Catherine Fulvio’s winter warmer in a bowl

TV Chef, food writer and owner of Ballyknocken House & Cookery School, Catherine Fulvio is this week’s Irish Times Food Month guest chef and each day she will share one of her favourite Italian recipes.

“I am delighted to be this week’s Irish Times Food Month guest chef and this week I will be sharing some Italian recipes taken from two of my cookbooks - Eat Like an Italian and Taste of Home, which will combine modern Irish food with farm-to-fork principles using seasonal produce with an Italian twist.

Rigatoni alla Vesuviana

With a name like this, direct from Vesuvius, it can only be hot and fiery! It will warm up a winter evening and it is a great quick easy dish for a meal in literally minutes. And if you fancy adding another layer of flavour you could stir in a few slices of Irish smoked salmon for a delicious addition to this dish.
Serves four

Ingredients
350g rigatoni
Extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
4 tomatoes, diced
2 red chillies, finely chopped
3 tbsp capers, drained
24 whole small black olives
2 tbsp sliced green olives
½ tsp salt
½ tsp caster sugar
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp chopped parsley
Freshly grated Parmesan to serve
Cherry tomatoes on the vine, roasted

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Method
1 Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package, retaining some of the cooking liquid.

2 Heat a generous amount of olive oil in a large frying pan over a low heat. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute, taking care that the garlic doesn’t burn. Add the tomatoes, chillies, capers, olives, salt and sugar and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Season with freshly ground black pepper.

3 Add a little pasta cooking liquid to the sauce, then add the cooked, drained pasta. Toss and add the parsley, then sprinkle over the Parmesan. Place the roasted cherry tomatoes on top before serving.

From Eat Like an Italian published by Gill