Pasta dishes that will take you right back to Italy ... and France

I’m looking out on a grey morning here, but taking some comfort out of old holiday photos taken in Umbria that I came across last night. We used to fly into Bergamo to save a few bob on the flights, then the eight-hour ordeal to our destination would begin at the car hire pick-up.

On one memorable trip, I opened the car boot to load the multitude of bags and watched in helpless horror as it rose to meet a concrete column lurking above. It all unfolded in slow tortuous motion, and that expensive vision will never leave me. The form wasn’t great after that, compounded by nerve-jangling encounters on the Italian motorways.

We stayed in Parma that night. The 40-degree heat nearly finished me, but Peroni and Manuela Spinelli came to the rescue. She’s our Italian queen, a friend to Irish restaurateurs. She booked a table for us in the trattoria of our dreams, a short taxi ride from the city. We sat in the garden surrounded by Italian families and twinkly lights, and finally we were on holiday. It was one of those special nights in a restaurant that can never be repeated or captured again. I ate a lot of pasta.

Béarnaise sauce is one of the great French sauces. I’ve condensed its flavours into a butter that I’m putting with pasta and leftover chicken this week. I’m getting you to make more butter than you need, and whipping it to make it lighter. Roll it up in parchment, freeze it if you like, then simply cut slices off when you need it to drip tantalisingly onto a steak.

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We make this spaghetti dish at home all the time, without the prawns. It is all about slowly cooking the garlic to deepen the flavour. I added the prawns as I had a handy packet in the freezer, but chopped them up as I didn’t have a lot.

French onion soup holds a special place in my heart. I’ve always loved French bistro food. This recipe combines my love of food from two wonderful countries, with delicious results.

Recipe: Roast chicken rigatoni with Béarnaise butter

Recipe: Spaghetti, roasted garlic, chilli and chopped prawns

Recipe: French onion papardelle, Gruyère pangrattato