How to cook crab linguine – recipe. Few things scream summer holiday to me more than a big bowl of briny, seafood-studded pasta, even if it’s going to be eaten in front of the TV rather than some pretty Italian harbour.
Happily, seafood is one of the things we do rather well in this country, and this dish is the perfect end for a fat, brown, British crab. Sunshine optional. Prep 5 minCook 12 minServes 4 2 brown crabs, or 200g brown crabmeat and 200g white crabmeat 400g linguine2 garlic cloves1 red chilli1 tbsp olive oil1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed1 lemon1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, roughly choppedExtra-virgin olive oil, to finish 1 Start on the crab Start with the crab. 2 Discard the inedible bits Prise off the back of the shell and locate and remove the hard spiny bits around the eyes and mouth, and the yellowish stomach sac attached to them, plus any bits of papery membrane and the dead man’s fingers, the greyish fronds around the edge of the shell. 3 Pick the crab 4 Cook the pasta 5 Start on the sauce 8 Finishing touches.
Alastair Little: recipes for a summer Italian feast. Antipasto: broad bean and pecorino morbido salad Prep 5 minCook 10 min, plus skinning timeServes 4-6 This type of pecorino may be hard to find.
Morbido simply means soft in Italian (not depressed), so you need a relatively fresh cheese and certainly not a mature one (stagionato) – try a good Italian deli. The olive oil should be the best you can lay your hands on. 1 kg frozen broad beans, not defrosted – you don’t need fresh beans for this, because the frozen ones are lightly cooked before freezing and actually taste nicer than the expensive, rarely available fresh ones250g pecorino morbido (see note above) – if you can’t get hold of it, try asiago instead: a cow’s cheese that has a similar soft textureFlaky sea salt and black pepperTop-quality, Italian extra-virgin olive oil To serve1 garlic clove, peeledBruschetta Put three litres of water on to boil and salt generously.
Season to taste and sprinkle generously with ridiculously good olive oil. Primo: summer minestrone Dolce: panna cotta. Rachel Roddy’s lemon risotto recipe. While they are as much a year-round fixed kitchen component as milk, flour, forks and washing-up liquid, lemons particularly come into their own at this time of year.
For, although they can be cultivated perennially, this is their true season in the eastern hemisphere. And it couldn’t be better timing, nature summoning the brightest, most playful and irreducible fruit for the darkest, coldest days. This is the point where I usually insert a story about living in the land where the lemons grow, but I have done that for the last two years in this column. Also, I’ve just reread the lemon chapter in Jane Grigson’s Fruit Book where she quotes Goethe – “Do you know that country, where the lemon trees flower” – and refers to it as the best but also most hackneyed poem, which in turn made me feel hackneyed. It was a question from a reader that prompted me to try a risotto with lemon as its star.
Prep 15 minCook 30 minServes 4 In another pan on the back of the stove, keep the stock at a simmer. A recipe for linguine with grilled mussels and garlic breadcrumbs. I recently spent a memorable, sun-soaked few days in and around Marseille.
The cooking was gutsy, with bold ingredients such as garlic, anchovies and olives appearing lavishly, ensuring that I was always coming back for more. I particularly loved the Italian influence from just up the coastline – this mussel pasta was a particular favourite. It is a feast for four, but also makes for an amorous dinner à deux. Linguine with grilled mussels and garlic crumbs The smell of the toasted, garlicky breadcrumbs as the grilled mussels emerge is a sensation.
Prep 15 minCook 35 minServes 4. How to make the perfect cacio e pepe. If you’ve never heard of it, don’t worry – until about two months ago, neither had I.
Then, suddenly, cacio e pepe was everywhere, virtually speaking at least, a million slick strands of cheesy spaghetti clogging up social media like a vast hipster hairball. Those who claim a longer familiarity with the idea probably have some connection with Rome, where it’s an old favourite – its simplicity means that it’s rarely found in restaurants abroad, at least until recently. Pasta with Blue Cheese and Walnut Sauce. The only 4 spaghetti recipes you'll ever need. Spaghetti four ways These spaghettis are not just convenient, quick and easy dishes; they can also be seductively brilliant, a perfect example of how a dish can be so much more than a sum of its parts.
Each recipe makes enough for six. With the exception of the cacio e pepe, allow 1 litre of water to every 100g of pasta, and add a teaspoon of salt per litre of water. The quantity of pasta we seem to have settled on these days is around 70g per person, but anywhere between 70g and 100g is about right for these spaghettis, depending on how hungry you are and if you are eating anything else to follow. Great pasta dishes. Rabbit pappardelle This is a very rustic creation from Emilia-Romagna and, in my view, there's no tastier pasta dish in Italy.
The rabbit is slowly roasted, then stewed to make the most fantastic, rich meat sauce, and it's served with wide ribbon noodles called pappardelle. If you want to make this with a whole rabbit, remember that some parts will cook more quickly than others; I find it easier just to roast a few legs. Serves 4-6 500g pappardelle4 rabbit legs50ml olive oilknob of butter1 small carrot, finely chopped1 small onion, finely chopped1 celery stick, finely chopped2 garlic cloves, crushed2 sprigs fresh thyme2 sprigs fresh rosemary1 tsp tomato purée½ glass white wineabout 250ml chicken or vegetable stocksalt and freshly ground black pepperfreshly grated Parmesan, to servesmall handful freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley, to serve. How to cook perfect spaghetti alle vongole. Much as I love mash, there's no denying that, in a game of comfort food top trumps, pasta would hold the winning card.
Unlike potatoes or porridge or steaming puddings, it's a dish that's as satisfying in the Mediterranean heat of June as it is in the damp depths of autumn. Thick papardelle tossed with a hearty rabbit ragu can take the chill off the frostiest of November nights, while chilli-spiked spaghetti studded with plump briney clams is the very essence of an Italian summer's evening. And while the former will simmer quietly for hours, spaghetti alle vongole can be on the table in the time it takes your guests to heave themselves out of their deckchairs and into the dining room.