Notes about Recipes in this book

• Spring minestrone with ditalini (Minestrone leggero con ditalini)

  • Ganga108 on October 31, 2022

    Even tho we are having a very extended Winter this year, I was determined to make this soup. And it is gorgeous, evoking the Spring that we wish we were having. A couple of notes, tho. It says serves 4 -6 - I'd reckon 6-8. It overflowed my large soup pan and I had to leave out the spinach (200g), and remove some of the cooked veg before I added the pasta to cook. It doesn't use stock - I recommend a light vegetable stock (I added some of my own dried herbs to compensate). There wasn't any ditalini or other soup pasta available locally, so I used orzo pasta.

• Classic pesto (Pesto alla Genovese)

  • Ganga108 on November 01, 2022

    Always a winner, especially to top a big bowl of minestrone. Yum.

• Classic Bolognese sauce (Ragù alla bolognese)

  • debkellie on May 04, 2014

    A great ragu: I substituted chicken liver pate for chicken livers as they appear to be unobtainable recently! Makes a huge quantity of sauce, with great flavour!

  • debkellie on August 23, 2020

    Returned to this one 6 years later: still a great ragu!

• Spaghettini with tomato and basil dressing (Spaghettini salsa a crudo semplice)

  • Ganga108 on November 22, 2021

    Page 69. A classic and the simplest of pasta recipes - a raw mix of tomato, basil and oregano to top your pasta with. It is definitely quick and easy. I love to add red or green chilli, slices. Leave out the garlic if you are heading out for the evening (but I love to slice it and add it to the sauce for extra garlicky bite). I also have pesto in the freezer from Summer's basil crop, so I don't have to think twice about adding a good dollop on top of the tomatoes.

• Linguine with everything (Linguine con tutto)

  • Ganga108 on November 18, 2022

    This really is "with everything" but the sort of (extremely delicious) pasta dish can be thrown together on a weeknight. Very herbaceous. Very delicious. Chop the ingredients while the pasta is cooking. Anchovies replaced with a little thinned miso. Sometimes I'd use a little wakame or kombu instead. Yum.

• Spaghetti with garlic, oil and chilli (Spaghetti all'aglio e olio)

  • Ganga108 on October 27, 2022

    A basic yet classic pasta dish, one of our favourites, easy to make late at night or after a tough day at work. Love the introduction to this recipe which has the Romans fighting the Neapolitans for invention rights.

• Tagliatelle with raw mushrooms (Tagliatelle al funghi crudi)

  • Ganga108 on January 04, 2023

    Buttery, cheesy and very delicious. Not strongly flavoured, focusing more on the pasta, butter and parmesan. I wish I'd added some chopped walnuts and a tiny sprinkling of finely chopped flat-leaf parsley.

• Bolognese-style lasagne (Lasagne alla Bolognese)

  • debkellie on May 23, 2015

    Excellent.

• Potato and spinach gnocchi with tomato and mascarpone (Gnocchi verdi al pomodoro e mascarpone)

  • Ganga108 on November 18, 2022

    I found some spinach gnocchi in an Italian grocery (as I don't cook with eggs), so was able to make this delicious dish. Easy once you've got the gnocchi (home made or store bought). Extremely delicious.