I love all varieties of pasta, but my husband is much more picky. Spaghetti Bolognese or lasagne, both with more sauce than pasta, are just about his limit, which means that if I fancy pasta but don’t want to end up making two different meals, I have to find ways to make it more interesting for him. So I’ve been trying out some different pasta recipes.

The lamb and pasta strudels started life as a Moroccan macaroni pie, a recipe I came across some time ago in an old magazine. It was made with beef and macaroni in tomato sauce, encased in filo pastry, rather like a North African timpana.

I thought lamb sounded more Moroccan than beef, and as I was only cooking for the two of us and didn’t want to have loads left over if it wasn’t to his liking, I used half quantities and turned the pie into individual strudels. I needn’t have worried – they were wolfed down, so I chalked that one up as a success.

The one thing he does like is fish – whether white fish, oily fish or shell fish, you name it, he loves it. Mussels are a particular favourite, so I cooked them with chopped fennel, dry vermouth, diced tomatoes, lots of parsley and a touch of cream, then stirred it all into cooked spaghetti. There was very little chat coming from the other side of the table, as every bit of pasta rapidly disappeared and the last of the sauce was mopped up with some Maltese bread, so I took that as a culinary thumbs up.

Pasta with smoked salmon makes a light and very easy summer supper. I used pasta which rejoices in the name of fusilli bucati corti (spirals), simply because I like their springy texture when cooked. I tossed the pasta with some strips of smoked salmon, a couple of diced tomatoes, a handful of rocket and a squeeze of lemon juice and that seemed to go down well. I’ll tryit with fresh poached salmon next time.

Then to please myself, I cooked some chicken in an easy sauce made with chicken stock and crème fraîche, added some asparagus, tossed it all together with farfalle and topped it with crispy bacon. When I asked the other half if he would rather have potatoes instead, he look aggrieved and said he wanted pasta too, so obviously small miracles do happen!

Normally my husband is a joy to cook for as he is always willing to try anything new and has very few dislikes, but he must be one of the few people in Malta who is not only fussy about pasta but, unlike me, he doesn’t care much for pizza either. But I think I’ll quit while I’m ahead and work on the pizza later.