I love those places in Italy where you are never given a menu, because the meal invariably consists of antipasto, pasta, fish or meat, some contorni or vegetables, the local cheese and some seasonal fruit. The content of the meal will depend on where you are and when you are there, but the balance and structure will remain the same.

In Emilia Romagna, no autumn meal would be complete without a dish of pumpkin ravioli. A spring meal in Puglia will include bean purée with bitter greens, silky buffalo mozzarella, pasta which will more often than not be orecchiette and fish cooked as simply as possible, perhaps grilled or baked in a parcel of parchment with minimal aromatics.

Everyday cooking at home includes plenty of seasonal vegetables, pasta, pulses, fish often and meat occasionally

In winter, in the Garfagnano, in the hills of northern Tuscany, we eat steaming stews of wild boar with polenta. A winter meal in Piedmonte will offer, after the salume and pasta, some braised veal perhaps, served with a creamy yet plain risotto. In Venice, at the moment the Rialto market would have the first artichokes from Torcello, sold whole, and also prepared as artichoke hearts with their tiny violet and green whorls. Next to them would be piles of sculptural ivory and crimson radicchio. The perfect ingredients for serving with pasta or risotto, component of a perfect meal.

This is how we often eat at home. Once upon a time, my cooking veered towards the French kitchen, but that now tends to be reserved for a special occasion.

Everyday cooking at home includes plenty of seasonal vegetables, pasta, pulses, fish often and meat occasionally. And a tiramisu or zabaglione from time to time. Such is my nostalgia thinking about all the wonderful meals eaten in Italy, that I have had to go and cook Italian for us while I have been writing this.

Linguine with wilted radicchio and seafood

(Serves 4)

4 fresh scallops
200g peeled raw prawns
1 head of radicchio
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsps flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed (optional)
400g dried linguine

Clean the scallops and chop them, together with the prawns. Put them, and any juices, to one side. Trim the radicchio, break off all the leaves and shred them.

Heat the oil in a saucepan, or sauté pan, and in it wilt the radicchio. It will brown and shrink. Stir in the parsley, garlic and the shellfish.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta, drain it of most of its water and then combine the pasta, seafood and radicchio, adding more olive oil, if necessary. Serve hot. The scallops and prawns should not cook for more than 20 and 30 seconds. Parmesan is not customarily served with seafood sauces.

Artichoke risotto

(Serves 4)

25g butter or extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
6-8 small artichokes, trimmed down to the heart and thinly sliced or use artichoke bottoms, thinly sliced
250g Arborio or Carnaroli rice
Gozo salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg
1 bay leaf
150ml dry white wine
350ml vegetable or chicken stock

Heat the butter or oil in a heavy pan, and gently fry the vegetables until the onions are wilted. Stir in the rice until well coated in butter or oil. Pour on the wine and cook, stirring until it has been absorbed before adding stock, a ladle at a time. Let each addition of stock be absorbed before adding the next. You may need to add more or less liquid, depending on how creamy you like your risotto.

Just before serving in heated soup plates, stir in some butter and grate on some Parmesan and nutmeg.

To serve: butter, Parmesan and nutmeg

Sartacenidde

(Orecchiette with broccoli and peppers from Puglia)

(Serves 4 to 6)

400g dried orecchiette
500g broccoli, broken into the smallest florets and the stalk discarded
Extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 small red chilli pepper, seeded, and not too hot, or
1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes
Gozo salt

Put the orecchiette in boiling water, and cook for about 8 to 10 minutes. Drop in the broccoli and cook for a further 4 to 5 minutes. Drain, toss in oil and transfer to a very hot bowl.

Meanwhile, crush the garlic, chilli and salt in a mortar and work in about 75 to 100ml olive oil. Stir this into the pasta and serve with, flakes of pecorino on top (optional).

Tiramisu

(Serves 6 to 8)

250g sponge fingers
150ml strong black coffee, or espresso
3 tbsps cognac
250g Mascarpone
4 tbsps thick yoghurt
125g ricotta
75 to 100g icing sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla essence
3 egg whites
1 tbsp grated plain chocolate
1 tsp finely ground coffee

Dip half the sponge fingers in the mixed coffee and cognac and place in the bottom of a glass serv-ing bowl. Blend the Mascarpone, yoghurt, ricotta, sugar and vanilla essence until smooth. Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold into the creamy mixture.

Spoon half of it into the glass bowl. Cover with the remaining sponge fingers, dipped in the coffee and cognac mixture and then spoon on the rest of the cream, smoothing the surface. Sprinkle the surface with chocolate and coffee and then cover and refrigerate for several hours before serving.

Note: this recipes uses raw egg.

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