When the weather is good there’s nothing better than a light seafood pasta and as I was able to pick up baby clams I decided that me and roof terrace plus my chilled Galician wine with a little bit of Sweetback on my iPod deserved Linguinie Vongole.  It is easy to knock together and this is my favourite version. This serves one hungry person. And I am hungry.

Ingredients:

Clams – I ordered dos puñados but being a girl the server informed me that she had small hands so I settled on three handfuls.

100g dried linguinie (or spaghetti)

Extra virgin olive oil

A fat clove of garlic, finely chopped

Red chill, as much or little as you wish, finely sliced

A small knob of fresh ginger, finely chopped

A little tomato purée

Splash dry white wine

Handful flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Lemon – small amount zested, a large squeeze of juice and a quarter for decoration

Method:

Rinse and clean the clams

Cook pasta as per instructions on the packet, less 2 minutes

Soften the garlic, ginger and chilli in the oil in a pan then add the tomato purée

Drain the clams and add to the pan together with the wine – turn up the heat. Shake and cover and cook until most have opened. Discard any unopened ones

Drain and add the pasta, toss well and leave for one minute,

then stir through the chopped parsley, lemon zest and juice, season to taste and serve immediately

My clams were from Andalucía’s Gulf of Cadiz coast. Cheap and very, very delicious. 

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And please buy fresh carrots with the tops on, they are perfectly edible and can be used to make:

Carrot Green Pesto

Place a large bunch of washed greens in a whizzer together with a smaller bunch of flat leaf parsley. Combine extra virgin olive oil or extra virgin rapeseed works well, clove or two of garlic, a knob of Parmesan (no need for salt) and some fresh lemon juice. Blitz until smooth, adding a little more oil if necessary.

Spread on toasted bread for another version of bruschetta or run some through freshly cooked pasta of your choice. 

Put excess pesto into an ice cube tray and freeze, it will come in handy to liven up a grilled pork chop for example. 

Pasta with chicken and pesto

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Pasta and meat sauce it is sooooo comforting: 

I’ve been to Italy several times, Milan, Genoa, Bari and Sorrento, in fact I got married on one occasion in Sorrento... 

The Italians, just like the rest of the Med have got things right. Eating al fresco, leisurely meals, good friends, fresh fish, beautiful but simple salads, wine, views, I could go on.

Palma, a beautiful woman from Bari took me to a restaurant at the harbour where we sat outside and enjoyed antipasti of meat, primo of pasta, secondo of fish with contorni (salad) and then dolce where we had cheese cake followed by a bowl of fresh fruit. Needless to say we had wine too and a wonderful view. It was magical.

This is not my recipe but Gino D’Campo’s mother’s. It takes 2 hours to make the meat sauce but trust me when I say it is worth it. 

I cooked this for my grandkids, it didn't last very long 

Timballo alla torrese

Baked pasta with meat sauce and Parmesan cheese

•           SERVES: 6

INGREDIENTS

•           500g fresh Fettuccine

•           4 tablespoons of toasted breadcrumbs

•           3 mozzarella balls, drained and sliced (do not use buffalo mozzarella)

•           500g minced beef

•           500g minced pork

•           3 tablespoons of salted butter

•           4 tablespoons of olive oil

•           1 large carrot, peeled and grated

•           1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

•           2 celery sticks, finely chopped

•           1 x 700ml bottle of Passata (sieved tomatoes)

•           2 tablespoons of tomato puree

•           2 glasses of dry red wine

•           200ml of chicken stock

•           80g freshly grated Parmesan cheese

•           Salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION:

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and cook the onions, carrot and celery for 5 minutes on a medium heat. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon. Add in the minced meats and continue to cook for a further 5 minutes stirring continuously until coloured all over. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in the wine, stir well and continue to cook for 5 minutes until the wine has evaporated. Pour in the sieved tomatoes with the tomato puree and the stock, lower the heat and cook for 2 hours with the lid off. Stir the sauce every 20 minutes. Once the sauce is ready, remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper and set aside. In a large saucepan, cook the pasta in the salted boiling water until al dente. “To get the al dente perfect bite, cook the pasta 1 minute less then instructed on the packet”. Drain and tip back into the same pan where you cooked it. Pour over the meat sauce and gently stir all together allowing the flavours to combine properly. Preheat the oven at 180ºC.

Meanwhile, butter a 30cm gratin dish and sprinkle over the breadcrumbs. Spoon half of the pasta mixture into the dish and scatter over the mozzarella cheese. Cover with the remaining pasta. Dot the top with the remaining butter and sprinkle over the parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes until it is bubbling and blistering on top. Before serving, let it rest for 5 minutes out of the oven so it will be easier when portion it.

I have reproduced Gino’s Mum’s recipe exactly as he told it but I bet hers included veal.

In case you don't know who 

Gino d'Acampo is... 

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Goodbye England. 

I left mid-June 2012 for my new life on the overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Dieppe with Florence my car pulling a trailer containing my worldly goods. Needless to say it was raining when I departed.

Florence somewhere south of Madrid

I felt a little like Del Boy as the car was packed to the gunnels so that I couldn't see out of the rear window and I'm sure the trailer was overloaded too. My son is in the logistics industry so he arranged for 2 pallets to be delivered to me and as the only piece of furniture I brought with me was a wine rack it now makes me wonder what my stuff consisted of. 

Anyway, after ambling through France, staying  with Manu in Limoges, Tracy & Colin in the Limousin, Suzze & Henry in the Tarn, I was in my new country in 10 days - the temperature was 38°C, and I was just in time for the cherry festival in Castillo de Locubín. 

Viva cherries, I love them. 



And the first thing I cooked in my new 
kitchen was Linguine Vongole in a le Creuset frying pan which had been temporarily lost whilst packed in a box from a previous move in 2008.

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