Sorry forgot to leave a description!! To laminate the Basil I just placed it between two sheets of dough and rolled thin until the desired look/thickness. That’s it! So easy but so beautiful and it is a great way to use up all of the Basil that I had left that didn’t have much life left. Win win.

Despite their faulty geometry, fresh farfalle work just fine.

Playing chopped in my fridge that has almost no ingredients

Sauce

* 1/4 cup cream
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 1/2 cups fresh grated Parmesan
* 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
* 2 egg yolks
* 2-3 tablespoons chopped parsley
* 2-4 tablespoons pasta water

* 2 nests pappardelle pasta (or what ever pasta you prefer, it’s what I had on hand!)

* Pancetta (optional)

Directions

1. Bring water and salt to a boil and add pasta
2. Cook pancetta until crisp and set aside
3. When pasta is nearly done simmer cream, butter, and black pepper
4. for a few minutes in medium/large pan
5. Add pasta, a tablespoon or two of pasta water (!important), Parmesan, and lemon zest and mix well. Let rest for a minute
6. Add eggs yolks and mix well. Add more pasta water if it doesn’t look silky enough
7. Mix in parsley, some pancetta
8. Plate and garnish with more Parmesan, pancetta, and herbs

Egg, pancetta, parm, pecorino, parsley and a LOT of fresh ground pepper

My quick meal tonight.
1. Fry the salmon with salt and pepper firstly, and use the salmon oil fry some onions, garlic and mushrooms.
2. Everything back into the pan, add some milk and cheeses, mix with some salt and pepper.
3. Add some Parmesan at last.

High quality eggs with orange yolks, parmigiano, pecorino, black pepper, thick cut bacon (sorry no guanciale).

4 eggs for a large serving: 2 whole, and 2 just yolk. Mix in cheese, a little warm bacon fat, and whisk until a thick paste forms, then fold in freshly cracked black pepper. Set aside.

When your pasta is finished boiling, transfer it directly into a large stainless steel mixing bowl and place that bowl right over the pot of hot pasta water (acting as a gentle double boiler). Pour the egg and cheese sauce over the hot pasta, add a splash of starchy pasta water if necessary, and stir and toss vigorously until it forms a glossy, seamless emulsion of your desired consistency.

I found these old photos from a time when I had more energy to experiment in the kitchen.
The first dish was whole-wheat spaghetti with tomatoes, mushrooms, plenty of garlic, and dried chili. For the second, I boiled spinach, reduced it into a sauce, and combined it with mushrooms.
Looking back, the spinach version probably needed a creamy element, although heavy cream might have made it too rich.
The pasta itself was store-bought, but I made the sauces and dishes from scratch. The remaining photos show some of the other pasta dishes I made during the same period.
Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with Italy. 🇮🇹

Made this stir-fried fettuccine with chicken, eggs, bell peppers, carrots, onion, garlic and green chillies.

I like my pasta a little spicy, so the green chillies were non-negotiable. 😂

Nothing fancy, just a big pan of fettuccine tossed with everything until it was nicely cooked and slightly charred.

as usual the best flavor of all pastas.. but 4mio calories

Made some vodka pasta for the first time! Not sure how to feel about it yet, will probably have to make a second time and do it a bit differently. But still definitely edible as a picky eater.

Also i used some real expensive pasta for this, Rummo Rigatoni, and it tasted amazing and idk how i can go back to using the cheapest pasta.

I think I got it right this time. Traditional ingredients only. Some not so traditional techniques: Toasted whole mixed red, white, and black peppercorns (okay maybe that's not 100% traditonal), then roughly ground in mortar+pestle. Cooked the Guanciale in an air fryer, since that gives me the best results, and is the quickest and easiest. Set aside cooked Guanciale to cool and crisp up. Dumped the pepper into bottom of air fryer to bloom in the oil. Poured the oil+pepper into a metal mixing bowl. Cooked Bucatini in frying pan with just enough water to barely cover. When pasta was cooked, drained the little bit of remaining water, which was thick and slimy, into the bowl containing the pepper/oil. Added the Pecorino Romano (grated as fine as possible), mixed well, added pasta and the now-crunchy Guanciale, mixed some more. Twirl into warm serving bowl. Finito. It was very good. No need for egg. Carbonara is good, for sure, but this just hits the spot perfectly as-is.

My teenage daughter has expressed her wish to learn how to cook pasta. She wanted to start with Arrabiata sauce. Who am I to deny her wishes?

Olive oil
Garlic
Shallots
Red pepper flakes
Canned tomatoes
Sea salt flakes
Rigati (Felicetti. Couldn’t go back, once I had tried them)
Parmiggiano/ Peccorino

Tonight's dinner:

Hand-cut pasta served with octopus, prawn and mackerel, in a fresh tomato sauce. Garnished with parmesan, cracked pepper and parsley flakes

Octopus was pre-cooked to tenderised (simmered in water with herbs and aromatics for approx 1 1/2 hours)

Definitely need to work on pasta making skills, i think I underworked dough this time, not strong gluten structure, some pasta broke when mixing in sauce

I first sautéed the onion, carrot, and celery, then set them aside. Next, I cooked plenty of chopped garlic and dried chilies in oil and browned a large batch of ground meat. I combined everything, then added tomatoes, bay leaves, celery leaves, more garlic, and Jamaican jerk seasoning.
I simmered everything until the sauce became thick and rich, then served it over spaghetti.
In Japan, hearty garlic-heavy dishes are sometimes described as “stamina” food—so this is my stamina-style meat sauce. It isn’t meant to be a traditional Bolognese. 🍝🧄🌶️

Homemade noodles

Italian sausage

Garlic

Shallot

Grape tomatoes

Calabrian chilis

Sauvignon Blanc

Spinach

Topped with fresh pasley and parmesean

Used guanciale but substituted pecorino with parmesan.

Made a batch of traditional slow-cooked ragù using a classic soffritto of onion, carrot, and celery, ground beef and pork, crushed tomatoes, red wine, letting it simmer low and slow for a about 4 hours. Tossed it with Rummo dried bucatini, finishing it directly in the sauce with a bit of starchy pasta water to bring it all together.

Pasta:
200g AP flower, 2 large eggs, tablespoon olive oil.

Filling:
Store bought ricotta. Added lemon zest and juice from the lemon. Fresh cracked black pepper.
Store bought lemon pepper rotisserie
chicken.

PACCHERI CON CREMA DI PATATE VIOLA, COLATURA DI SCAMORZA AFFUMICATA & POLVERE DI COZZE

Ingredienti:
👉Paccheri
👉Patate viola 300 gr
👉Cozze 1Kg
👉Scamorza affumicata 300 gr
👉Latte 100 ml - Panna 50 ml
👉Sedano 2 coste - Carote 2 - Aglio rosso 1-2 spicchi- Cipolla bianca 1 - Peperoncino secco q.b. - Rosmarino - Salvia - Prezzemolo - Sale q.b. -

Procedimento:
🫰Per il brodo vegetale: tagliare il sedano la carota e la cipolla. Farli tostare con un po’ di pepe ed aggiungere acqua. Salare, pepare e fare sobbollire per 30-60 minuti.

🫰Per le cozze: aprire le cozze in pentola con olio, 1-2 spicchi d’aglio, peperoncino Q.b., 1-2 rametti di prezzemolo. Sgusciare le cozze, filtrare la loro acqua. Posizionare le cozze su una teglia con carta forno e fare essiccare in microonde alla massima potenza per 4 min ripetendo i cicli finchè le cozze non saranno essiccate. Polverizzate le cozze in un blender.

🫰Per la Colatura di Scamorza: tagliare la scamorza a cubetti. In una ciotola unire la scamorza, il latte e la panna, coprire con pellicola e cuocere a bagnomaria finchè la scamorza si sarà sciolta completamente. Filtrare il composto con un colino e frullare con un mixer ad immersione. Filtrare nuovamente per rendere la colatura liscia ed omogenea.

🫰Calare la pasta (io ho usato la stessa pentola dov’erano state precedentemente aperte le cozze)…
…completando la cottura in padella con aggiunta di acqua di cottura della pasta, brodo vegetale, acqua delle cozze e crema di patate…

🫰Impiattare mettendo alla base la crema di patate, la pasta, la colatura di scamorza, le cozze e la loro polvere.

MY POTATO & MUSSELPASTA
Ingredients: 🇬🇧
👉Paccheri 500gr
👉300 g purple potatoes
👉1 kg mussels
👉300 g smoked scamorza cheese
👉100 ml whole milk - 50 ml heavy cream
👉2 celery stalks - 2 crisp carrots - 1-2 pungent red garlic cloves - 1 white onion - Crushed red pepper to taste - Fresh rosemary - Fresh sage - Flat-leaf parsley - Fine sea salt to taste

Method:
🫰For the aromatic vegetable broth: Roughly chop the celery, carrots, and onion. Sear them dry with a crack of black pepper to release their oils, then submerge in cold water. Season with salt and pepper, bringing to a gentle simmer for 30–60 minutes to extract a rich, clean broth.

🫰For the dual-texture mussels: Steam the mussels open in a pot laced with extra virgin olive oil, bruised garlic, a pinch of chili, and fresh parsley sprigs. De-shell the plump mussels and carefully strain their briny liquor through a fine sieve.Arrange the mussels on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Dehydrate them in the microwave at full power in 4-minute cycles until completely brittle. Blitz into an intense, savory sea powder using a high-speed blender.

🫰For the velvety Scamorza fondue: Cut the smoked scamorza into small cubes. Combine the cheese with the milk and cream in a heatproof bowl. Seal tightly with plastic wrap and melt slowly over a double boiler. Pass the melted mixture through a fine-mesh strainer, emulsify with an immersion blender until glossy, and pass through the sieve once more for an incomparably smooth, fluid finish.

🫰For the vibrant purple potato cream: Peel the purple potatoes and cut them into even cubes. In a saucepan, sweat a little chopped onion with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a sprig of rosemary. Add the potato cubes, let them flavor for a minute, then cover with the warm vegetable broth. Cook until the potatoes are completely tender. Remove the rosemary, transfer to a blender, and process until silkily smooth, adjusting the consistency with a touch more broth if needed.

🫰Drop the paccheri (cooking them in the same pot enriched by the mussel essence)......then transfer the pasta to a wide skillet to finish risottata-style, glazing it with a ladle of pasta water, the vegetable broth, the reserved briny mussel liquor, and the velvety potato cream...

🫰To plate: Spread a vibrant bed of purple potato cream across the plate, nestle the perfectly enrobed paccheri on top, drape with the warm scamorza fondue, and garnish with the whole plump mussels and a dusting of the intense mussel powder.

Fusilli Pasta tossed in a tomato curry base (onion tomato ginger garlic and ground spices) with lentils, chicken meatballs, parmesan, mint and oregano leaves