Chef Theo Randall has unveiled a collection of classic Italian pasta recipes designed for warm-weather enjoyment. The recipes, featured in his book "The Italian Table," highlight fresh ingredients and traditional preparation methods.
Among the featured dishes is Spaghettoni with swordfish, fresh mint, courgettes, and white wine. This recipe suggests using fresh tuna as an alternative to swordfish and incorporates mint for a unique flavor profile. It is designed to serve four people and requires spaghettoni, olive oil, garlic, courgettes, datterini tomatoes, swordfish, dry white wine, mint leaves, salt, pepper, and pangrattato for serving. The preparation involves cooking the pasta until it is three minutes shy of al dente, preparing a sauce with sautéed courgettes, tomatoes, and swordfish, and then combining the pasta with the sauce, adding mint and pasta water to emulsify.
Another offering is Casarecce with pistachio pesto. This dish emphasizes the use of pistachios, which are abundant in Sicily, and is best suited for casarecce pasta due to its shape that holds the sauce well. The recipe calls for pistachios, garlic, pine nuts, basil, lemon zest, Parmesan, warm water, olive oil, and casarecce or farfalle pasta. The pistachio pesto is made by blanching pistachios, then grinding them with garlic, pine nuts, basil, lemon zest, and Parmesan, before emulsifying with olive oil. The pasta is then tossed with half the pesto and served with the remainder.
Randall also shares Spaghettoni with fresh sardines, pine nuts, and fried breadcrumbs, a dish inspired by a meal he had in Palermo. This recipe includes finely sliced white onion, fennel, anchovy fillets, pine nuts, sultanas, saffron, fresh sardines, dry white wine, and spaghettoni. A key component is the pangrattato, made from frying breadcrumbs until golden brown. The preparation involves gently cooking the aromatics and anchovies, adding the sardines, wine, and cooking until the fish is just done, then combining with the pasta and finishing with fennel fronds and pangrattato.
For seafood lovers, Red prawn linguine is presented. This dish utilizes red prawns, or large tiger prawns, with their heads and shells on to create a rich stock. The recipe requires linguine, olive oil, celery, carrot, leek, plum tomatoes, garlic, water, parsley, salt, and pepper. The prawn heads and shells are cooked to extract flavor for the stock, which is then combined with linguine and seasoned prawns.
Fettuccine Amatriciana is also included, a sauce traditionally made with guanciale, passata, and pecorino. The recipe specifies using guanciale, or good-quality pancetta if guanciale is unavailable, along with passata and pecorino romano. Fresh fettuccine is cooked until very al dente and then finished in the pan with the sauce to emulsify.
Additionally, Mezze maniche with smoked prosciutto, pistachio, and cream is featured. This recipe uses a pistachio pesto, made with garlic, pistachios, basil, Parmesan, water, and olive oil, which is then combined with mezze maniche pasta, speck, onion, and cream.
Risotto primavera offers a vegetable-forward option, utilizing a purée of blanched leeks, courgettes, peas, and asparagus to give the risotto its creamy texture and green color. The dish is prepared using carnaroli risotto rice, white wine, basil, butter, and Parmesan.
Pasta allo scoglio, a seafood pasta dish, is represented by Tagliatelle with clams, mussels, prawns, and squid. This recipe calls for fresh tagliatelle, clams, mussels, dry white wine, olive oil, garlic, tomato passata, tiger prawns, squid, parsley, salt, and pepper. The shellfish are cooked to release their juices, which form the base of the sauce, before being combined with the pasta and other seafood.
Finally, Pesto alla Trapanese provides a Sicilian twist on pesto, using toasted almonds instead of pine nuts and fresh tomatoes. This pesto is recommended for fusilli or busiate pasta. The ingredients include blanched almonds, ripe tomatoes, garlic, basil, pecorino romano, extra virgin olive oil, and pasta. The almonds are toasted before being ground with other ingredients to create the sauce.
Recipes are available from "The Italian Table" by Theo Randall, with photographs by Lizzie Mayson. The book is available for purchase through the Mail Shop.