1 kg Of Pumpkin, 500 grams of Mixed Pasta or Tubetti, 2 cloves garlic, 140. gr Olive oil, A handful of chopped parsley, A small hot chili, Salt as desired. Put a large pan with water to boil. Place the oil and the garlic in a casserole on a low heat and brown the garlic. Remove the garlic when brown and add the pumpkin cut up into small chunks without the peel and seeds and place it in the pan with a little bit of salt and if desired a little piece of the hot chili. Mix it around, add a half a cup of water and cover, letting it simmer on a low heat. The pumpkin has to cook until it looks almost overcooked and creamy. As it cooks keep adding a little water if necessary. Once the pumpkin is cooked, get the tubetti and cook them in the salted boiling water. When very "al dente" strain them from the water keeping a little of the water in case needed. Place the tubetti in the sauce of the pumpkin and add some of the boiling water till it is wet and a little soupy. Keep mixing on the low flame for about five minutes and finally add the chopped parsley. Once ready bring to serve and if desired sprinkle each plate with a small amount of black pepper.

500g Penne, 500g of mature red tomatoes, 100 g of extra virgin olive oil, 100g of grated pecorino, 1 clove of garlic, 1 hot peperoncino, and salt as desired. In a large pan brown the garlic and the hot chili in the olive oil. When brown remove the garlic, add the cut up tomatoes, add salt and let cook on a high flame until the sauce becomes dense. In another pan cook the penne al dente in salted water when ready drain and add the penne to the hot sauce. Mix well on a low flame. When ready add the grated pecorino and serve.

500 g of tagliolini, 100g rucola, 30 g pinoli, 2 cloves of garlic, extra virgin olive oil, grated parmigiano and pecorino as desired, salt and pepper. Wash the rocket salad well and cut up into small pieces. In a blender add the olive oil, the rocket salad, the grated parmigiano, the grated pecorino and mix unto a smooth and homogenous paste. Cook the pasta in and when al dente drain but make sure to save some of the boiling water on the side for the sauce. Add the tagliolini to the pesto sauce and if needed add some of the water to the mixture while mixing all on a low heat. Bring to a serve adding adding pepper to each plate if desired.

Vermicelli or Linguine 600 grams, Olive oil 1 decilitre, Garlic 2 cloves, Chopped Parsley 1 handfull, Clams 1.2 kgs, Salt as desired, Pepper as desired. Place a large spaghetti pot on heat and bring to a boil. In a large pan, brown the garlic slightly in the olive oil. Add the washed clams with their shells and pepper, turn and leave them simmer till all the shells are open and add a part of the parsley. Once open remove from the heat and pour the broth through a tight filter. If preferred the clams can be removed from their shells and added to the broth. Once ready add the vermicelli or linguini to the boiling water with two small fistfulls of crystalized salt. When the vermicelli is "al dente" remove from the heat. Remove water and add the sauce with the clams to the spaghetti and stir together on a low heat. When well mixed add the chopped parsley and serve.

500 grs. Penne, 800 grs. Fresh cherry tomatoes, 2 Decilitres of olive oil, 3 cloves of garlic, 60 grs. Small black olives, 1 small piece of red chili pepper, A fistfull of chopped parsley, A few leaves of basil, Salt to taste. Put a pasta pan to boil..... Cut the cherry tomatoes into four small pieces and let them drain for a half and hour so as to lose their liquid. Brown the garlic, oil and the red chilli pepper in a pan. When the garlic is brown remove it from the oil and add the chopped olives and the capers, and a small part of the chopped parsley and the basil. Let simmer on a low heat for a few minutes then raise the flame and when bubbling add the chopped tomatoes and the rest of the parsley, the basil and salt as desired. Let this all cook for a few minutes. Make sure that the tomatoes are still half raw when turning off the heat. Add 1 small fistfull of cristalized salt to the boiling water and add the penne. When the penne are "al dente" remove from heat and drain the water. On a low heat add the penne to the sauce and mix well. When well mixed serve. What is there to say about this dish and its "colourful" name? The puttanesca sauce is a hot, flavour packed sauce that is usually served with penne or spaghetti and has its origin in Southern Italy. The name "puttanesca" refers to the ladies of the night and one of the many different stories, that claims the origin of this dish, is that the pasta was served with this sauce to the clients of one brothel in the city of Naples as an "appetizer"! Another story claims that the dish has been created on the isle of Ischia, set in the bay of Naples, by a local artist called Eduardo Colucci, for his visiting friends, immediately after world war 2. Then, there is another trail of claims that say that the recipe is from Rome and not from Naples. Looking at the Ingredients (tomatoes, garlic, olives, capers and hot chilli etc.) I believe that the true origins of the dish are from a coastal area of Southern Italy, probably in and around Naples, no matter what story is behind it. It's an easy dish to prepare and I would stick with the most traditional way to do it so that you will be sure to have the perfect balance between spicy and hot. No parmigiano is used with this dish.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara Four people, 500 grs of spaghetti, 350 grs of bacon cut up into small pieces, 2 eggs, 3 tbsps of extra virgin olive oil, 2 tbsps of grated pecorino romano, 60grs of grated parmigiano reggiano, 50 grs of cooking thick cream, salt and peppar as desired. Put a large spaghetti pot to boil. When water is boiling add the spaghetti respecting its individual cooking time, just remove two minutes before because the spaghetti it will have to be mixed into the carbonara sauce on an open flame. In the meantime put the oil and the bacon in a large pan and simmer on a high heat. Beat the eggs, then add the cream, the grated pecorino, grated parmigiano, salt, pepper and if desired a little bit of chopped parsley and mix well. When spaghetti is ready drain the water add the spaghetti to the sauce on a medium flame and mix well. Make sure to lift the pan off the flame from time to time so that the eggs and cream do not cook and dry up to much. However, with all italian pasta dishes a good idea is always to save a bit of the boiling water so if the sauce seems to dry one can always slowly add a few spoons of the boiling water into the sauce to make it all more creamy. Once mixed well immediately bring to serve.

750 grs Zucchini, 1dl. olive oil, 500 grs Vermicelli, 2 cloves of garlic, fistful of chopped parsley, few leaves of basil chopped, 90 grs. grated parmigiano, 2 eggs, salt and pepper as desired. Place a large pan of water to boil. Wash and cut up the zucchini into small cubes. Slightly braise the garlic in the oil and add the baby zucchini and simmer on a low flame. After about 8 minutes of cooking time add a small amount of water, add the parsley, the basilico and salt and pepper as desired and simmer for a short while. Add the vermicelli to the boiling water and bring to a boil not forgetting to add a tsps of olive oil to the water and a small fistfull of crystalized salt. In the meantime beat the eggs, with the parmigiano. When the vermicelli are al dente remove and drain the water always saving a little of the boiling water in case the sauce is to dry. Add the vermicelli to the sauce in the pan, add the eggs and mix well on a low heat. If needs to be more creamy add a little bit of the left over boiling water and bring to a serve. Pepper may be added to each plate if desired.

500 gr. Tubetti (Pasta) 600 gr. of canned or frozen small peas, 120 gr. of bacon cut up into small cubes or small thin slices, 1 tbsp of virgin olive oil, 250 gr. of fresh chopped onions, 2 small tomatoes cut up into small pieces, small amount of chopped parsley, salt, pepper and hot chili pepper as desired. Put the bacon, onion and olive oil in a large pan and bring to a simmer on a low heat. When a little browned, add the peas, the tomatoes and the pepper and little salt. Mix well, cover and leave to simmer on a low heat. In the meantime prepare the pot with the boiling water for the tubetti. When boiling add the tubetti and a small fistful of crystalized salt to the water. When al dente remove from heat, drain always saving a bit of the boiling water on the side and add the tubetti to the peas. Mix well and cook for a few minutes on a low heat adding the parsley and some of the boiling water if needed until it is soft and creamy. When ready if preferred one may add grated parmisan and a bit of pepper to each plate. Serve immediately.

550grs of linguine, 200grs of tuna in olive oil, 3 tbsps of olive oil, 100 grs of black olives, 50 grs of salted capers, 2 cloves of garlic, chopped parsley, salt, pepper and oil as desired. In a large pan brown the garlic in the olive oil, add the chopped parsley, the rinsed capers, the black olives cut up into small pieces, the chopped tinned tuna without the oil and salt and pepper as desired. In another large pan bring the water to boil with a fistfull of crystallized salt and add the linguine. When the linguine are al dente drain the water and add to the sauce. Mix well adding the rest of the chopped parsley. Bring to serve.

300 g of rice, 1 cabbage, 1 small onion, 100g of bacon, 100g of parmigiano, 4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper as desired. On a medium heat, brown in the olive oil the chopped onion and the bacon cut up in small squares or cut into thin slices and pieces, when slightly browned add the washed cabbage cut up into thin slices as well. Add salt, cover and leave to simmer on a low heat mixing well from time to time. If dry add a little bit of water or vegetable broth. Cook until the cabbage looks browned and softened. If preferred while cooking the cabbage small pieces of parmigiano may be added which adds a creamy texture to the cabbage. In the meantime cook the rice in another pan and when ready ìal denteî drain the water and add it to the cabbage. Mix well and complete the cooking adding a small amount of vegetable broth. When rice is done place in a large serving bowl, add parmigiano and bring to serve. Pepper and dry peperoncino may be added to each plate.

300g rice, 500 g of potatoes, 300 g of peeled tomatoes, parmigiano as desired, 1 small chopped onion, 50 g of extra virgin olive oil, 1 stock cube, chopped parsley and salt. In a large pan brown the chopped onion in the olive oil, add the tomatoes and the stock cube. When this sauce starts to boil, add the rice and the potatoes cut up into small cubes. Add salt as desired. If necessary add a couple of ladles of boiling water. Cover and simmer on a low heat making sure that the sauce does not dry. It has to be a smooth solidity not to thick and not to liquid. When the rice is ready add the chopped parsley the grated parmigiano, if desired dry chopped peperoncino and bring to serve.

1.300 kgs of cut up chicken pieces, 50 grs of extra virgin olive oil, 25 grs of butter, 210 grs of chopped onions, a half chopped carrot, 500grs of peeled tinned tomatoes, a half leaf of alloro, 1 stick of rosmary, salt and pepper as desired. Cut chicken up into 8 or 10 pieces, wash it and dry it. Place in a casserole the chicken, the onion, the oil, the alloro, the rosemary stick, the butter, the chopped carrot, salt and pepper as desired and braise on a high heat, mixing it from time to avoid burning. When the chicken is browned add the whole peeled tomatoes, mix well, cover and simmer all on a low flame for about 30 minutes. At the end of the cooking time the sauce must be dense and creamy. When ready bring to a serve.

1.500kg Shanks, 3 spoons of olive oil. Ingredients to marinate: 2 glasses of red wine, half a glass of vinegar, 1 small glass of grappa, 1 onion, half a carrot, 1 small green onion, 1 tbsp of olive oil, 1 clove of garlic, 1 slice of lemon, 3 grains of ginepro, 1 chiodo of garofano, pepper, and salt as desired. Ingredients for the sauce: 1 and a half cups of vegetable broth, 1 small green onion, 25grs of butter, 25grs of flour, 1 tbsp of chopped onion, 1 tbsp of chopped parsley. The day before brown the garlic and the chopped green onion in oil. Once browned add all the other ingredients for the marination and cook on a low heat for 35minutes. When cooked retreat from heat and when cooled down pour over the legs of lamb and leave to marinate for 10 hours turning from time to time. When ready remove the lamb from the marinate wipe with a paper cloth brush with olive oil and place on a grill. Grill for a few minutes adding 2 tbsp of the marinate sauce to the legs. When slightly browned put in oven at 200 for 20 minutes, then lower the heat to 180 and continue to cook for 40 minutes brushing the lamb with olive oil from time to time. In the meantime, prepare the serving sauce. Reduce the marinating sauce to half its volume. Simmer the butter and the small chopped green onion, slowly mix in the flour, when brown add half the volume of the marinated sauce, the vegetable broth. Cook on a low heat for 30 minutes. At the moment of serving slice the lamb into thin slices and serve with the sauce on the side.

Vermicelli or Linguine 600 grams, Olive oil 1 decilitre, Garlic 2 cloves, Chopped Parsley 1 handfull, Clams 1.2 kgs, Salt as desired, Pepper as desired. Place a large spaghetti pot on heat and bring to a boil. In a large pan, brown the garlic slightly in the olive oil. Add the washed clams with their shells and pepper, turn and leave them simmer till all the shells are open and add a part of the parsley. Once open remove from the heat and pour the broth through a tight filter. If preferred the clams can be removed from their shells and added to the broth. Once ready add the vermicelli or linguini to the boiling water with two small fistfulls of crystalized salt. When the vermicelli is "al dente" remove from the heat. Remove water and add the sauce with the clams to the spaghetti and stir together on a low heat. When well mixed add the chopped parsley and serve.