I believe in possibility.

I’m always going to see the potential in things. People. Places. Opportunities.

Possibility is a choice.

Everything is really.

And I’m always going to choose what’s possible over ‘how it is’.

I believe this in all areas of my life and it’s exactly how I see cooking.

I’m always asking myself, what’s here for me to create? Not what directions do I have to follow? Or that I have to do it the way someone else has always done it.

Trusting myself and choosing to see the possibilities.

Choosing to look at cooking as a practice that makes life more delicious.

One of expansion.

Of deep nourishment.

Creativity.

And infinite possibility.

Man, if we could all see things in this way more often imagine how different the world might be?

But back to cooking.

Let’s dive into a dish where it’s easy to see the potential of possibility and inspiration.

Pasta.

I mean, c’mon it’s an endless playground of cooking styles, shapes, flavours and sauce pairings - it’s all right here for us.

“Life without pasta would be a life without music. A life without love.”

- Marc Vetri

Making pasta is an art itself and with over 300 shapes (an probably more) to choose from there’s really no end to what you can create.

Let’s dive into some of my pasta foundations that might just help you see the pasta-bilities and find your own inspiration.

Invest in the best - this one’s important as it does make a difference and it’s very much the Italian way to choose the best ingredients you can which is why I’m always one to seek out the good dried pasta. It really does make a difference for flavour and texture One that I love that you can find fairly easily is Rustichella d'Abruzzo. Two more must haves are always going to be a good olive oil and parmesan cheese. If you have these three things you’ll always have a good base to create a delicious, slurp-worthy bowl of noodles. Other of my staple nice to haves; san marzano canned tomatoes and a good jar of anchovies in oil.

Cooking your pasta - three important details here - always give the pasta as much room to move in the water as possible. Too small a pot, the pasta can become gummy so be sure to give them space. Second, season the water. Now there’s probably a million of schools of thought on how much to season, some say it must taste like the sea while others say it should be seasoned like soup. My thought - you decide! It’s all about what your tastes are and your personal preference so try it a few different ways and see what you like best. Just remember this is your opportunity to add flavour so its always worth it to do it even just a little bit, especially if you’re planning to use the water. It’s also another thing to think about because how salty the water is impacts the end result of your dish right? Always be thinking about your end game. Last, is don’t overcook your pasta!! You want the pasta to have that little bit of bite and this matters especially when you’re tossing it with sauce and maybe cooking it a little more in the pasta with the pasta. For dried pasta my sweet spot is like 6-7 minutes but again, please experiment and taste test. You want it just past the pasta being ‘crunchy’ to the bite which is a delicate balance and the only way you know you’re got it right is by tasting.

Don’t over sauce! If you’ve ever been to Italy or to a good Italian restaurant you know that most pastas aren’t drowning in sauce and it’s usually better that way so just a little note to go easy. More sauce isn’t always going to be the answer or mean a better tasting meal. Instead, think about how you can make it the most delicious which may mean adding an extra splash of pasta water to help pull your sauce together and coat the noodles. It might mean just a final drizzle of good olive oil at the end for that buttery mouthfeel, or a even a simple sprinkle of flaky maldon salt.

Fresh vs. dry - they each have their own uses, their own pros and cons but again this is where you get to experiment and see what you like. I lean to fresh pasta mostly when I’m doing stuffed pasta of some kind as there are so many good dried brands out there.

Making your own - there’s something very satisfying in making your pasta and I do think everyone should do it at least once just for the fun of it. Making a well in the softest of flours and gently mixing the liquid incorporating the flour and then kneading the dough to supple, smooth perfection, ready to be transformed into something beautiful. There’s so many options as to flour types, ratios, whether you use whole egg, only yolks, no eggs, adding olive oil or not, adding water or not, flavour additions like spinach to colour the dough, etc. Whatever you choose, definitely invest in some 00 pasta flour (I’m a believer that you need this as the base for the most tender dough especially in home cooking) and take lots of time to knead the dough to get the consistency right. My go to basic ratio is this:

• 450g 00 pasta flour

• 2 eggs

• 2 egg yolks

• pinch salt

• drizzle of good olive oil

This is what I’ll start with then I’ll add a little bit of all purpose or semolina flour as I’m kneading as it’s usually pretty sticky. This give a little bit of bite to the pasta but keeps it nice and soft for rolling.

*I love doing a laminated dough by putting edible flowers or herbs between two sheets and rolling them together. Always so pretty! This is also where it’s worth the investment to have a pasta roller.*

*One of my favourite practices is playing with filled pasta shapes. Always feels so meditative to just sit and focus on making these. I do them in large batches, often with friends and freeze them for later. Seriously, have a pasta party!!*

Shapes and sauce pairings - with so many shapes and sizes it might feel a little daunting knowing what to do with each so here's some loose guidelines:

Long thin pastas, like linguine and spaghetti, are best with smooth, light sauces such as garlic and olive oil, marinara, or seafood (linguine alle vongole, anyone?). These don’t overwhelm the strands of pasta and balance the weight of the dish perfectly.

Long thick pastas like pappardelle are better with more robust sauces, such as meat sauces.

Short cuts of pasta, such as macaroni, small shells, farfalle work great in baked dishes, pasta salads, and with chunkier sauces.

Shells are great with vegetable-based sauces, and heartier meat and tomato-based sauces.

Smooth shapes are great with oil and cream-based sauces; ridged shapes help pick up grated cheese and thick sauces.

Stuffed pastas I usually go with a light, simple sauce as I’m really just wanting something that helps the stuffing shine like browned butter and sage for butternut squash ravioli.

Please remember these are loose guidelines. Nothing bad will happen if you mix and match shapes with sauces, the same way you’d mix colours on a palette, so go ahead and break the rules if you want - actually, I want you too! And tell me what you come up with.

If you need a little more inspiration

The goal for me is to always be encouraging you to play with techniques, flavours and ingredients and create your own delicious meals without having to rely on a recipe. Because when we can do this first, cooking is always more fun so I encourage you to try out some different shapes or try making a sauce using flavours you love. This is how I cook everyday and with pasta it’s usually me just looking at what I’ve got and going from there.

A great recent example is simply roasting some cauliflower until it’s beautifully browned and crispy, then chopping it up and adding to some butter and olive oil that I’ve added a couple anchovy fillets and cooked on a low heat until the anchovies dissolve into a paste. I’ll add in the cauliflower, cook up some bucatini and toss everything together with a splash of pasta water. Finish with toasted pine nuts, fresh parsley and lots of fresh cracked pepper. So simple but always so good!!

In case you need some more guidelines, here’s a roundup of some of past pasta posts but please notice the theme of how these all came to be…..

Halibut Cheek Ragu is something I created a while back and very quickly become a favourite. Also the best lesson in getting creative with ingredients and what I hope you do too!

Prawn Fettuccine - the creamiest comfort. This is the magic white sauce you an also use in a million different ways.

A twist on Linguine all Vongole - again, it’s always about experimenting with ingredients to come up with your own twists on things!!

One of my favourite cookbooks for developing a pasta making practice is this one: Mastering Pasta

*Let’s make pasta romantic again. Or whatever this is!! Pasta girl summer??!! I’m all for it.*

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