Spaghetti alla carbonara: it could not be easier!

n our culture of instant gratification it only seems sensible to buy ready-made food, be it soups, mains or even salad dressings. But many dishes are so easy to make and they come out so much fuller of taste and healthier, not to mention the emotional satisfaction. For example, I can't remember last time I bought mayonnaise, which all in all takes just under 5 minutes to fix.

However, this time I will introduce carbonara, which is basically bechamella based on bacon and onions. The chemical explanation of the following process is that the flour makes the roux that will give the sauce its creaminess, while the bacon, onions and pepper will give the taste.

1. Heat medium high a thick-bottomed pan. Add a nice glub of olive oil.
   
2. Fry 125 g smoked bacon (I like it more than guanciale, but feel free to use whatever cured pig meat you want) and 2 chopped onions until golden brown. I use red ones but regular ones or shallots are just as fine. Some people add button mushrooms at this stage, which is supposed to be and Italo-American invention.
3. Add 2 tablespoonfuls of wheat flour with a generous grind of black pepper and fry until it get nicely mixed with the oil. Make sure it gets fried a bit too otherwise the final product will smell doughy.
   
4. If you substitute one tablespoonful of flour with one of corn starch the sauce will come out lighter and fluffier.
5. Reduce the heat and add a glass of single cream and half a glass of white wine.
6. Allow to simmer for about 20 minutes periodically stirring.
7. At the end, the traditional recipe calls for mixing in an egg beaten with a pinch of salt and a wee dram of pecorino but I often skip it.
   

In the meantime, cook your favourite pasta al dente and - ta-da! -serve with your homemade carbonara.

The cherry blossoms on the side of the plate are real. It's spring in Brixton!

Simplest, quickest and yet great spaghetti dinner

All best things in life are free, they say. Well, some may not be free but they can still be very cheap.

Like this amazing spaghetti recipe: a family dinner for under a pound, how about that? I learnt it from my Italian friend Luisa. Once we were stuck late at night at home with a few mouths to feed and a virtually empty fridge. The kitchen cupboard was not exactly full too (see, this was not my home!) Luisa came to rescue and everyone was full and happy in just 20 minutes.

1. Boil a pack of good quality spaghetti al dente.
2. Peel and slice a head of garlic.
   
3. Toast garlic golden brown in generous amount of olive oil.
4. Mix the garlic and oil into the cooked spaghetti.
5. Serve with grated parmiggiano or cheddar.

I serve it with some chopped sun-dried tomatoes and salted anchovies if I have those, but that is optional. Here the best of Italian cooking comes forward: simplicity, healthiness, taste based on the quality of ingredients and time-proven combinations.

I am really tempted to predicts that this recipe, if ever noticed, may come in vogue in the forthcoming months.

France meets Italy: Béchamel aux fruits de mer with conchiglie pentacolore

Béchamel aux fruits de mer with conchiglie pentacolore is a happy Franco-Italian marriage. I fix this whenever I don't have much time to cook as the recipe is easy and delicious.

Conchiglie pentacolore is seashell-shaped pasta. It is coloured green (spinach), red (tomatoes), white (natural), yellow (curry) and black (squid ink). It goes without saying, it should be done al dente.

For the souped-up version of traditional béchamel I melt a nice knob of butter in a thick-bottomed pan. Then there go a dash of whole allspice berries, cloves and peppercorns, a bay leaf and a wee pinch of ground nutmeg to infuse the butter with their flavours. To make the roux I use equal parts of wheat flour and corn starch. The latter is an Asian influence, it makes the sauce light and translucent. I mix the flour mix and the butter with a whisk on low fire until it becomes golden blonde, you don't want to go any darker with béchamel.

When the roux has cooled down (very important!), it is time to whisk in equal parts of scalded double cream, white wine and home-made shrimp stock. I let it all simmer on small fire stirring periodically with a whisk. The result is a symphony of savoury flavours, laden with natural glutamates that give it that very taste that the Japanese call "koku" (full-bodied).

At the very last stage I add a handful of seafood into the still simmering sauce and turn the heat off.