Ingredients for 4 people
- 500g Pasta al Ceppo
- 250g Fontina cheese (or similar)
- 250g pancetta or smoked bacon
- 2 onions
Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water, drain and run it under cold water and put to one side. Finely slice the onions and soften in a pan with a little olive oil (do not brown). When the onion is soft add the pancetta which has been cut into strips. When the pancetta begins to brown, season with some black pepper and remove from the heat.
Butter a baking dish, put the pasta, pancetta and onion all together into the dish and sprinkle with grated Fontina cheese. Brown the gratin in a hot oven until the cheese has all melted. Serve hot!
Ingredients for 4 people
- 500g Spaghettini
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 100g of breadcrumbs
- 60g of good quality extra virgin olive oil
Preparation time 5 minutes
Cooking time 20 minutesCook the spaghettini in plenty of boiling salted water. In the meantime toast the breadcrumbs in a dry pan on a high flame until they become golden and crunchy. In another pan lightly fry the garlic in the oil and then add the toasted breadcrumbs. When the spaghettini are cooked, drain and mix with the breadcrumbs and garlic. Serve immediately.
Ingredients for 4 people
- 500g Strozzapreti
- 1 lemon
- 120g butter
- oil, salt, pepper
- grated parmesan cheese
- 4 artichokes
- 200g fresh or frozen peas
- vegetable stock
- chopped parsley
Clean the artichokes by removing the external tough leaves and the internal furry part. Only the heart of the artichoke will be left which must be cut into small wedges and placed into cold water. Add a good squeeze of lemon juice to the water to prevent the artichokes from going brown. Heat 50g of butter and 3 tablespoons of oil and add the artichokes and peas, season with salt and pepper, add a ladle of stock and cook over a gentle heat for about 30 minutes. Add some chopped parsley at the end of the cooking time.
In the meantime you will have cooked the Strozzapreti in plenty of boiling salted water, drained it and put in a serving bowl. While the pasta is still hot sprinkle with a generous helping of freshly grated parmesan and stir, adding the pieces of butter. Finally add the artichokes and peas, mix well and serve immediately.
Riva Restaurant
169 Church Road Barnes London SW13 9HR
Tel: 020 8748 0434
This is a simple dessert that can be prepared very quickly, at the last minute. It is important to use good quality ingredients as they are presented in a very clean way. The honey must be very clear and fluid and the vinegar fruity and round. Soft amaretti should be used, as they soak the vinegar up more easily.
- Cinnamon ice cream (Bitter Cherry ice cream can be used instead)
- Aged Balsamic Vinegar
- Acacia honey
- Icing Sugar
Drizzle a little balsamic vinegar on a cold plate. With a spoon, place half a scoop of ice cream in the middle of the plate, crumble an Amaretti biscuit on top. Place two more scoops of ice cream on top and crumble a few more biscuits on the ice cream and also on the vinegar on the edge of the plate. Drizzle acacia honey all over the dessert and dust with icing sugar.
Riva Restaurant
169 Church Road Barnes London SW13 9HR
Tel: 020 8748 0434
- 250g 'OO' flour
- 250g chestnut flour
- 4 eggs
- 0.5 glass water
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 0.5 tspn salt
- 500g fresh ricotta
- 10 sage leaves
- 10 peeled chestnuts in syrup (drained)
- 2 garlic cloves
- 50g butter
- 500cl bechamel sauce
- 100g smoked ricotta
Mix the flours, place in a large bowl and form a well in the middle. Add the eggs, oil, water and salt and stir from the middle to the sides. Knead until smooth and leave to rest covered with a cloth for 30 minutes.
Chop the chestnuts and the garlic together. In a saucepan melt the butter and add the sage. Fry for a minute on a low heat then add the chestnuts and garlic. Heat for a few minutes until warmed through and then remove from the flame. In a bowl, break the ricotta with a fork, season with black pepper and salt, then add the sage flavoured butter with chestnuts.
Roll the pasta into lasagne, blanche in salted boiling water for 1 minute and cool in iced water.
Butter the sides and bottom of a small baking tray and ladle a little béchamel on the bottom so that the pasta won't stick. Lay the first sheet of pasta, then spread some of the seasoned ricotta over it and a little white sauce, so as to stop it drying too much in the oven.
Repeat the process until the pasta and ricotta are used up, finally sprinkle the smoked ricotta then cover with aluminium foil. Place in a preheated oven at 160 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and finish for 10 more minutes.
The lasagne can be served with extra melted butter and fried sage leaves.
Although pancakes are not very Italian, it's fun to celebrate Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday) with these traditional Pancakes, especially with a liberal sprinkling of sugar and lemon juice! At Guidetti we make our pancakes with Ferron Rice Flour, made from rice from the fields south of Verona. It makes a lovely light (and gluten free) pancake. This delicious batter recipe is by Gabrielle Ferron.
- 400g of Ferron Rice Flour
- 1 litre of milk
- 4 eggs
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
(or sunflower oil)
Put the flour in a bowl, add the milk slowly, mixing it in with a whisk, next add the oil and finally the eggs. Beat the mixture well with the whisk and leave to stand for at least 2 hrs for best results. Make the pancakes as normal in a very hot pan with a drop of oil in it.