World Pasta Day: Three Italian recipes to rustle up at home

Every day should be World Pasta Day, in our opinion, but if you’re marking the occasion, these recipes from the pastaiolos at Big Mamma are a treat

Big, bold comfort food (Big Mamma)

Mark your calendars ragazzi, it’s World Pasta Day on Tuesday 25 October.

Given pasta is in their bloodstream, we have gathered Big Mamma head chef Andrea, Armando and Gennaro to share with you their favourite pasta recipes, including some signatures and seasonal specials. And depending how forza you feel, you can use these recipes for either homemade or dried pasta – we won’t tell.

The classic: mafaldine al tartufo

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

400g mafaldine, linguine or tagliatelle

70g parmesan

20g butter

2 tbsp truffle oil

½ shallot

20g autumn black truffle

200g button mushrooms

30ml white wine

80g mascarpone

Method:

For the truffle cream:

Melt the butter with the truffle oil in a frying pan. Add the shallot and half of the finely chopped truffle, then the minced/chopped mushrooms. Let it brown for a few minutes, then deglaze with white wine, stirring well with a wooden spoon. Let it simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes, and then stir.

For the pasta:

In another saucepan, cook your pasta in boiling salted water, until it’s a little less than al dente. Mix the mascarpone with the truffle cream in another saucepan and heat gently. Add the pasta, grated parmesan and a little bit of cooking water, if necessary. Serve immediately, garnishing with fine slithers of the remaining truffle (you can use a peeler for this).

The seasonal favourite: homemade tagliatelle with porcini

Tagliatelle with porcini mushrooms is usually served as a first course in the autumn (Big Mamma)

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

For the pasta dough:

500g flour

5 eggs

Salt

For the sauce:

400g porcini

1 garlic clove

40g olive oil

150ml vegetable stock

35g butter unsalted

15g parsley

Salt and pepper

Method:

On a clean work surface, make a mound with the flour and create a well in the centre. Put the eggs into the well and gradually mix the flour into the centre to combine. Gradually add the flour from around the sides until all the flour is mixed and you have a smooth ball of dough.

Put the pasta dough in the fridge to rest while you make the sauce.

Finely chop the garlic. Slice the porcini mushrooms finely. Add the olive oil and butter to a frying pan, and melt. Add the garlic and mushrooms, slowly cooking till soft. Add the stock and slowly simmer till reduced, then add the chopped parsley (reserving some to garnish).

In the meantime, using a pasta machine or rolling pin, roll out the pasta until 2mm thick. Using a knife, slice the pasta into thick ribbons of tagliatelle. Leave to slightly dry on a baking sheet dusted with flour.

When ready to serve, put a pan of salted water on a rolling boil. Cook the pasta till al dente (approx 2-3 minutes), remove and add straight to the frying pan with the stock and porcini. Cook tossing together, adding any pasta water to loosen. Serve immediately, with some additional chopped parsley and fresh parmigiano.

The meaty ragu: torciglioni alla Genovese

Genovese is a slow-cooked onion and meat sauce from Italy’s Campania region (Big Mamma)

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

500g lamb shoulder (cubed)

3 yellow onion

1 carrot

1 celery

60ml wine

1 bay leaf

50ml oil

Salt and pepper

Parmigiano

Method:

1. First, finely slice the onions.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large pot on a medium-low heat and add the onions, carrot, and celery.

3. Slowly saute the onions for 10 minutes keeping them on a low heat so they don’t brown.

4. Meanwhile sprinkle salt and pepper over the lamb and add to the pot with the bay and parsley, let the meat brown for a minute or two. Add the wine and cover the pot and leave on a medium-low heat for 3 hours checking and stirring every so often to make sure it isn’t sticking.

5. After 3 hours, uncover the pot. Leave to simmer uncovered for another hour, until the sauce is reduced. Then shred the lamb.

6. Once cooked and the sauce has reduced, cook your preferred pasta (we use homemade spiral pasta – torciglioni!) and toss with the sauce.