The colder season’s appetite for oozing decadence is best met in the comfort of your home. From rich sauces to handmade ravioli, editor Chad January shows you how to get the better of your carb craving.

SLOW-COOKED BEEF RAGU LASAGNE 

SERVES 4-6  

TOTAL TIME 1 HR 45 MIN  

Ingredients 

800g-1kg beef neck or knuckles 
Salt and milled black pepper 
Flour, for dusting
Canola oil, for frying 
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 bay leaves
Handful fresh thyme
1 sachet (50g) tomato paste
2 tsp brown sugar
1⁄2 cup red wine (optional)
1 can (410g) chopped tomatoes
2 cups beef stock
1 box (250g) lasagne sheets, blanched
1 batch white sauce 
2 cups grated mozzarella
1⁄4 cup grated Parmesan
Handful fresh basil   

 

Method

1. Season beef well and dust in flour, shaking off the excess.
2. Heat oil in a large pot and brown beef in batches. Remove and set aside. 
3. Sauté onion and carrots for about 5-6 minutes or until golden.
4. Add garlic and herbs and fry for another 2 minutes. 
5. Stir through tomato paste, cook for 1 minute and stir through sugar. 
6. Deglaze pan with wine, if using, and stir to lift off all the bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. 
7. Add browned beef, tomatoes and stock to the pot. Simmer over a low- medium heat for 1 hour or until meat is tender and sauce has thickened and reduced. 
8. Shred meat, discard bones and toss through the sauce. Season well. 
9. Preheat oven to 180°C.
10. In a greased oven dish, alternate between layering lasagne sheets, beef ragu and 3⁄4 of the white sauce. 
11. Cover with remaining white sauce and sprinkle with cheese.
12. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden and cheese is bubbling.

Make these simple swaps: 

• Mozzarella for cheddar.
• Beef neck for lean beef mince or ground beef.
• Wine for beef stock (add a dash of red wine vinegar).

 

Mushroom and thyme pasta

SERVES 4-6 

TOTAL TIME 1 HR 20 MIN 

 

Ingredients 

Glug olive oil
1 punnet (180g) exotic mushrooms
1 onion, chopped
1 punnet (250g) button mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Handful fresh thyme, plus extra for serving
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
¼ cup vegetable stock
1 cup cream
1 lemon, zested and juiced
Salt and milled black pepper
500g tagliatelle, farfalle or penne, cooked 

 

Method

1. Heat oil in a large pan.
2. Brown exotic mushrooms for about 3-5 minutes, remove and set aside.
3. Add onion and sauté for 5 minutes.
4. Add bu. on mushrooms and cook for 3-5 minutes.
5. Stir through garlic, thyme and butter and cook for 2 minutes.
6. Add flour, stir through until smooth, and pour in vegetable stock.
7. Simmer for 3 minutes then add cream.
8. Reduce heat to low and simmer gently for 6-8 minutes.
9. Stir through cooked exotic mushrooms, lemon zest and juice and simmer for another 3 minutes.
10. Season well and toss through cooked pasta. Garnish with fresh thyme before serving.

 

Creamy Tuscan chicken pasta

SERVES 4 

TOTAL TIME 25-30 MIN 

Ingredients 

1 pack chicken breast fillets
Salt and milled pepper
2 Tbsp smoked paprika
2 Tbsp dried mixed herbs
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
1 onion or 4 shallots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
240g sundried tomatoes
1 cup chicken stock
300g baby spinach
1 tub (230g) plain cream cheese
500g penne pasta, cooked al dente
Handful fresh basil or micro greens 

 

Method

1. Season chicken and rub with paprika and herbs, taking care to coat evenly.
2. Heat olive oil in a large pan and brown chicken for about 4-5 minutes per side. Chicken should not be cooked all the way through. Remove and set aside.
3. Add butter to the pan and sauté onion or shallots and garlic for 5-6 minutes.
4. Stir through half the sundried tomatoes and cook for a few minutes more.
5. Add chicken back to the pan and pour in stock. Simmer gently for about 8-10 minutes.
6. Stir through cream cheese, remaining sundried tomatoes and simmer for 3-5 minutes.
7. Fold through spinach and wilt gently. Remove from heat and season well.
8. Slice chicken and toss through sauce.
9. Serve with penne and garnish with herbs.

 

Spinach and feta cannelloni

SERVES 4-6 

TOTAL TIME 1 HR 10 MIN 

Ingredients 

Glug olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
Handful fresh thyme
2 bags (300g each) spinach or Swiss chard, finely chopped
3 discs feta, crumbled
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp chilli flakes
1 tsp smoked paprika 

For the white sauce 

¼ cup butter
¼ cup flour
3 cups milk
Pinch nutmeg
Salt and milled black pepper
250g cannelloni
3 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme
¼ cup grated Parmesan or mature Cheddar 

 

Method

1. Heat olive oil in a pan and sauté onions for 3-5 minutes.
2. Add garlic, thyme and fry for another 2-3 minutes.
3. Add spinach or Swiss chard to pan and wilt while stirring. Remove from heat.
4. For the white sauce, melt butter in a saucepan and whisk in flour until smooth.
5. Add milk a little at a time while stirring until thickened. Stir through nutmeg and season well.
6. Place spinach mixture into a dry tea towel and squeeze to remove excess moisture.
7. Add spinach to a bowl and stir through feta, mustard, chilli flakes, paprika and season with black pepper.
8. Preheat oven to 180°C.
9. Add ¼ cup of white sauce to a greased deep baking dish and spread to cover the base.
10. Fill each cannelloni tube with spinach and feta mixture and arrange side-by-side in prepared baking dish.
11. Pour over remaining sauce to cover cannelloni.
12. Sprinkle with thyme and cheese and bake for 30-35 minutes or until cooked through and golden. Serve hot.

 

Homemade pasta dough

SERVES 4-6 

TOTAL TIME 10–15 MIN PLUS 30 MIN RESTING TIME 

Ingredients 

1 cup flour 
½ tsp salt 
1 egg 
1 Tbsp olive oil 

 

Method

1. Place flour onto a large floured surface in a heap. Make a deep well in the centre.
2. Whisk egg and olive oil together and add to the well.
3. Using a fork, slowly work the flour into the egg, starting from the inside and moving outwards, until it starts to form a sticky dough.
4. Knead for a few seconds, adding extra flour if needed, until smooth.
5. Shape into a disc, wrap in clingfilm and set aside to rest for 30 minutes before shaping.

 

Classic carbonara

SERVES 6 

TOTAL TIME 15 MIN 

Ingredients 

500g spaghetti or tagliatelle
Glug olive oil
200g streaky bacon, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp butter
3 whole eggs
½ cup grated Parmesan
Salt and milled black pepper
2 Tbsp chopped parsley 

 

Method

1. Cook pasta in a pot of boiling salted water, reserving pasta water.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large pan and fry bacon until crispy.
3. Add garlic and fry for another minute.
4. Add butter to the pan and, once bubbling, add cooked pasta and 3 Tbsp pasta water.
5. Whisk together eggs and half the Parmesan.
6. Add to pasta, tossing for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. The heat from the pan and pasta will cook the eggs.
7. Season well. Serve hot garnished with parsley and remaining Parmesan.

 

Red pepper ravioli with herby goat’s cheese filling 

SERVES 2 

TOTAL TIME 35–40 MIN PLUS 30 MIN RESTING TIME 

Ingredients 

For the pasta dough 

1 red pepper
1 batch pasta dough

For filling 

100g goat’s cheese
2 Tbsp cream cheese, softened
3 Tbsp chopped chives
2 tsp chilli flakes
Milled black pepper  

For serving 

¼ cup butter
2 cloves garlic, sliced
Handful fresh basil
1 lemon, juiced
125g red pepper pesto 

 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. Place red pepper onto a baking tray and bake for 8-10 minutes or until blistered and well charred.
3. Place pepper in a bowl, cover with clingfilm and allow to steam (this makes it easier to remove the skin).
4. Use a sharp knife to skin the pepper and remove all seeds.
5. Blitz pepper until smooth.
6. Knead red pepper mixture into pasta dough on a lightly floured surfaced. Add more flour if needed.
7. Shape into a round disc, cover in clingfilm and rest for 30 minutes.
8. Combine goat’s cheese and cream cheese until smooth.
9. Fold through chives and chilli flakes. Season with milled black pepper and set aside.
10. Use a rolling pin to roll dough to 2cm on a floured surface.
11. Cut dough into 4 wide strips and place spoonfuls of filling onto 2 strips. Leave space between the balls of filling, as shown below.
12. Cover with remaining pasta strips and press down to enclose ravioli filling.
13. Using a round cutter, cut out ravioli and set aside.
14. Cook ravioli in a pot of boiling salted water for about 6-7 minutes. Drain and set aside.
15. Heat butter, garlic and basil in a large pan and add ravioli in batches.
16. Once butter starts to burn, add lemon juice and red pepper pesto. Toss to coat the ravioli evenly and season well.
17. Serve hot and garnished with fresh basil.

 

Parsley pesto pasta with lemon prawns

SERVES 4 

TOTAL TIME 35 40 MIN 

 

Ingredients 

4 cloves garlic, peeled
Glug olive oil
700g queen prawns, deveined
Salt and milled black pepper
2 lemons, zested
2 Tbsp smoked paprika
3 Tbsp butter 

For the pesto 

¼ cup flaked almonds, toasted
10g parsley
½ lemon, juiced
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan
½ cup canola or olive oil
500g linguine or spaghetti, cooked al dente
Pink peppercorns (optional) 

 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Drizzle garlic with oil, wrap tightly with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes. Set aside.
3. Season prawns well, drizzle with oil and coat well with lemon zest and paprika.
4. Heat a pan with oil and fry prawns for about 5-6 minutes per side until cooked through.
5. Add bu. er to pan and baste prawns for the last 2 minutes of cooking time. Set aside.
6. In a food processor, blitz roasted garlic, almonds, parsley, lemon juice and ¼ of the oil.
7. Add Parmesan and remaining oil and blitz to desired consistency. Season well.
8. Toss cooked pasta with rocket pesto, top with prawns and serve sprinkled with peppercorns.

 

Sweet potato gnocchi with burnt butter and fresh sage 

SERVES 4-6 

TOTAL TIME 1 HR 20 MIN 

Ingredients 

For the gnocchi 

¼ cup coarse salt
6 medium sweet potatoes, pierced with a fork
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
¼ cup chopped mixed herbs (parsley, basil or sage works well)
1 egg
Canola oil, for frying
3 Tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, sliced
Handful fresh sage
A half lemon, juiced
Salt and milled black pepper 

 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. Scatter salt over a baking tray and place potatoes on top.
3. Bake for 45 minutes or until flesh is soft. Allow to cool slightly.
4. Scoop out the flesh and place into a bowl.
5. Add flour, salt, herbs and egg. Mix well until a smooth, soft dough forms.
6. On a floured surface, roll dough into a thin log.
7. Cut into bite-sized chunks of about 3-5cm each, making an indent with a fork on each.
8. Cook gnocchi in batches in a pot of boiling salted water for 6-8 minutes. Drain and set aside.
9. Heat oil in large pan and fry gnocchi in batches until crispy. Set aside.
10. Heat butter and garlic in the same pan and fry for 2 minutes.
11. Return gnocchi to the pan and toss through fresh sage.
12. Stir through lemon juice and toss gnocchi with butter and garlic. Season.
13. Serve while hot.

Go with the dough 

• You can use any variety of potato to make gnocchi. Roasting the sweet potato changes its colour, so if you prefer white gnocchi, use regular potato.
• Roasting potato on a bed of salt helps to remove excess moisture for fluffier gnocchi.
• Add flavour to your gnocchi by adding ground spices, fresh herbs, pestos or pastes to the dough.
• You’ll know the gnocchi is cooked when it rises to the surface of boiling salted water.

 

Spaghetti with garlic chilli oil

SERVES 4 

TOTAL TIME 25 30 MIN 

Ingredients 

1 cup canola oil
2 shallots, sliced or 1 onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2-3 dried chillies
2 Tbsp onion powder or onion flakes
2 Tbsp chilli flakes
2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp smoked or regular paprika
500g spaghetti, cooked al dente
Fresh coriander, for serving 

 

Method

1. Heat oil in a pan and, once hot, add shallots or onion, garlic and chilli.
2. Once bubbling, reduce heat to low and stir. Cook for about 10 minutes or until shallots and garlic have crisped.
3. Combine onion powder or flakes, chilli flakes, salt and paprika in a heatproof bowl.
4. Pour oil mixture through a sieve over the seasoning. Set shallots, garlic and chilli aside to cool.
5. Whisk oil mixture to combine with seasoning.
6. Once oil is cool, add crispy shallots, garlic and chilli.
7. Toss cooked spaghetti with chilli oil and garnish with fresh coriander before serving.