Tagliatelle With Pear, Gorgonzola and Walnut
Skye McAlpine/ The Home Page
The best pasta dishes turn balancing flavour and texture into an art form. For autumn, we can think of no finer example than Skye McAlpine’s creamily inviting recipe from her book, A Table For Friends. Offsetting the tang of the cheese with the sweetness of the pear and adding whole walnuts for texture, it is the perfect comfort food as the nights grow nippier. Get the recipe.
Neapolitan Pasta With Patate And Provola
Delicious
If you’ve never considered potato and pasta as culinary companions, think again. In its home-town of Genova, pesto is traditionally served with potatoes and green beans, while this Neapolitan dish proves once more how beautifully they can work together. Tossed through with pancetta and provola, this gloriously cheesy creation offers the ultimate in comfort food. Get the recipe.
Spaghetti Aglio E Olio
Giorgio Locatelli/ BBC
The central tenet of Italian cooking is simplicity. Allowing good quality ingredients the space to shine lies at its culinary core, and there is no better example of this than a classic spaghetti aglio e olio (pasta with garlic and olive oil tossed with garlic, chilli and flat-leaf parsley). In fact, so straightforward is it, it barely needs a recipe– but if you are looking for one, do defer to the great Giorgio Locatelli and you cannot possibly go wrong. Get the recipe.
Squash Tagliatelle
Jamie Oliver
What could be more seasonally nourishing and comforting than this squash tagliatelle, as demonstrated by Jamie Oliver? Having long, long ago cut his teeth at the River Café and later spent years cooking alongside the great Gennaro Contaldo, he is pretty much an honorary Italian, at least culinarily speaking. This dish is sweet, nutty and good for body and soul – as well as offering a taste of autumn in a bite. Get the recipe.
Cacio e Pepe
Bon Appetit
This classic Roman dish has enjoyed something of a resurgence in popularity in recent years. And, once again, simplicity is at the core of knocking up the perfect rendition. As the Bon Appetit Kitchen folk write, ‘Classic versions call for just pasta, salted water, freshly ground pepper, and Pecorino Romano, a Roman sheep’s milk cheese. Ours tosses a bit of Grana Padano or Parmesan into the mix for a more rounded cheese flavour that melds warmth, nuttiness, and sharpness. When combined properly, all the elements come together like sorcery into a lusciously cheesy dish with a creamy sauce.’ Served with a glass of full-bodied red, nothing is more comforting than this. If you feel like you’re on a roll, also try this carbonara, as demonstrated by the great Rachel Roddy in her Roman kitchen. Get the recipe.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Sean Dooley
Spicy Pork Ragu With Rigatoni
Taste
If you want hearty, carnivorous comfort through the cold season, look no further. Pork shoulder, red wine, fennel seeds, chicken stock and a warming kick of chilli, this is one to feed and fortify the troops after a long and chilly ramble. Get the recipe.
Image by Brett Stevens
Charred Cauliflower Pasta With Pumpkin Seed Pesto
BBC Good Food
One of the great things about pasta is how well it serves us as a vehicle to pack in sustaining and nourishing ingredients – all while tasting absolutely delicious. Pesto, perhaps our favourite pasta sauce of them all, is so classic that it can stand a little twist – in this case by adding roasted cauliflower, the zest and juice of a lemon, onion and pumpkin seeds, which go in alongside the traditional ingredients. The perfect mid-week supper. Get the recipe.
