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Pasta, a humbly delicious creation made from a mixture of grain and eggs, or sometimes water, that has different versions in many different cultures cuisine’s. For this post I want to focus on Italian pasta, as trying to delve deeper into the actual origins of pasta proved so diverse, it was impossible to link it to just one country

You don’t want the dough to be too stiff and adding more flour can really effect the consistency of the dough so just add a spoonful extra at a time if you need it until you get a really nice soft dough. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add 500g flour, spices, sugar and salt, then add the yeast on the opposite side of the bowl so it not touching the salt. of flour and knead for another 2 minutes, the mixture should be soft but not unworkable, so add more flour if needed, take the bowl off the mixture and stretch the dough a few times to make sure the gluten has built up nicely. the dough or it will become tight and the buns wont be soft and have a nice texture, 5 to 7 minutes in a stand mixer and high speed should be enough, but at the same time don’t underwork the dough or there will not be enough gluten, start at 5 minutes and take the dough out and stretch it, if it easily stretches with out tearing its ok.

1 1–1¼-pound lamb shank salt, freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 red onion, finely chopped (about 1½ cups) 4 large garlic cloves, crushed 4 rachers of smoked bacon or lardons finely chopped 2 sticks of celery finely chopped 2 carrots finely chopped 1 small leek finely chopped 8 mushrooms finely chopped 2 tablespoons tomato paste 1 tin of tomatoes 1 cup red wine 3 cups low-sodium chicken stock or broth 2 bay leaves 2 sprigs of thyme 2 sprigs of rosemary 2 tbsp. * Add the bacon and simmer until cooked then add the leek, carrots, celery and mushrooms and stir over the heat for another 5 minutes. * Add wine to deglaze the pan, then add tinned tomatoes, and bring to a simmer. * Add stock, bay leaves, 2 thyme sprigs, and rosemary replace and reserved lamb shank; return to a simmer, add the brown sugar and balsamic vinegar and stir.

Adding fresh rhubarb on top means it takes a little longer to cook because the liquid from the rhubarb makes the frangipane a little harder to cook, but it really was such a delicious addition and worth the effort. In a bowl or in a food processor mix together the flour and butter (if making by hand rub the butter with the flour until it resembled bread crumbs) add the sugar, salt and lemon zest and mix then add the yolk and mix, if more liquid is needed add a little milk until it comes together. (leave oven on while you make frangipane For the jam (make day before or use shop bought jam) • 3/4 cup ginger syrup (see the recipe for the syrup here or if you don’t want to make your own syrup then add a thinly sliced piece of ginger approx. 30g) Slice the rhubarb into small chunks, add into a pan with the water and ginger syrup and vanilla and boil for about 20 minutes until the rhubarb has broken down.