Continuing with my passion for making fresh pasta at home (you can follow along for some pasta appreciation here) I dipped my toes back into the waters of hand rolled pasta with a batch of cavatelli rigati or cavatelli with ridges. You could also call these little grub-like pasta gnocchetti sardi or malloreddus, which I’m sure some pasta purists/Sardinians might argue is the correct name for these for whatever reason (DM me for a rant). Ultimately as far as fresh and hand rolled pasta goes, these are incredible easy to make and catch sauce beautifully in their ridges, so their name doesn’t really make a difference to me.

OK so let’s talk sauce. Alla vodka is traditionally a combination of crushed tomatoes, onions, cream and of course its namesake, vodka. The origins of this ridiculously moreish sauce are disputed (like most great things), but I like to think this was conjured up in the kitchen of Dante in Bologna during the 1980s, which is what Pasquale Bruno Jr., author of The Ultimate Pasta Cookbook reckons. Typically the pasta of choice is penne, but I think anything with ridges - or rigate - work just as well, which is why this cavatelli makes for a perfect pairing.

After first trying this dish in the Swiss-Italian region of Ticino back in ~2010, over the years I’ve tried a number of recipes to recreate the magic at home, always following the more traditional method of using crushed tomatoes and cooking them down over time. Totally delicious, but never making the cut to become a return favourite.

Enter tomato puree.

Now I’m not really one to follow celebrities, and I really never thought I’d be looking to Gigi Hadid for a recipe. But! she did happen to popularise this recipe by posting about it on Instagram, and it introduced me to subbing crushed tomatoes with tomato puree. Using tomato puree results in a super silky sauce with a beautifully concentrated tomato flavour, and as an added bonus it can be made in less than 10 minutes. (Side note: credit where credit’s due; I’ve got to give my mate Becky some kudos for getting me onto this recipe after she cooked this for dinner one night (thank you)).

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Cavatelli alla vodka

Serves 4

Sauce lightly adapted from here

METHOD

FOR THE PASTA DOUGH

1. Add the semolina flour to a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour the water into the well.

2. Using a fork, start to incorporate the flour into the water little by little, whisking until the liquid resembles pancake batter (note - the majority of flour should still remain around the sides of the bowl).

3. Using your hands, start by scooping flour from one side of the bowl, and folding it over the liquid/pancake mix. Use your fingers to press the flour into the liquid until incorporated. Rotate the bowl 45 degrees and repeat. Keep doing this until all of the flour is incorporated and you’ve got a somewhat shaggy dough.

4. At this point transfer to your work surface and knead the dough for 5-10 minutes until you have a smooth and shiny dough that doesn’t stick. If it’s too wet, add a touch of flour.

5. Wrap tightly in clingfilm and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes.

SHAPING THE CAVATELLI

1. Cut off 1/8 of the rested dough (make sure to keep the rest covered in clingfilm while you work), and roll it into a sausage about 1/4” thick

2. Cut the sausage into thumbnail sized pieces, and roll each into a little ball using the palm of your hands

3. Using a gnocchi board (or a fork if you don’t have one), place one ball at a time at the side closest to you, and using your thumb press into the ball and away from you, rolling the ball as you do so. Repeat with remaining balls and dough following the same process.

4. Place the cavatelli on a lightly floured board or plate and cover with a clean, dry tea towel until you’re ready to use.

FOR THE SAUCE

1. Bring a pot of salted water to boil and cook the cavatelli for around 6-8 minutes depending on their size. Semolina/water pasta tends to have a chewier, denser consistency.

2. Meanwhile heat olive oil in a large pan and add the chopped shallot, cooking for a few min before adding the garlic and chilli flakes.

3. Add the tomato puree and cook for a minute or so until it takes on a deeper colour.

4. Add the vodka and let the alcohol cook out (this should only really take a minute), then stir through the cream.

5. Just before the pasta is ready, add the butter.

6. Using a slotted spoon, add the cavatelli (along with some of the pasta water) directly to the sauce, stirring through with a good handful of grated parmesan. Check for seasoning and add a splash of pasta water if the sauce seems too thick.

7. Serve with a drizzle of good olive oil, fresh basil and extra parmesan.

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE PASTA DOUGH

450g durum wheat semolina flour

225g luke warm water

FOR THE SAUCE

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 shallot, finely chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, sliced

1-2 tbsp dry chilli flakes (optional)

80g tomato puree

50ml vodka

120-140ml double cream

25g butter

A couple of handfuls of grated parmesan

Fresh basil to serve

While mindlessly scrolling through the digital equivalent of 500 tonnes worth of cat memes on Instagram, something stood out: a green chilli sauce. Usually, I'd slow clap the vibrant hue of green, give it a nod of approval and move on. But when I saw the word tahini in the ingredients let's just say my interest was piqued. 

I absolutely love tahini and anything that it's in. I'm talking fan girl territory, a sweet ode to my Cypriot heritage with hummus being the obvious contender for most loved tahini recipe - until now. This sauce is capital letters LEGIT and I have been putting it on everything from steak to chicken, to mixing it into salad dressings and using it to add an extra dimension to the usual egg and avo combo. If you follow me on Instagram and have ever felt compelled enough to watch my stories, you may have noticed my new found obsession for this sauce because I have been preaching hard. 

The recipe comes from my all time favourite bon appétit and is another example of why they are IMO the best food magazine out there - they deliver the goods time and time again (and can we take a moment to applaud them for likening this sauce to the summer sandals you wear with everything? So true.). But of course it wouldn't be like me to ever really follow a recipe to the T, so my take on this punchy little number uses some garlic scapes I picked up from the market along with a single clove of garlic, a little less lemon and a touch more heat from an additional serrano pepper. I promise if you try this you will be just as obsessed as me. 

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HOT GREEN TAHINI SAUCE

Makes 2 cups, lightly adapted from here

Ingredients

2 lemons (zest of one, juice of 1.5)

3 serrano peppers 

1 garlic clove

2 garlic scapes, chopped (or just use an additional garlic clove)

3 cups curly leaf parsley, roughly chopped (discard stalks)

60ml extra virgin olive oil

120g tahini paste

Salt

Method

1. In a blender, grate in the zest of a lemon and add the juice of 1.5 lemons, discarding any pips.
2. Add the garlic, garlic scapes, serrano peppers, parsley, olive oil and roughly 75ml water and blend until you have a smooth sauce.
3. Transfer the sauce to a bowl and stir in the tahini paste - season with salt to taste.
4. That's it! Keep refrigerated in an airtight container. 

I think this tastes better the next day, when the tahini has thickened the sauce and the flavours have developed and settled. Keeps well for a week. Maybe longer but I wouldn't know because I eat it too quickly. 

Everyone has that one recipe that they go back to time and time again, and for me it's pesto. Perhaps it's the ease in throwing it together, or the fact that its traditional use is with my favourite carb, but there is something about its herby, garlicky notes that keep it firmly on my go-to recipe list. 

What I love about pesto is its versatility. Every green herb or leaf that I throw at it seems to work in its own right, with unfamiliar flavour profiles lending themselves to different parts of the palate, adding an element of discovery each time I try a new combination. This particular pesto is made using chives as well as basil, resulting in luxuriously garlicky undertones while keeping it classic. Use it on pasta like I've done here, or dot it onto ricotta on toast - it is all good.  

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CHIVE + BASIL PESTO

Makes 200g 

Ingredients

30g fresh chives

20g fresh basil leaves, stalks discarded

3 tablespoons pine nuts

1 garlic clove, minced

6 tablespoons mild/light olive oil

30g parmigiano reggiano, finely grated

Method

1. In a food processor, add the herbs, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil and a good pinch of salt and pepper and blend.

2. Scrape the pesto mixture into a bowl and by hand stir in the grated parmesan. Add an extra glug of olive oil for good measure.  

3. Cook your pasta of choice until al dente (allow 150g per person), reserving a little of the cooking water before draining. Add 1 heaped tablespoon of pesto per person, along with a splash of the reserved water.

4. Serve immediately.