Beef Rib Ragu with fresh pasta


This is my favourite “red” meat pasta sauce (if you must know I’m partial to a creamy vodka tomato sauce too but let’s not digress). The rich rib meat, that is meat between the bones, is loaded with connective tissue that will gelatinise when slow-cooked. It turns into this most flavourful and succulent roast and…

Squid Ink Garganelli in a Vodka Tomato Creamy Sauce


A throw-together lunch, started cooking at 2.18pm, plated at 2.32pm. Shot at 2.38pm, ate at 2.50pm. It doesn’t get any faster than this!! I first tried vodka tomato cream sauce in a Te Anau restaurant, many many years ago. I remember it was the first time I was hit with this obsession to learn how…

Truffle Pate and Beef Dumplings


What’s your favourite dumpling flavours? For me it’s always been pork and chives as that’s what mum makes at home. When we go out for dinners though, we will get a variety: pork and cabbage, beef and onion etc but I’ve not made any with beef at home… Until this week! This truffle and beef…