispy. Drain on a paper towel and set aside.
When your pork cheeks are just about ready, cook the pasta in lightly salted water until al dente and drain, reserving a little of the water it cooked in. Stir through the pesto and pasta water, and top with the pig cheeks.
Sprinkle with the crispy onions and parsley, and apply to your face.
]]>Introduction
When we first saw pasta with potatoes on a menu in Northern Italy, we must admit to being more than a little skeptical.
Why on earth would you pair those two ingredients? Surely that's a starchy, carbohydrate-rich, beige overload waiting to happen? Keto dieters, look away now!
The waiter politely but firmly informed us that Ligurians have been eating this dish ever since the dawn of time, so naturally we had to give it a try. To our amazement, it turns out that the combination works. We've no idea how it works, it really shouldn't, but it just does.
Pro tip
For the ultimate authenticity, you should hunt down trenette pasta. It's like linguine and spaghetti, but flat rather than round.
Ingredients for two
Dried linguine | 125g |
Potatoes | 75g |
Pesto | 75g |
Green beans | 50g |
Parmesan | as needed |
Seasoning | as needed |
Lemon juice | optional |
Method
Peel the potatoes and chop into cubes about the size of a die.
Bring a pan of salted water to a rolling boil and add the pasta and potatoes. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the beans.
Continue cooking until the pasta is al dente and the potatoes are softened. Remove the pan from the heat and strain everything in a colander or sieve, making sure to reserve a tablespoon or two of the starchy water.
Place all the ingredients, apart from the cheese, in a bowl and stir through the pesto. There's no need to heat it anymore; the residual heat from the pasta will warm it perfectly.
Plate up and grate a generous amount of the Parmesan on top, followed by a few cracks of black pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.
]]>Introduction
Soupe au pistou is the legendary minestrone-style soup from Provence that champions seasonal vegetables. The "pistou" part of its name is the sauce that chefs dollop on top just before serving. It's like pesto, but without the pine nuts and with a lot more garlic. Here, we're shamelessly using the real deal.
Just like bouillabaisse and other "no recipe recipes," with this soup, you are actively encouraged to freestyle. Provençal chefs simply use whatever ingredients are in abundance that day. In summer, they may use tomatoes, courgettes, and broad beans. In winter, it could be carrots, turnips, and haricot beans.
There are, however, a couple of things that are non-negotiable, the soup must be packed full of vegetables and must contain some kind of bean. We reckon the soup is so intrinsically healthy that we feel no guilt serving it with both pasta and crusty, buttered sourdough.
Macaroni, vermicelli, and orzo are popular pasta shapes to use in soups, but our absolute favourite is a very small, round shaped pasta from Sardinia called Frègula Sarda. These lightly toasted nuggets resemble Arabic couscous and have a nutty flavour and distinctive golden-brown colour.
Ingredients for two
This is only a guide. Use whatever vegetables you have available. At the very least, though, try to use a balance of sweet and savoury vegetables.
Cannellini beans | 200g |
Green beans | 75g |
Carrot | 75g |
Courgette | 75g |
Onion | 75g |
Beef tomatoes | x2 |
Garlic | x1 clove |
Bay leaf | x1 |
Pasta | 75g |
Pesto | 75g |
Olive oil | as needed |
Seasoning | to taste |
Method
Chop the carrot and courgette into equal-sized chunks, top and tail the green beans, mince the garlic, and set aside.
Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water, peel, de-seed, crush, and set aside.
Slice the onion and soften in plenty of olive oil over medium-low heat until fragrant but not browned, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic, carrot, courgette, beans, and tomato to the pan and continue to fry very gently until the veggies are softened but not mushy.
Add the bay leaf and just enough water to cover the vegetables. Simmer for about 5 minutes, then add the pasta and cook for a further 10 minutes (or according to pack instructions).
When the pasta is al dente, remove the bay, season the soup with salt and pepper, and divide into bowls. Dollop a generous amount of pesto on top just before serving, leaving your guests to decide whether they stir it into the soup or keep it separate.
Make sure you have some extra pesto to hand, as your guests will almost certainly want to add more as they go.
]]>Introduction
What can we possibly say about spaghetti that hasn't already been said? The poster child of Italian cuisine is the world's best-known pasta shape, thanks in part to Hollywood, where it has made cameo appearances in everything from Goodfellas to Lady and the Tramp.
Even the BBC has played a part in spaghetti's legendary status. Their 1957 April Fools' joke that spaghetti grows on trees was swallowed hook line and sinker by Brits who were at the time unfamiliar with the pasta shape.
As for eating, well, spaghetti goes with pretty much anything you throw at it. A herby, tomato-based sauce is traditional, although Italian-American influences have ensured that in large parts of the world, Bolognese and meatballs are the go-to pairing.
Pro tip
When buying spaghetti, check the pack to see whether it has been made with a "bronze die." This will mean it has a more textured surface than budget pasta, ensuring sauces stick to it better. You may need to get this from your local deli rather than your local supermarket.
Ingredients for two
Sometimes, when you have top-quality ingredients and almost zero time and energy, the simplest meals are the best.
Spaghetti | 150g |
Pesto | 100g |
Parmesan | as needed |
Method
Boil 75g of spaghetti per person in a saucepan of lightly salted water until al dente.
Confiscate a tablespoon or two of the pasta water before draining.
Return the spaghetti to the pan and add, off the heat, the pasta water and pesto.
Serve with plenty of well-aged Parmesan cheese, and worry about getting your 5-a-day tomorrow.
]]>Introduction
Our job is to get you excited about pesto, but let's be honest, you're really thinking about the chicken, right?
We once had an acquaintance who accidentally left his shift at KFC with some of the colonel's secret blend of 11 herbs and spices in his pocket. He got some free-range chicken legs, seasoned them, soaked them overnight in buttermilk, and deep-fried them the next day in a mix of flour and KFC spices.
The results were biblical.
There's no need to break the law these days, though. Just search online, and you'll find plenty of recipes from people who claim to have unlocked the secrets to the colonel's mythical coating. (Hint: MSG).
KFC-style spice blend
Recommended equipment
Digital kitchen scales
Spice grinder
Pro tip
Below is our take on Sanders' spice blend, but rustle together any dried herbs and spices, and you'll find it pretty hard to not create something finger-licking good.
Ingredients for the spice blend
MSG | 5g |
Paprika | 2g |
Mustard powder | 2g |
Salt | 2g |
Onion powder | 2g |
Garlic powder | 2g |
Dried oregano | 1g |
Dried sage | 1g |
Dried thyme | 1g |
Dried marjoram | 1g |
Pepper | 1g |
Flour and spice mix
00 flour | 75 |
Panko breadcrumbs | 25 |
Spice blend | 20 (from above) |
Muscovado | 10 |
Ingredients for two
Recommended equipment
Digital thermometer
Deep fryer
Pro tip
No buttermilk? No cry. You can make your own using nothing other than whole milk and lemon (or any mild acid, really). There are plenty of recipes online.
Chicken legs | x2 |
Buttermilk | 500g |
Fusilli bucati | 150g |
Pesto | 100g |
Canola oil | 1l |
Seasoning | as needed |
Flour-spice mix | from above |
Garnishes | optional |
Method
If you're butchering a whole chicken, then make sure to cut out the "oysters" along with the leg. It's our favourite part of the bird. If you're buying chicken legs, you can use them straight from the pack, but we highly recommend "Frenching" them.
There are plenty of videos on YouTube describing the technique, but you basically expose the tip of the bone, which adds a bit of theatre. This also allows you to pull out the stringy tendons with a pair of pliers, which increases the eating pleasure significantly.
Season the legs with salt and pepper and marinate them in buttermilk for at least one hour, but preferably overnight.
Mix your spice rub with the flour, breadcrumbs, and sugar.
Take your chicken legs out of the buttermilk marinade, and allow the excess to drip off. Keep the rest of the marinade as it's got one more job to do before it can be discarded.
Now dunk your chicken leg in the spiced flour, followed by the reserved buttermilk marinade, followed by a final dip in the flour.
Heat your oil in either a deep-fat fryer or wok (we don’t recommend saucepans from a safety point of view). When the oil reaches 175°C and starts to shimmer, add the chicken legs. Chilled food can drop the temperature of the oil significantly, so watch it like a hawk. If the temperature drops too low, the food will turn out greasy. Too hot, and the crispy skin will be cooked, but the inside could still be raw.
Cook your chicken until the innermost part registers 75°C, about 5-6 minutes on both sides. Transfer the chicken to a rack to let excess oil drip off and keep warm in a 100°C oven while you deal with the pasta.
Heat up a pan of well-salted water and cook your pasta according to the pack instructions. When the pasta is al dente, drain it (saving a little bit of the water it cooked in), then, off the heat, stir through the pesto and pasta water.
Plate up and garnish to your liking. Here, we've used aged pecorino, chives, wild garlic flowers, and a few cracks of black pepper.
]]>Introduction
Some people's idea of a perfect "Happy Birthday to Me" kind of treat is to buy themselves a new pair of shoes.
Ours is to eat lobster.
If we're completely honest, on the rare occasion we land ourselves some fresh lobster tails, we just want to eat them in their full, unadulterated glory with little more than some crusty bread and brown butter. Once in a blue moon, though, we get the urge to pair lobster with pasta and pesto.
Our pasta of choice for this recipe is casarecce, which hails from Sicily. Known for looking like little rolled-up scrolls, it's a brilliant shape for attracting and holding onto sauces. Try to hunt down casarecce that has been extruded through a bronze die, as that means the pasta will have a rough texture, which helps sauces stick to it.
Pro tip
Most pasta dishes with lobster instruct you to chop the tails into bite-sized chunks, but we much prefer keeping them whole for maximum theatre.
Ingredients for two
Lobster tails | x2 |
Pasta | 150g |
Pesto | 100g |
Parmesan | 25g |
Capers | optional |
Lemon zest | optional |
Cress | optional |
Method
Getting a perfectly cooked lobster tail for this recipe may require lots or little preparation. We won't give instructions for all the different ways you can acquire the tail meat (live, cooked, fresh or frozen) but there are plenty of tutorials online showing how to break down a lobster.
Simply cook your pasta in salted water according to the package instructions. When perfectly al-dente, drain, but reserve about a tablespoon of the starchy water.
Place the pasta in a bowl and stir through the pesto. When well combined, add the reserved water and Parmesan and stir again.
Dish up, and garnish with capers, lemon zest, and cress, if using. Pop the lobster tail on top and tuck into one of the most decadent pasta dishes known to Man.
]]>Introduction
Conchiglie is a bit of an odd pasta shape to pair with pesto. It's more suited to thick, tomato-based sauces like puttanesca, thanks to its ability to grab hold of chunky ingredients and store them in its cavity. However, we have a soft spot for its conch shell shape when we're serving it with fish, so here we're pairing it with pesto without an ounce of guilt.
As for the chicken of the sea, the Ferrari of the ocean, or whatever other stupid name people call it, we're big fans of tinned tuna. In fact, there are plenty of occasions (a pasta bake being one) where the tinned stuff is actively recommended over fresh.
However, our all-time favourite way to eat tuna is mi-cuit (meaning "partially cooked"). By drowning it in plenty of top-quality olive oil and placing it in a low temperature (40°C) water bath, after about 25 minutes, it's just warmed through but still effectively raw. The added fat is decadent but non-negotiable.
Pro tip
We find that shop-bought sun-dried tomatoes are excessively oily and often dried so much that their skins become shrivelled and are rather unpleasant to eat. Our solution is to lightly dehydrate them ourselves, which allows us to be in control of when they are done exactly to our liking. Get the timing just right, and they have a sweet, jammy mouthfeel that puts the supermarket stuff to shame.
Ingredients for two
Conchiglie pasta | 150g |
Pesto | 100g |
Tuna | x1 tin |
Sun-dried tomatoes | 50g |
Lemon | x1 |
Parmesan | as needed |
Pine nuts | as needed |
Capers | as needed |
Method
Salt a pan of water, bring it to a rolling boil, and add the pasta. Set your timer for 10 minutes (or according to pack instructions).
While the conchiglie is cooking, drain the sun-dried tomatoes and blot with kitchen roll to remove excess oil.
Rinse the capers in running cold water to remove excess salt. Deep-fry them if you can be bothered. This will give them a crispy skin, which adds an interesting texture to the dish.
Zest half of the lemon, and then cut the other half into two wedges.
When the pasta is perfectly al dente, take a tablespoon of the starchy water and add it to your pesto. Mix the pasta, pesto, tuna, and sun-dried tomatoes together.
Serve with a wedge of lemon and garnish with lemon zest, capers, Parmesan, and pine nuts.
]]>Introduction
This recipe is all about texture. Perfectly al dente pasta is paired with slightly charred, roasted broccoli florets that are crispy on the outside but soft as a pillow on the inside. Slices of pancetta provide a salty, meaty crunch.
Hailing from Piedmont in Italy, riccioli is a pasta shape that has everything going for it in terms of being a great pairing for pesto. Similar to fusilli, its rough surface and plentiful twists and grooves mean sauces can't help but stick to it.
Ingredients for two
Riccioli | 175g |
Pesto | 100g |
Pancetta | x6 slices |
Broccoli | x1 |
Parmesan | as needed |
Canola oil | as needed |
Method
Remove the broccoli florets from the stalk, toss in oil, and roast in a 180°C oven until just starting to char on the edges. Set aside.
Fry your pancetta slices until crispy, allow them to cool, and then break them apart into bite-sized pieces.
Cook your riccioli according to the packet instructions, reserve a little of the pasta water, then drain.
Add the broccoli, pancetta, pesto, and pasta water, and stir everything together.
Finish with an overly generous amount of Parmesan.
]]>Introduction
This is an attractive pesto-pasta dish if ever we've seen one. The vibrant tiger prawns and fresh chillies contrast superbly with the herby pesto, and the unique fiorelli pasta shape gives the sauce plenty of places to hide.
Pro tip
If you've ever eaten a prawn and it had a rather unpleasant, gritty texture, that's because the black vein that runs down the length of the prawn hadn't been removed. You can cut down the back of the prawn with a sharp knife and remove the vein that way. However, we prefer to use some chef's tweezers and pull the vein out from where you've removed the head, thereby leaving the prawn completely intact.
Ingredients for two
Fiorelli pasta | 150g |
Pesto | 100g |
Tiger prawns | x12 |
Chillies | x2 |
Seasoning | as needed |
Garnishes | optional |
Method
Bring a pan of lightly salted water to a boil and add the pasta, stirring for the first minute or two to prevent the shapes from sticking to each other.
While the pasta is cooking, pan-fry the prawns and slice the chillies, removing the placenta (yep, that's the correct name for the white fleshy part) if you want less heat.
When the pasta is cooked perfectly al dente, reserve a tablespoon of the water and drain in a sieve or colander. Return the pasta to the pan and, off the heat, stir through the pesto, water, prawns, and chillies.
Serve immediately with a simple garnish of pecorino, parsley, and a squeeze of lemon juice.
]]>Introduction
Despite repeated endorsements from chefs, food writers, and nutritionists over the last decade, seaweed has proven to be a hard sell to UK consumers. We can kind of see why. Most people’s only interaction with it is limited to the smelly, rotten stuff at the high tide line or on the conveyor belt at their local YO! Sushi.
It doesn’t have to be that way, though. The UK boasts an incredible variety of seaweeds, and even though the word ‘superfood’ is bandied around a little too often for our liking, if any foodstuff deserves it, then seaweed does.
All the seaweed varieties you find in this country (except for one, which you’d have to invest in diving gear to get close to) are edible, nutritious, plentiful, and, of course, completely free.
This is not to say they are all delicious. However, dulse, kelp, laver, and the seaweed we’re using today, Himanthalia Elongata (AKA sea spaghetti), most certainly are.
As for mackerel, well, this beautiful oily fish is not just sustainable, affordable, and packed full of omega 3, it also tastes amazing. No wonder it's the favourite fish of Michelin-starred chefs like Nathan Outlaw.
Pro tip
If your dinner guests are freaked out by the idea of eating seaweed, tell them that if they eat any processed foods, there’s a strong probability they’ll already have eaten some this week. That will be thanks to the inclusion of seaweed carragheen, which is widely used as a thickener and stabiliser in lots of foods, including ice cream.
Ingredients for two
Sea spaghetti | 200g |
Pesto | 100g |
Mackerel | x2 fillets |
Lemon | x1 |
Parmesan | to taste |
Seasoning | to taste |
Rapeseed oil | as needed |
Method
We’re not going to get into the nitty-gritty of how to forage or prepare seaweed because there are plenty of instructions online. However, if you’re starting with fresh sea spaghetti, we’d recommend a thorough wash followed by a 10-15 minute soak in lemon juice. This will not only add flavour but also tenderise it. If you're starting with dried seaweed, then you'll need to simply rehydrate according to the pack instructions.
Lightly salt a pan of water, add the seaweed, and set a timer for 12 minutes.
While the spaghetti is cooking, heat an oiled, non-stick pan until ripping hot, season your mackerel fillets, and fry for 2-3 minutes, skin side down.
Flip the fillets and cook for 1 more minute. Transfer them to a chopping board and either shred or keep whole, you choose.
When the spaghetti is al dente, drain and stir through the pesto. Arrange the mackerel on top and serve with lemon wedges and a generous amount of Parmesan.
Bonus tip
To prolong the shelf-life of your precious haul, consider dehydrating it. You can buy a dedicated dehydrator, but all you really need to do is place the sea spaghetti in an oven on the lowest possible setting with the door open. Check regularly to see how dry it is getting because it can take anything from 2-4 hours, depending on the conditions. Once fully dehydrated, pop the spaghetti in an airtight container where it will last for at least a year. Simply rehydrate it before cooking by soaking it in water for an hour.
Introduction
Fusilloni is fusilli's big brother and our favourite pasta shape to pair with pesto. The inclusion of cherry tomatoes makes this quite a summery dish, and unusually for us, we advise going quite light on the pesto because you want to taste the super-expensive prosciutto in its full glory.
Ingredients for two
Dried fusilloni | 150g |
Pesto | 60g |
Cherry tomatoes | x12 |
Prosciutto | 6 slices |
Parmesan | as needed |
Seasoning | as needed |
Lemon juice | optional |
Method
Cook your pasta according to the packet instructions in lightly salted water and simmer until al dente.
In the meantime, quarter the cherry tomatoes and tear the prosciutto.
When the pasta is ready, drain through a sieve or colander, making sure to save a couple of tablespoons of the starchy water, which you can add to the pesto to help emulsify the sauce.
Stir all ingredients together and top with some shaved Parmesan, a crack of black pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice.
]]>Introduction
We’re so pleased that orecchiette is now available in some supermarkets because, until now, the only way you’d be able to eat this quirky pasta shape was if you made it yourself (which is harder than it looks).
Roughly translating as "little ears," orecchiette hails from Puglia and is made from nothing more than semolina and water. It's one of our favourite shapes to pair with pesto because, if made well, it has a rough surface, which means sauces love to stick to it.
Ingredients for two
Dried orecchiette | 150g |
Pesto | 100g |
Tuna | x1 tin |
Cherry tomatoes | x12 |
Seasoning | as needed |
Parmesan | as needed |
Lemon juice | optional |
Method
Cook the orecchiette in salted water according to the pack instructions.
In the meantime, drain the tuna and capers, chop the tomatoes, and halve the olives.
Combine the pasta with the pesto, tuna, capers, and olives, and stir well.
Serve immediately with some grated Parmesan, a crack of black pepper, and a generous squeeze of lemon juice.
]]>Introduction
Radiatori (radiator) pasta is, for our eyes anyway, not a pretty shape. It's fun to eat with pesto thanks to all the twists, turns, and grooves that provide the sauce with plentiful places to hide, but look at it uncooked, and it just looks a bit... well, industrial.
Depending on which story you read, this oddity was either invented sometime between the two World Wars or by a designer in the 1960s who modelled it on the radiator grill of a Bugatti car. Either way, it's pretty safe to say that this misfit could never have been conceived before the industrial revolution, making it one of the 'newer' pasta shapes.
Because of its relative youth, radiatori is not restrained by centuries of tradition, where a certain shape "must" be paired with a certain sauce or certain ingredients. We rather like that, because it gives us a free rein to pair it with whatever the hell we want without fear of being whacked by the pasta police.
Ingredients for two
Radiatori | 150g |
Pesto | 100g |
Mozzarella balls | x20 |
Cherry tomatoes | x12 |
Smoked salmon | 100g |
Garnishes | optional |
Method
Chop the cherry tomatoes in half and tear the salmon into bite-size strips.
Cook the radiatori according to pack instructions until al dente. Drain, reserving a tablespoon of the starchy pasta water.
Stir through the pesto, water, mozzarella balls, salmon, and tomatoes, and garnish with some micro-greens and Parmesan.
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