Semplice: Real Italian Food : Ingredients and Recipes by Dino Joannides

Those of you that are kind enough to visit my blog will have noticed that over the last couple of years I have not posted as much as I used to.

On the rare occasions that I did post the subject matter tended to be about Italian Food or ingredients.

The main reason for the above is that I have been working on a book about Italian Food and I am pleased to tell you that it will be published on October 2nd by Random House.

Semplice: Real Italian Food : Ingredients and Recipes  is now available for pre order from all the usual online ,  and bricks and mortar book shops.

For those in the UK you can pre order here , in North America here in other parts of the world it should also be available online and in good book shops.

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it !

10 Best Pasta Dishes in London

I have selected 10 truly outstanding pasta dishes that have been eaten in London over the last 18 months. They are rated outstanding or great because in my opinion they are not only beautifully executed by very talented and skilled chefs but they have been prepared with world class ingredients. To this end they are in most cases as good or more often better than the equivalent dish sampled anywhere else in the world.

What is really encouraging is that many restaurants are now using top quality dry pasta like Pastificio dei Campi (in the case of Tinello and Locanda Locatelli where I have had outstanding pasta dishes many times but not in the last 18 months). It's a pity that so many other Italian and non Italian restaurants can't be bothered to source quality durum wheat , bronze dye (sauce gripping) pasta from Gragnano or Abruzzo and continue to use industrial commodity variants that are often inferior to the supermarket own brand dried pasta. Will the addition of a few pence to their cost per portion be punitive ?

Also the quality of the homemade pasta at Alloro , L'Anima (Pappardelle) and Zafferano (Pappardelle) Galvin Bistro De Luxe (Lasagne) was really exceptional.

I have also been privileged to watch some of these chefs cook the dishes and the memory of Francesco Mazzei creating "emulsione con emozione" whilst preparing Linguine alle Vongole will forever remain in my mind.

Those of you who are particularly observant will have noticed that Paul Merrony's Penne Putanesca would, to most Italians be a total anathema . Firstly the ideal shape for this type of sauce is Spaghetti and the addition of Parmigiano-Reggiano or any cheese should be avoided. Paul is his own man and I have to admit that this actually dish works and despite the imperfect pasta shape and addition of Parmigiano-Reggiano perhaps because it's combination with anchovy creates nothing short of an umami weapon of mass destruction.

If you live in London or are passing through I strongly recommend all the restaurants mentioned not only for the specific dishes but for a fabulous dinning experience.



Spaghetti with Meatballs by Paul Merrony at Giaconda Dinning Room


Pappardelle al sugo di lepre by Francesco Mazzei at L'Anima


Penne Putanesca by Paul Merrony at Giaconda Dinning Room


Spaghetti a la Carbonara made by my Roman Great Aunt


Lasagne of Dorset crab, beurre Nantais by Chris Galvin at Galvin Bistro de Luxe



Linguini alle Vongole by Francesco Mazzei at L'Anima


Pappardelle allo zafferano con guanciale di maiale by Andy Needham at Zafferano


Spaghetti alla Bottarga at Sardo


Pacheri di Gragnano “Nduja” e burrata by Frederico Sali at Tinello


Tagliolini ai funghi porcini by Daniele Camera at Alloro

#vongole video 8 : why no cheese ?

In this 8th and final video Francesco Mazzei Chef Patron of the award winning L'Anima in London explains why cheese is not required in this dish.

Pasta has become popular all over the world as has Parmegiano Reggiaono however it is often added to dishes that do not require the addition of any cheese or this particular cheese. Even in Italy other cheeses form the essential ingredients of a specific pasta dish be it Sicilian Ricotta , Mozzarella or one of the many regional Pecorinos. Also many dishes do not need cheese because it's just one ingredient too many and it unbalances the dish by masking or clashing with the main ingredients.

7 #vongole video - parsley a herb worth waiting for

In this 7th video Francesco Mazzei Chef Patron of the award winning L'Anima in London talks about parsley .

Again the selection of parsley is important to ensure the dish is balanced so the taste should not be too strong . Francesco prefers to use Southern Italian , Ligurian or Greek flat parsley and also likes to chop it roughly again to ensure the flavour does not overwhelm the dish.

6th #vongole video :"emulsione" with "emozione"

In this 6th video Francesco Mazzei Chef Patron of the award winning L'Anima in London focuses on "emulsione" with both "emozione" and his unparalleled "passione".

This video beautifully illustrates the points of difference one gets with Francesco and his team at L'Anima . Here we see the extra effort and energy that goes into executing a perfect dish time and time again.

The "emulsione" is a kind of Gastronomic Alchemy produced by shaking the pan to and fro and combining the starchy pasta water with olive oil and the natural juices from the clams. The result is a true taste sensation !

5th #vongole video : how and when to add white wine

In this 5th video Francesco Mazzei Chef Patron of the award winning L'Anima in London explains when and why you add white wine during the cooking of Linguine alle Vongole.

# 4th vongole video : extra virgin understatement

In this 4th video Francesco Mazzei Chef Patron of L'Anima in London explains why the choice of olive oil in this dish is so important.

Francesco recommends extra virgin olive oil that is quasi neutral in taste thus allowing the key ingredients of the dish to prosper and combine without being over powered by a strong flavoured olive oil that can "kill" the dish.

This lesson so to speak applies to practically all dishes and cuisines . How often do we find just that extra ingredient to many or that the balance of the dish is wrong because there is to much of something .

Being able to select, combine and balance the right ingredients to execute the perfect dish is one of the key points of difference one finds in great cooks and chefs .

#3rd vogole video : it is essential use bronze die/cut pasta

Here Francesco Mazzei explains the reason for using better quality bronze die/cut pasta.

The quality and choice of pasta is very important as it affects the pasta water needed to create the perfect "emulsione" and determine retention ratio of this almost creamy sauce.

Better quality and artisanal pasta have certain key advantages over the key industrial brands . Firtstly they extrude their pasta through bronze dies hat leave microstriations (ridges, grooves, etc.) to capture and hold the sauce.

Second, they dry the pasta at lower temperatures. While this takes longer, it preserves the fine flavors of the wheat.

And finally I also have the impression that the quality of the starch in the pasta water (essential in this dish) is far superior.

I use Garofalo one of the producers from Gragnano reputed to be the best areas for dry pasta making as well as Guiseppe Cocco from Abruzzo another highly rated area . The latter is available in Waitrose whilst most good delis will sell at least one brand of high quality pasta.

1st #vongole video – “spurgare le vongole”: the ritual of cleaning the clams

“linguine alle vongole – the finer points of a perfect pasta” is a series of eight short videos starring Francesco Mazzei, the chef at London’s L’Anima. In part 1 of the series – spurgare le vongole – Francesco explains the ritual of cleaning the clams. In Italian, spurgare means “to clean, purge” and can apply to forms of purging other than the removal of sand from clams.

Linguine alle Vongole - The Finer Points of Perfect Pasta

I have gone on record to say L’Anima is my favourite Italian Restaurant in London here . In fact it’s now one of my favourite restaurants in the UK.

Through a number of discussions on Twitter with Daniel Young @youngandfoodish and Rejina Sabur @gastrogeek1 I got involved in a debate about Linguine alle Vongole that led to meeting and getting to know Francesco Mazzei the brilliant Chef and co Owner of L’Anima.

Eating regularly in a restaurant obviously tells you a lot about the philosophy and passion of the Chef. What is striking about L’Anima is the attention to detail be it the home made bread, choice of olives, the carefully constructed wine list and of course perfectly executed dishes that transport you to Calabria’s, Sicily and Sardinia.

What I like about Linguine alle Vongole is that like many Italian dishes it appears on the surface to be very simple, boil some pasta and throw in a few ingredients

Linguine or Spaghetti alle Vongole is an essentially contested dish just like many others that transcend regionalism and can be found in all corners of the country and beyond. Every aspect is debated and contested, rosso or bianco, chilli or no chilli, white wine or no white wine, choice and quality of pasta, fine or coarsely chopped parsley, cooking time and so on.

In reality when you deconstruct this dish you start to understand Italian Cooking, the importance of good quality ingredients and the dialectic between apparent simplicity and the combination of few ingredients to produce the synthesis of a perfectly executed dish.

Through this project I have been lucky enough to watch a master cook one of my favourite dishes, whilst explaining each of it’s finer points. I am of course even more fortunate to have eaten this glorious dish cooked by Francesco Mazzei from scratch in less than 12 minutes.

Now you to have the opportunity to see Francesco cook Linguine alle Vongole and then eat the dish at this unique event.


Francesco will demo and effectively deconstruct this deceptively simple dish through a series of short web videos and then at a special October 2009 tasting dinner in the private dining room of L'Anima. The first of the vongole vids, "Spurgare le Vongole: The Ritual of Cleaning the Clams" will begin appearing on Thursday 17th of September on youtube and twiddeo. 7 additional videos will be released over the next 7 days.

Tell us why you love linguine vongole in 140 characters or less and post it on twitter before the 25th of September, including the hashtag #vongole somewhere within your response. (If you don't use twitter, post your reply as a comment below). If your verse on vongole is voted the best, you and a guest will be invited by Francesco to attend the special linguine alle vongole tasting dinner at L'Anima in October.