I’m making spaghetti aglio e olio right now but I don’t have chilli flakes. Can I replace them with black pepper

Hey Guys,

I made risotto for the first time and I thought it turned out alright, but then while I was eating it I decided to watch Marco Pierre White make risotto on YouTube and his came out very soupy... I think I preferred the look of mine.

Ive never made risotto before but I added minimal stock and stirred constantly until the liquid disappeared and then added another splash.. maybe a quarter to a half of a cup at a time at most.

The way Marco did it it looked like it was always covered with at least 1cm of stock and he only stirred it "to knock it off the boil".

What is the proper authentic technique?

Also please rate my risotto.. if I had to critique it myself, I didn't add enough pumpkin.. and It would be better with a higher quality chorizo

I know photos are bad but I hope you appreciate the post.

Have a friend staying the night and wanted to make something homely and comforting.

Made a long-cooked bolognese ragu with about 500g mince, a couple of carrots and onions, vermouth and a little red wine, 600ml stock. Finished with butter and some nice olive oil.

The pappardelle is rich with egg yolks.

Served with some Burgundy because our Guest asked for “nothing too acidic like Sauvignon” and I don’t stock Italian whites unfortunately.

It came out quite nicely.

Combination of Carbonara & Amatriciana. Too bad this one is even less known than Gricia.

Ingredients: Rigatoni, pecorino romano, black pepper, guanciale, salsiccia, pepper flakes, eggs, onion, san marzano tomatoes, salt, white wine

(looks like rigatoni is pretty much the only choice for this one)

1. Hand-squeeze tomatoes into puree
2. Prepare egg yolk + pecorino + black pepper mix
3. Render guanciale
4. Remove guanciale, then add finely diced onions into the pan with guanciale fat remaining
5. As onions start to grill, add salsiccia with the case peeled off, spread out and grill
6. Add pepper flakes and grate in black peppers, then deglaze with white wine
7. Pour in tomato puree at high heat. Once starts boiling, reduce to low heat and let it simmer the next 20 minutes
8. Toss in pasta 2 minutes before al dente, stir well
9. Remove from heat and stir one final time, then add egg yolk+pecorino paste at the lowest heat possible and stir. This prevents egg scrambling
10. Plate pasta, then add guanciale removed earlier, grate some pecorino and black pepper

Surprised Zozzona isn't very well known out there.

So i had this genius idea to try making ragu genovese with beef shank as opposed to chuck like I normally do. My recipe calls for 1.5kg of meat, so I knew with the bone there is extra weight, so I bought a little extra, about 1900g. I didn't realize this cut had so much fat around it it and that will cut into the meat total down as well.

1. From what I googled, 1900g of shank yields 900g of actual meat. Is accurate? Should I buy more meat? May just buy 600g of chuck to supplement it

2. Should I trim exterior fat off shank before cooking?

3. Do I need go cook shank whole or can I cut it up like stew meat? I realized pot volume is an issue.

I used Chef John's (FoodWishes) recipe which called for the sauce to simmer for 9 hours until the meat and onion "become one". It was honestly probably done by hour 7 but I let it go the full 9. Truly incredible. One of those trust the process recipes. Couldn't find the traditional ziti but pennoni lisci was a fine substitute.

I love pastina and I grew up eating it a certain way, but im curious how others prepare and serve it.

I had some veal that was unsuitable for another dish, so I sliced and pounded it thin, and rolled it around ham and cheese - and dried sage - to make involtini. I just used available ingredients. No pine nuts, etc., on hand, but the influence is Sicilian.