Pret-a-Manger: Six Pasta Recipes from Designers & Friends (2024)

Ingredients:

¼ cup olive oil
½ shallot, finely chopped
1 small garlic clove, finely grated
½ cup tomato paste
2 tablespoons vodka
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
1 pound fusilli or rigatoni
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 ounce finely grated parmesan, plus more for serving
¼ cup chopped fresh basil

Directions:

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium. Add shallot and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring occasionally, until paste is brick red and starts to caramelize, about 5 minutes. Add vodka and cook, stirring constantly, until the liquid has mostly evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add cream and red pepper flakes and stir until well blended. Season with salt and pepper; remove from heat.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking liquid. Add pasta to the skillet with sauce along with butter and ½ cup pasta cooking liquid. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly and adding more pasta cooking liquid if needed, until butter has melted and a thick, glossy sauce has formed, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add 1 oz. parmesan, tossing to coat. Divide pasta among bowls, then top with basil and more parmesan.

Do ahead: Vodka sauce can be made 5 days ahead; cover and chill.

Ingredients:

160 g spaghetti (1.9 mm)
2 cloves garlic
2-3 bunches spinach
150 g (approx.) canned tuna
50 ml extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp white wine
2 pinches salt
a dash long pepper powder
a dash black pepper
3 litres boiling water
30 g (approx.) coarse salt

Directions:

Pour the olive oil into an unheated frying pan. Add the garlic, cut in half and smashed, and fry on low heat. Continuously shake the pan to prevent the garlic from burning. Once the garlic turns golden brown, remove it from the pan.

Fill a deep pot with water and bring to a boil. Add the coarse salt and the spaghetti. Reserve the pasta water.

Add the spinach and drained tuna to the frying pan. Once the spinach and tuna is warm, add the white wine to the pan and bring to a simmer to cook off the alcohol. Transfer about 2.5 tablespoons of pasta water to the frying pan and turn off the heat until the spaghetti is fully cooked.

Once the spaghetti is fully cooked, transfer it to the frying pan and mix thoroughly, until the spaghetti has a glossy sheen. Add a little pasta water if the mixture is too dry. Be careful not to fry the spaghetti. Dial in the seasoning by adding a pinch of salt if necessary, and finish with a dusting of ground black pepper and long pepper powder.

Long pepper is a South-East Asian seasoning that’s grown in Okinawa. I encountered it on Ishigaki Island last year and it’s become a huge favorite of mine. It has a sweet fragrance similar to that of cinnamon, along with a hint of acidity. The flavor seems like it’s about to hit you, but in the end it isn’t really tangible. Even if I had to try to pin the flavor down, I couldn’t, because the tingling stimulation it delivers completely takes over my tongue and in the end I can’t tell what it tastes like. It’s also a tasty addition to coffee.

Ingredients:

¼ cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
4 cloves of garlic, smashed
3 tbsp tomato paste
½ tsp red chili flakes
3 anchovy fillets
14 oz can chickpeas
¾ cup small pasta like tubetti or macaroni
3 cups chicken broth or water
1 tsp kosher salt (Diamond Crystal brand), or to taste
handful or two of lacinato kale, or spinach leaves, washed and torn, ribs removed (if using kale)
finely grated parm

Directions:

Heat oil in a dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot.

Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant and slightly golden.

Add red chili flakes and anchovies and cook for 1 minute, breaking up the fillets with a wooden spoon.

Stir in tomato paste and cook for 2-3 minutes to caramelize; paste should darken noticeably, thicken, and start to smell sweet and amazing.

Slowly add broth or water while stirring, scraping the bottom of the pan as you mix everything together.

Add chickpeas and pasta, put on the lid, turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, stir, replace the lid and reduce heat to low; simmer for 10 minutes.

Taste, season with salt and black pepper.

Add greens and let steam for 1 minute with the lid on until they are wilted.

Ladle into wide bowls to serve, drizzle with olive oil and bury under a mountain of parm.

Ingredients:

7 trumpet mushrooms (cut batonnet)
30 ml soy sauce
30 ml Japanese saké
2 to 3 tbs of butter
5 pcs of garlic (cut in thin slices)
.5 to 1 cup of Italian parsley
black pepper
salt
parmesano
spaghetti

Directions:

In a medium frying pan, add butter and mushrooms. Stir mushrooms, make them sweat, and then get dry again.

While stirring the mushrooms, add half a portion of soy sauce.

Turn heat medium-high and add saké.

Turn heat down to medium. Add garlic and half of the parsley.

Add remaining soy sauce, black pepper, and remaining butter.

When the pasta is ready, add it to the mushrooms—mix in with tongs, carrying over a little bit of the water from the pasta. The soy sauce should provide enough salt, but feel free to add more.

Plate up, add a little parmesano, and enjoy.

Ingredients:

18 ounces elbow macaroni
vegan butter, ½ cup for sauce and 2 tbsp for topping
6 tbsp all purpose flour
5 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup vegetable stock
3 tbsp dijon mustard
1 cup nutritional yeast
3 tsp onion powder
3 tsp garlic powder
1 and ½ tsp smoked paprika
1 and ½ tsp salt
1 and ½ tsp ground black pepper
whole wheat bread, 3 slices toasted
vegan butter, 2 tbsp melted

Directions:

First add ½ cup vegan butter to a pot and let it melt. After it has melted, add in the all purpose flour and stir it in with the melted butter. Pour in the coconut milk and the vegetable stock. Use a hand whisk to whisk out the lumps. Keep whisking until it starts to boil and then keep whisking for a few minutes after it has boiled until it thickens. Even as it cools, it will continue to thicken.

Remove it from the heat and add in the dijon mustard, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt and pepper and whisk in. Now that your sauce is ready, you can prepare your macaroni.

Cook your macaroni according to the package directions and then rinse and drain. Add the cooked macaroni into the pot of sauce and toss it up with the sauce. Transfer the macaroni and sauce to a 9 x 13-inch baking dish and smooth down.

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Prepare the crumb topping by breaking up the 3 slices of toasted whole wheat bread and placing them into the blender. Pulse blend until you have crumbs. Then transfer to a mixing bowl, add in the melted vegan butter (2 tbsp) and toss together.

Place the breadcrumbs evenly over the top of the macaroni cheese. Bake for 20 minutes until the topping is golden brown and crispy.

Ingredients

pasta of choice
3 tablespoons olive oil
minced garlic (1 or 2 cloves if you love garlic)
minced onion
about 15 halved cherry or grape tomatoes (add less or more to your liking)
salt ¼
(about 7) basil leaves
(about 2 tablespoons) white wine
1 teaspoon of oregano
pepper flakes, if you like spice
can’t forget the mozzarella

Directions

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta (short or long) until al dente.

In a large frying pan (I use a cast iron skillet), add oil, garlic, onion, tomatoes, a little white wine and saute until brown and soft (NOT BURNT).

Pour cooked pasta and about a cup of pasta water, plus the mozzarella, in the frying pan or cast iron.

Fully mix everything over medium heat until the mozzarella starts to melt.

Top it off with some parmesan cheese, then enjoy with a nice red wine.

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