30 The Times Magazine
- SPAGHETTINI WITH GARLIC,
CHILLI AND PARSLEY
Serves 4
This was always a favourite with the staff
at the River Cafe where I worked. Cook the
garlic just enough so that it’s not too powerful
(don’t let it colour) and use mild chillies.
I enjoy bite in my pasta. Cook the spaghettini
so that it is properly al dente, which for these
fine strands means a good 2 minutes less than
suggested on the packet. Note: vegans omit
the parmesan.- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 2 mild red chillies, deseeded and
finely chopped - 2 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 500g spaghettini
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 100g parmesan (optional), finely grated,
to serve
1 Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick frying
pan on a low heat. When hot, add the garlic
and chillies and cook gently for 30 seconds,
until the garlic is soft but has no colour.
Add the chopped parsley and cook for a
further 1 minute. Remove from the heat and
leave to one side.
2 Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil.
Add the spaghettini and boil for 2 minutes less
than the packet cooking time. Using tongs,transfer the pasta to the frying pan with the
garlic, parsley and chilli. Add a ladleful of
the pasta cooking water, place the frying pan
back on a low heat and cook for a further
2 minutes, until the pasta is coated with the
chilli, parsley and garlic. Check the seasoning.
Serve in warmed pasta bowls sprinkled
generously with grated parmesan, if you wish.- SPAGHETTI ALLA PUTTANESCA
Serves 4
Pronounced poo-ta-neh-ska, the traditional
spaghetti puttanesca recipe doesn’t include
anchovies, but I think they make this simple
dish even better. If you can get spaghetti di
Gragnano from your deli, do so. Gragnano, in
Campania, is the birthplace of dried pasta and
the dried spaghetti from there is the best.- 3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve
- 6 salted anchovies in oil, drained
- 1 garlic clove, finely sliced
- 1 tbsp miniature capers in vinegar, drained
- Pinch of good-quality dried oregano
- 10 taggiasce or niçoise olives, pitted
- 300ml tomato passata
- 500g spaghetti
- Freshly ground black pepper
1 In a warm, nonstick frying pan, add the olive
oil, anchovies, garlic, capers, oregano and
olives. Cook gently on a low heat for about
2 minutes so the anchovies melt. Add thef ever there were an Englishman you
would trust to guide you around the
cooking of Italy, it would be Theo
Randall. As head chef of the River Cafe,
he helped to create the dishes that have
made the Hammersmith restaurant
famous around the world and he
continues to bring a little Italian sunshine
to London at his own restaurant at the
InterContinental hotel.
And if ever there were a cookbook for our
times, it is The Italian Deli. “I wrote this book
during the first lockdown when we were all
at home wondering what to cook with limited
supplies,” he says. “It made me realise how
important it is to be well stocked with those
little extras that make all the difference.
“I find myself looking in my cupboards
for inspiration, and there is always something
that pops out. It could be a tin of anchovies
or a jar of olives that gets me thinking. I have
always known this kind of instinctive cooking.”
We can buy so many Italian ingredients
in supermarkets now, but buying from an
authentic Italian deli, whether in person
or online, he thinks, opens up a whole new
world of flavours. He remembers the time
his mother brought home a piece of fresh
parmesan and grated it over a bowl of pasta.
“The flavour was so different from anything
I’d had before. It made me realise that authentic,
fresh ingredients were crucial in the final
flavour of a dish. And this is the ethos Italian
cooking is built on: simple food made using
exceptional ingredients.” Tony Turnbull
I
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PHOTOGRAPHS
Lizzie Mayson