Pasta Ingredients

Flour

For Italian 00 flour and semolina I recommend Molino Pasini, Mantova, northern Italy. You should find their flours in good delis or grocery stores – I buy it at my local market in Dorset from Mercato Italiano, who also sell online.

Fine & Coarse Semolina

I use fine semolina, sometimes called semola, for vegan (egg-less) pasta doughs. Coarse semolina is needed for dusting pasta dough, either to dry it out a little as you work, or to prevent it sticking together after you’ve shaped it. I buy mine from Molino Pasini and from Gilchester Organics, in Northumberland, England.

Eggs

My all-time favourite eggs come from St Ewe eggs in Cornwall, England. The brightest golden yolks give fresh egg pasta that eat-me-now glowing colour. Depending on where you’re shopping, look out for free-range eggs that say ‘rich yolk’ on the box. In the USA Vital Farms’ eggs are from pasture-raised hens and come highly recommended.

Olive Oil

For sauce bases, for finishing a dish, for salad dressings, I’m a big fan of Nicolas Alziari olive oil from Provence, France. Buy it online, at good supermarkets or in selected delis, and use it generously.

Parmesan

Look out for Parmigiano-Reggiano for the authentic northern Italian cheese aged for a minimum of 12 months. You can buy this pretty much anywhere but save the more mature Parmesan (which can be really strongly flavoured) for the cheese board.

Pecorino Romano

A hard sheeps’ milk cheese from Sardinia, softer and slightly creamier than Parmesan, I find it works just as well to finish a bowl of pasta. You can buy it at good supermarkets and cheesemongers or online from Mercato Italiano in the UK.