FOOD & DRINK

Italian chef and restauranteur known for his association with his British protégé Jamie Oliver and his partnership with fellow Italian chef Antonio Carluccio and their television series 'Two Greedy Italians'. Here we present recipes from his new book 'Gennaro's Pasta Perfecto'.

RIGATONI ALLA ZOZZANA

This robust Roman recipe takes its name from zozza, which in Roman dialect usually means ‘dirty’, but in the case of this recipe means ‘rich’, because all sorts of ingredients are added. It’s a cross between the other classic Roman pasta dishes cacio e pepe and carbonara, and uses up all the typical leftovers, making it a substantial but extremely delicious dish.

Serves 4 300 g/101/2oz rigatoni pasta 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 1 onion, finely chopped 100 g/31/2oz pancetta, finely chopped 100 g/31/2oz Italian pork sausage, skinned and crumbled 1 egg yolk 30 g/1oz/scant 1/2 cup grated Pecorino, plus extra for sprinkling 2 tbsp single (light) cream sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta until al dente (check the instructions on your packet for cooking time). Heat the olive oil in a frying pan (skillet) set over a medium heat, add the onion and sweat for 1 minute. Add the pancetta and sausage meat, and sauté for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolk, grated Pecorino and cream, along with some salt and pepper, in a small bowl.

Drain the cooked pasta, add to the pan with the pancetta and sausage meat, mix well and cook for 1 minute over a high heat. Remove from the heat and mix in the creamy mixture. Serve immediately, with an extra sprinkling of black pepper and Pecorino.

PEPERONI RIPIENI DI PASTA

Filled vegetables are very common throughout Italy and started off as a cucina povera dish to make the veggies go further, adding whatever ingredients were available. Commonly, (bell) peppers are baked and then filled and the addition of pasta makes this dish a very different and enjoyable way to eat our favourite Italian staple. When you first roast the peppers, make sure you do not overcook them – they need to be sturdy to be filled with the pasta mixture. I have used red and yellow peppers as they are sweeter, but you could use the green variety too, if you prefer.

Serves 4-6 6 mixed (bell) peppers (yellow and red) 300 g/10 ½oz sedanini pasta or pennette (small penne) 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling 1 garlic clove, left whole and squashed 4 anchovy fillets 20 black pitted olives 2 tsp capers 300 g/101/2oz baby plum tomatoes, halved 10 basil leaves, roughly torn 125 g/41/2oz mozzarella, cut into small cubes sea salt Slice the tops off the peppers and scoop out the seeds inside with a spoon. Replace the tops on the peppers to resemble little hats. Put them into a baking dish or onto a baking sheet and roast for about 15 minutes, until the peppers soften but are not mushy.

Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta until al dente (check the instructions on your packet for cooking time).

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat, add the garlic and anchovies, and sweat until the anchovies have melted. Add the olives, capers, tomatoes and basil, cover with a lid and cook over a medium–low heat for about 7 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft. Discard the garlic.

Drain the pasta and add to the tomato sauce, mixing well to combine over a high heat for a minute or so. Remove from the heat, then stir in the mozzarella.

Reduce the oven temperature to 180oC fan/200oC/400oF/gas mark 6.

Drizzle a little extra-virgin olive oil into a baking dish. Place the peppers in the dish and fill them with the pasta mixture, covering them with their little ‘hats’. Drizzle with a little more olive oil and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, leave to rest for a couple of minutes, then serve.

LINGUINE AL CARTOCCIO CON GAMBERI E PESTO

This light pasta, steam-baked with king prawns (jumbo shrimp), will surely delight your guests as they open their parcels of delicious goodness! Steam-baking is not only a feast for the eyes, but a lovely light way of cooking that locks all the flavours in. I have used ready-foiled parchment paper, but if you can’t find it, use a sheet of parchment paper inside a sheet of foil and make sure you wrap tightly so that none of the juices can escape during cooking.

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta for half of the cooking time stated on the packet. Drain well, mix with half of the pesto sauce and set aside.

Spread 4 x foil-lined parchment paper sheets out on your work surface (foil-side down) and drizzle each with a little extra-virgin olive oil. Divide the linguine into 4 portions and place a portion on each sheet, top each with 2 king prawns, followed by the remaining pesto and a little salt and pepper.

Drizzle white wine over each portion and a little extra-virgin olive oil. Wrap the parcels well, place on a baking sheet and bake in the hot oven for 12 minutes.

Remove from the oven and serve each parcel on an individual plate with a slice of lemon each and a few basil leaves to garnish.

Serves 4 150 ml/5 fl oz/ 2/3 cup Basil Pesto extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling 8 raw king prawns (jumbo shrimp), cleaned 125 ml/4 floz/½ cup white wine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 4 slices of lemon and a few basil leaves, to garnish Preheat the oven to 180oC fan/200oC/400oF/gas mark 6.

Extracted from Gennaro’s Pasta Perfecto by Gennaro Contaldo. Photography Adriana Contaldo.