Since opening in January 2020, mantecathe bustling Italian restaurant in Shoreditch, has become a pandemic success story, largely due to co-founder and chef Chris Leachis undeniably delicious pasta recipes.
Manteca’s hand-rolled pasta and nose-to-tail charcuterie, which have received attention from nearly every London-based food publication, left their mark on London’s food scene at a time when the outlook for the hospitality industry looked bleak.
Fast forward to today, and those who can’t get enough of Manteca’s hearty dishes, but also can’t get a table at the hugely popular spot, are in luck. These simple recipes from the mastermind himself will satisfy your hunger and let you enjoy some Manteca classics at your own dining table.
Tagliatelle with wild garlic sauce
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
For the wild garlic sauce:
200 g wild garlic
50 grams of olive oil
For the tagliatelle:
200 grams tagliatelle
20 g butter
Wild garlic sauce
½ lemon
Squeeze chili flakes
Black pepper to taste
Grated parmesan cheese
Method:
Wash the wild garlic. Place a large pot of water on the stove and season generously with salt.
Blanch the wild garlic for 2 minutes, drain and mix with the oil to form a smooth paste.
Cook the pasta to your liking, drain and reserve some of the pasta water.
Heat the butter in a pan, add the wild garlic sauce and stir the pasta through this sauce, if necessary with a little pasta water. Add a squeeze of lemon and season with the herbs and lemon until it tastes good to you.
Once the pasta is sauced, divide between two plates and sprinkle with dried chilli flakes, a few cracks of black pepper and grate some Parmesan cheese over each plate to finish off.
Tonnarelli cacio e pepe
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
20g freshly ground black pepper – or use a mix of peppercorns – black, pink, even szechwan
40g futter
60g grated Pecorino Romano plus more to finish
200 g tonarelli or spaghetti
2 lemons
Method:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt until the water tastes very spicy – but not like the sea! Cook according to package instructions or a few minutes for fresh pasta.
Start the sauce a few minutes before the pasta is ready. Roast the black pepper in a dry pan until fragrant, but don’t let it burn for about a minute. Add the butter and a large ladle full of pasta water and cook together until it forms an emulsion.
Add the pasta to the boiling emulsion with the cheese. Stir quickly until well mixed and all paste is covered, add a little lemon juice. Divide the pasta between two plates and grate over some fresh pecorino and fresh pepper one last time.
Strozzapreti alla norcina
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
200 g strozzapreti or similar short pasta
25 ml olive oil
100 g pork sausage
1 garlic clove
75 ml dry white wine
50 ml whipped cream
15 g preserved black truffle
60 g grated Parmesan cheese
1 small black truffle (if using)
Method:
Heat the oil in a pan, crush the garlic clove and break the sausage into small pieces to get some color on the sausage. When the sausage is cooked, remove the garlic clove and add the white wine and reduce by half. Add the cream and preserved truffle and bring to a gentle simmer.
Cook the pasta to just below your taste and add to the sauce, turn the heat up slightly and toss the pasta with the cheese until completely covered.
Spoon the pasta over two bowls and finish with fresh truffle if using.
