Pasta Recipes for Dinner Parties and Duvet Days

Only a week and a half left of our fabulous pasta offer – where you can get 5 of our most classic pasta dishes for just £5 each! These 5 represent some of the best-known pasta dishes Italy has produced, but this week we thought we would share a couple which are a little less famous.

We’ve chosen a creamy-but-hot, endlessly comforting Roman dish – Cacio e Pepe – and a dinner party showstopper for the keen chefs among you with spicy Squid-Ink Pasta with Prawns.

Let us start off easy…

Cacio e Pepe

Ingredients

400g Spaghetti

160g Pecorino Romano cheese

Loads and loads of freshly-ground black pepper

Pinch of salt

Cooking time: 15mins

Method

1. Boil water and add a pinch of salt before popping in your spaghetti.
2. You'll want your pasta to be al dente so check the packet for cooking time. It's usually about 6-10 mins.
3. 1-2 minutes before the pasta is done, get yourself a deep bowl, that is wider than the pan you are using, and place it on top of the pan to warm it. This is a surprisingly important step, since the temperature of the pasta is what will determine the creaminess of your sauce.
4. Grate your cheese.
5. When your pasta is done, remove it from the pan and pop it in the bowl. Warning: DO NOT THROW AWAY YOUR PASTA WATER. This step is also key! Firstly, the heat of the pasta water will help to melt the cheese slightly, and secondly the starch, which the pasta has released into the water, will help to bind the cheese and the pepper to the spaghetti.
6. Add two ladles worth of the pasta water to the bowl of pasta, then add your cheese.
7. Stir together, adding more water if the mix is too dry, and more cheese if it is too watery.
8. Add as much pepper as you would like.
9. Stir until the cheese and pepper have formed a creamy sauce which clings to the pasta.

And now for something a little more complex…

Squid Ink Pasta with Prawns, Chilli and Herbs

Ingredients

3 tbsp of flat-leaf parsley

2 thinly-sliced spring onions

1 tbsp of mint leaves

1 tbsp of basil

1 tbsp of rinsed capers

3 rinsed tinned anchovies

2 tbsp of olive oil

250g of squid ink pasta

14 prawns; cooked, peeled and shells removed.

1 small, deseeded, thinly sliced fresh chilli

A squeeze of lemon juice

Salt and pepper, to taste

Method

1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil.
2. Set 1bsp of flat-leafed parsley and 2 tbsp of the sliced green parts of the spring onion to one side for later.
3. 2. Place the remaining parsley and spring onion in a food processor. Add the mint, basil, capers and anchovies; blending until the mixture is well combined and finely chopped.
4. Slowly add olive oil to give the sauce consistency. Add seasoning if needed.
5. 3. Once the water begins to boil, add the pasta and a pinch of salt; cook until the pasta is al dente (see the packet for cooking time).
6. Return the pasta to the pan and add the herb sauce, chilli, prawns and lemon juice to taste.
7. Toss well and serve.
8. Garnish with the parsley and spring onion you set aside, sprinkling generously with salt and pepper.

Pasta perfection - which one will you choose? Will you stun with Squid ink or chill with Cacio e Pepe? Get in touch on Facebook or Twitter and let us know! 

Quiz: How well do you know Pasta?

We're still doing 5 classic pastas for £5 here at Pizzeria Oregano, but which one should you go for? Well take our Pasta Shapes Quiz and find out!

Pasta: The Facts

“Everything you see I owe to spaghetti.” ― Sophia Loren

Well, if it’s good enough for Sophia, it’s certainly good enough for us - and we’re not stopping at spaghetti, oh no! This month is all about that most glorious Italian dish: pasta.

Ahhh, pasta. We can barely imagine a world without it, but there was a time when it didn’t exist. So this week we’re starting at that time and then moving forwards to share all our favourite pasta facts!

1) The first mention to pasta can be found in Sicily in 1154 – that’s over 850 years ago!

2) But it wasn’t referred to in English until 720 years later in 1874.

3) The word “Pasta” comes from Latin and means “dough, pastry cake.”

4) Pasta is flavoured and paired with all sorts of ingredients, but traditionally it is all made from durum wheat and water.

5) There are over 300 different shapes of pasta, with over 1300 different names (the pasta most-commonly known as “cavatelli”, for example, has 28 different names depending on region and town)!

6) Pasta is divided by two main classifications, pasta fresca (fresh) and pasta secca (dried).

7) Pasta secca is only considered real pasta if it is made the proper Italian way. This means slow-drying it for more than 50 hours in a copper mould and then in the open air. (The rest of the world usually dries pasta in steel moulds at extremely high temperatures for short periods of time, resulting in an inferior product.)

8) Unlike here in the UK, in Italy, pasta is traditionally served as a first course, in small, simple portions.

9) There are three different types of pasta dish:

a) Pastasciutta = cooked pasta served with a sauce. (e.g. Spaghetti Bolognese)

b) Pasta in brodo = pasta as part of a soup dish. (“Brodo” means “broth”.)

c) Pasta al forno = pasta as part of a dish which is baked. (e.g. Lasagne)

10) You can’t just slop any old sauce on any old pasta! Pair your pasta carefully with your sauce. Take these examples:

a) Pesto = goes with long, thin strands of pasta that it can stick to.

b) Tomato sauce = better with thicker pasta.

c) Chunky sauces = better with tubular or twisted pastas so it can sit in the holes etc.

11) Get your proportions right! You should never have too much sauce – you’ve got to be able to taste the pasta too!

12) It is estimated that Italians eat over 60lbs (27kg) of pasta per person per year. That’s 3 times as much as they eat in the US!

13) In fact, Italians eat so much pasta that the country can’t produce enough wheat to keep up, which has led to Italy actually importing wheat from other countries to make its pasta!

And there you have it, all you need to know about pasta. And if you want to see how it’s done the real Italian way, head on over to Pizzeria Oregano now and try one of our 5 classic pasta dishes for just £5!

Our Top 5 classic pasta dishes

Orecchiette Broccoli e Salsiccia

Tortelloni Ricotta e Spinaci

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

Penne all’Amatriciana

Tagliatelle alla Bolognese

Find more HERE.

Picking the Perfect Picnic Wine

Well, we’re coming to the end of picnic month here at Oregano. But that doesn’t mean that picnicking season is over – oh no – it is just beginning. Two weeks’ ago we talked to Dawn from TheSampler – a fabulous Islington wine merchant and our top choice for your alcoholic al fresco beverages. This week, we’ll be sharing Dawn’s picks for the perfect picnic wine to go with your pizza. Commence drooling…now!

1) “Passitivo” – Primitivo, Puglia, 2013

Dawn’s first choice comes - very aptly - from the same place as owner Stefano! One of Puglia’s greatest wines, Primitivo is produced using a rare winemaking technique called ‘il giro del picciolo’ which involves twisting the grape bunch stems so that no further nourishment reaches the grapes about days before picking. This causes the grapes to dry out naturally on the vine, thus concentrating the flavours. This Primitivo is a full-bodied, smooth red with an intense plum and blackcurrant nose, perfect for when you’re getting closer to nature!

2) “E Solo” – Montepulciano D’Abruzzo, 2013

A great Italian favourite, you can’t beat a good Montepulciano. The area from which this wine comes is famous for making delicious food-friendly wines and this one is no different! With flavours of cherry, blackcurrant, and plum, this easy-drinker is perfect with a plate of pasta…or a pizza!

3)“Saint Pierre Rosé Tradition” – Provence, 2014

Coming from a château which has been around since 11th century, the wine-makers from this country estate have had plenty of time to perfect this stunning Provence rosé. Pale pink, with hints of spice and white peach, and stronger strains of tropical fruits, we’d say this is your perfect summer wine, right here!

4)"Artuke Pies Negros” – Rioja, 2013

This dark, fruity Rioja from boutique producer Artuke, may seem a little heavy for a warm day, with its dark fruits, cherries, and cocoa, but this wine pairs beautifully with cheeses and cold or roasted meats, making it perfect for a picnic or BBQ.

5) "The Matador” - Garnacha, 2013 

With notes of strawberries, cherries, and raspberries, this flavoursome Spanish red packs a real palate punch, the perfect pairing for your pizza picnic. 

6)"Badoz Benoit” – Cremant du Jura Brut

And we couldn’t have a picnic wine list without including a little sparkle! This fabulous Cremant du Jura Blanc Brut is elegant and balanced, with fine bubbles, and light citrus notes – well-suited to toasting the summer season.

To buy any of these, or other perfect picnic wines – head to The Sampler on Islington’s Upper Street. And don’t forget a little food to go with your booze! Pop along to see us at Pizzeria Oregano and we’ll fix you up your perfect Italian picnic to take to one of Islington’s finest al fresco spots! Picnic perfection. 

Oregano’s Outdoor Cinema Picnic Picks.

Nothing beats a great film. Except maybe a great film al fresco…

 

We love our cinema here at Oregano so we have picked some of our favourite London places to kick back and enjoy a movie, some fresh air, and maybe even a tasty pizza! Of course, our favourite outdoor cinemas are the ones which let us bring our own delicious Italian food, but we’re such film fans we’ve even included a couple of film clubs where you can’t.  

1) Nomad Cinema - CAN bring your own food

• Where: Various locations
• What to see:
• O Brother, Where Art Thou = Saturday 27th June (Paddington Gardens)
• The Coen Brothers – arguably – at their best. Funny, dark, and weird. With George Clooney.
• The Breakfast Club = Friday 10th July (Grosvenor Square)
• The 80s blueprint for Empire Records and coming-of-age films in general. Amazing and wonderful. A personal favourite.

2) Rooftop Film Club: Queen of Hoxton - CANNOT bring your own food

• Where: Shoreditch
• What to see:
• The Lost Boys = Monday 29th June
• An 80s vampire movie with Jack Bauer in it. Good stuff. 
• Empire Records = Wednesday 1st July
• Top-notch coming-of-age, covers-serious-issues-but-is-still-feel-good 90s film. Do not miss.

3) Drive-in Film Club - CANNOT bring your own food

• Where: Alexandra Palace
• What to see:
• 50 Shades of Grey = Tuesday 30th June
• Not for the faint-hearted or squeamish, but maybe good for those who are game for a laugh?
• The Notebook = Wednesday 1st July
• The ultimate slushy romance. Bring tissues and something fluffy you can stroke to soothe yourself.

4) Luna Cinema - CAN bring your own food

• Where:Various Locations
• What to see:
• Labyrinth = Wednesday 1st July (Tooting Common)
• 80s Fantasy film involving hilarious special effects and David Bowie as the Goblin King. We think yes.
• Top Gun = Saturday 18th July (Crystal Palace Park)
• Like Labyrinth, Top Gun was also made in 1986. Just replace Bowie with Tom Cruise and Fantasy with…planes…

5) Kew the Movies - CAN bring your own food

• Where: Kew Gardens 
• What to see:
• Grand Budapest Hotel = Wednesday 22nd July
• Wes Anderson’s lushly colourful comedy on the big screen in the great outdoors? How could you say no?
• Back to the Future = Thursday 23rd July
• An absolute classic. The science fiction comedy extravaganza celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.

6) Backyard Cinema - CANNOT bring your  own food

• Where: Camden Lock Market
• What to see:
• Whiplash = Wednesday 29th July
• Drama exploring the fractious relationship between a jazz student and his abrasive instructor.
• Clueless = Thursday 30th July
• Jane Austen’s Emma, re-cast and re-set in 1995 Beverly Hills. Sounds ridiculous and… is ridiculous. But also ridiculously good fun.

 

That looks like the next two months sorted to me! Now get out there and enjoy the fruits of the London summer. Alternatively – why not try hosting your own outdoor cinema night – find a friend with a garden and hey presto! We’ll even help you cater it.

Have we missed off any of YOUR favourites? Get in touch and let us know! 

Fancy wine? We've just the place...

“It’s good fun selling. It’s nice being in the wine business, because you’re selling people things they’re going to take home and enjoy with their friends – the same as with food!”

Couldn’t have put it better ourselves. This week we chatted to the lovely Dawn Mannis from one of Islington’s finest gems: “The Sampler”. This charming wine merchant has been around for 9 years now and is – handily – a mere 10-minute walk away from Pizzeria Oregano, making it pretty much perfect for your picnic beverages.

“We were the first people to have the sampling machines”, says Dawn of the innovative system which gives the shop its name, “we saw them in Italy and loved them. We thought it would be a really good way of getting people to experiment with unusual wines”. The “machines” are enomatic machines, designed to keep wine which has been opened fresh for up to three weeks – “not that the bottles stick around that long!” This clever system means that customers can – and are encouraged to – try before they buy. Simply get a sampling card from the desk and away you go! You can get a single or double measure for a fraction of the bottle’s price, and try a whole range of unusual wines for as little as 50p. “A lot of people end up trying something that they wouldn’t usually and preferring it to their usual Rioja”, Dawn adds, “it makes a great change, because a lot of people end up going to the supermarkets and maybe spending £8 on a bottle of wine and it’s not very nice”.

The Sampler’s Islington branch has up to 1000 wines in it, with 80 available to sample at any one time, and they are constantly rotated. With a huge price range running from as little as £6 to up to almost £1000 for really special bottles, there is something here for any wine fan. The Sampler is set up, Dawn says, to be “the opposite of supermarkets. We do want people to buy based on the quality, rather than the price, but we have a lot of really good-value wines here. We spend a lot of time finding the under £10 wines, because they tend to be the best sellers. Our ethos is that we’re not snobbish about wine, there’s no right or wrong, it’s more about making wine accessible to everyone.”

 Although their wine list is designed to cater to all tastes and budgets, The Sampler does have certain specialities. Come here in search of older vintage wines, wines from unusual regions, rare grape types, and – Dawn’s personal favourite – champagne. “We specialise in grower’s champagne, instead of the big brands who often buy in all their grapes from other people – which isn’t necessarily a bad thing – but a lot of the time they concentrate on the marketing rather than what the wines are like. One of the things we’re known for is having really interesting champagne from little boutique champagne houses that you won’t have heard of.” So don’t go looking for a boring old bottle of Bollinger here.

What makes a good “picnic wine”, Dawn? “You’d want something good value, on the cheaper side. A summery style of wine. You don’t want to have to bring a cooler so you might want to go for something a bit lighter - Beaujolais is quite good for that, or I’d prefer a light Pinot Noir. But if you’re having pizza… I’d go for the Montepulciano with a screw cap! Yup, go for something either sparkling or with a screw top.”

To finish up, we quizzed Dawn on her perfect picnic. “I would have pizza, obviously! No, I think I would have Cheese. I love cheese. Cheese, wine, nice bread. Lots of different things… Crisps. You want a nice little pie and a quiche…. loads of little things. Or pizza’s fine! I’d be drinking sparkling wine – maybe champagne and I’d be in Richmond Park. With the shop dog.”

Fancy meeting the shop dog, sampling some first-class wines, or just learning a little more about everyone’s favourite grape-based tipple? Then head to 266 Upper Street, Islington (or the South Ken shop at 35 Thurloe Place) or sign up for one of The Sampler’s monthly Sunday Schools.

Keep your eyes peeled for Dawn's Picnic wine picks! Coming soon.

Perfect Picnic Mocktails.

British sun got you gasping? 

We know the UK's not renowned for its balmy climate, but a long day sat in the sunshine on a picnic will eventually leave you parched. And you can't enjoy our delicious pizza without a drink so we've come up with some delightful thirst-quenching mocktails you can make at home and take with you to your pizza picnic.

Picnic mocktails. Pick-tails, if you will.

Mocktail Moscow Mule

A super-simple cocktail with an alcohol-free kick. To be really authentic, get your hands on some copper mugs (you can buy them here, here, or here) They last forever and they make excellent picnicwear as they are lightweight, un-squashable, and very easy to clean. OR just grab yourself some plastic tumblers, it'll taste just as good. 

Ingredients

ice 

3tbsp lime juice (about 3 small limes' worth)

3tbsp soda water

120ml ginger beer

lime wedges, to serve

Method

1) Fill your copper mug (or plastic tumbler) with ice.

2) Squeeze your limes and add the juice to your cup of choice.

3) Add the same amount of soda or fizzy water.

4) Top up with ginger beer (about 120ml per person)

That's for one glass - to do this on a large scale, just multiply by the number of people at your picnic! It can even be done in advance and transported in a Thermos, or some other such elegant receptacle.

Virgin Sunrise

This one is even easier than the last! But don't underestimate the deliciousness of this simple cocktail - the grenadine (pomegranate syrup) adds a flavour so festive, you might even forget there's no alcohol in it...

Ingredients

120ml orange juice

1tsp grenadine

lemon wedge, to serve

Method

1) Pour juice into glass.

2) Add grenadine, slowly.

3) Prop lemon wedge on side of glass.

4) ....that's it!

Get your hands on some plastic wine glasses and away you go! Whip this up in no time, perched on your picnic blanket, or make it at home (but prepare for the sunrise to be more of a charming all-round salmon pink by the time you arrive...) 

And there you have it - the perfect picktail to have with your pizza. And remember - all through this month all of our pizzas are just £7.99 to takeaway! And never fear alcohol-lovers, we've got a boozy treat lined up for you next week, so stay tuned!