Ingredients

1 litre of watermelon juice

200gm sugar

150ml water

40ml tequila

1 lime (juice and zest)

Pinch of sea salt flakes

Method

1. Place sugar and water into saucepan. Put onto medium heat and whisk until sugar is completely dissolved. Chill in refrigerator.
2. Blend watermelon and pass through sieve.
3. In mixing bowl add watermelon juice and sugar syrup.
4. Add tequila, lime juice, zest, sea salt.
5. Freeze in flat tray
6. To serve,  scrape with a fork (will resemble ice shavings)

Ingredients

Half head of purple cabbage, outer leaves removed

Medium block of gorgonzola cheese

¾ cup of walnuts

⅓ cup of raisins

Half a bunch of parsley

Dressing 

600ml olive oil

300ml good balsamic

40gm dijon mustard

60gm honey

Salt

Method

1. Slice the cabbage as finely as possible – a mandolin will work, or a sharp knife. Then soak it in cold water to crisp it up.
2. Roast the walnuts lightly in the oven then chop in half roughly
3. Crumble up chunks of the gorgonzola dolce, pick parley leaves and take walnuts out of the oven, all ready to assemble.
4. For the dressing, use a measuring jug to add balsamic vinegar, honey and mustard, then blend using a stick blender. 
5. Continue to blend while adding the olive oil in a steady stream to emulsify the oil into the vinegar.
6. Once incorporated taste and season to suit. 
7. Finally, to assemble, add one handful of cabbage to 5 to 6 pieces Gorgonzola, a small handful of walnuts, parsley leaves, some salt flakes and dress with the dressing, toss and serve. Repeat depending on portion size/servings, using the whole half cabbage for a table salad.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

For the filling

300g fresh cow fetta

3 large carrots

½ bunch parsley

Salt and pepper

For the pasta

330g 00 caputo flour

3 whole free-range eggs

Salt

Extra virgin olive oil

For the sauce

150g butter

100g roasted and roughly chopped hazelnuts

100g freshly grated parmesan

1 bunch baby yellow, baby purple or dutch carrots

Method:

Filling

Wash and cut the carrots into small chunks and roast in a 200 degree oven for 30-45 minutes until tender and slightly caramelised. Remove from oven and discard any overly burnt bits, then place in a kitchen blender with picked parley until smooth – this should take a couple of minutes. Then add the cow fetta and continue to blend until incorporated. Season to taste and let cool.

Pasta

Make a small well on the bench with your flour, crack the eggs into the well and season with salt and a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil. Combine with a fork until you reach a crumble consistency. With your hands knead the dough until combined but not smooth. Wrap in plastic wrap and rest in the fridge for an hour. 

After an hour, remove the plastic and with a rolling pin roll the pasta dough out lengthways to 1-2 cm thick. Next, roll through the widest setting on your pasta machine and fold it in 3 like a book. Roll out again with a rolling pin lengthways (with the book ends facing you) until 1-2 cm. Repeat twice. The dough should be smooth and strong by the end of this process.

Now roll the dough through the machine, lower the setting making the pasta longer until you reach the smallest setting. The pasta is now ready for filling.

Making your ravioli

Cut the dough in half (one half for the bottom of the ravioli, one for the top), place a spoonful of mix at the centre of the pasta repeating this process every 3 cm until achieving a steady line of dots. Spray with water (use a garden spray nozzle) and gently place the second half of pasta dough on top. Smooth down, making sure to gently press around the dots of mix to remove any air bubbles. Cut the ravioli with a cutter into your desired shape, square, round, oval etc.

For the sauce and assembly

Peel and cut the baby carrots into thin strips, set aside.

Boil your pasta in salted boiling water for 2-3 minutes, and start to heat a small frying pan. Melt butter in the hot pan with a pinch of salt. When the butter starts to go nut brown in colour add carrots and let the butter foam up and turn off.

The pasta should now be done – strain and place on a plate (5-ish ravioli per person should suffice as a main course), sprinkle with parmesan and pour over some of the brown butter and carrots and finish with chopped roasted hazelnuts.

Every Italian family has their very own special ragu recipe – and this our chef and owner Eugenio Maiale’s recipe, passed onto him by his mother Maria. Cook it low and slow and with lots of love.

INGREDIENTS
150g butter
100ml of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
4 onions, finely chopped
4 carrots, finely chopped
4 sticks of celery, finely chopped
200g pancetta, finely chopped
750g pork mince
750g chicken mince
750g veal mince
1 bottle red wine
1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
2 bay leaves
2 cloves
2 tbsp of chopped parsley
1 tbsp of chopped rosemary
1 can of tomatoes
1 litre chicken stock
1 litre milk
Handful of parsley, roughly chopped
500g fresh or dried pappardelle pasta

METHOD
Step 1: Heat the butter and oil in a deep pan, add the vegetables and fry until they have softened.
Step 2: Add the pancetta, nutmeg, cloves, garlic, rosemary, bay leaves and minced meats.
Step 3: Fry until all liquid has evaporated.
Step 4: Add wine and simmer until it evaporates.
Step 5: Add milk and simmer until it evaporates.
Step 6: Add tomatoes, stock and season with salt and pepper.
Step 7: Cover and cook gently stirring occasionally for 2 hours

TO SERVE
Step 1: Boil pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring often.
Step 2: Drain.
Step 3: Transfer to pot with sauce, add parsley; toss.
Step 4: Serve with parmesan.

Need serving inspiration? Try this chicory, almond, fennel and orange salad

INSALATA DI CICORIA, FINOCCHIO E ARANCIA

Ingredients
1 head chicory or endive
1 head baby fennel
1 orange
50 mls extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper

Method
Wash and drain chicory. Set aside in a large bowl.
Slice oranges approx 3mm thin and scatter over chicory.
Shave the fennel and scatter over the chicory and oranges.
Mix olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and dress the salad.