Not a fan of carbonara? Odds are you've never had a good one. Tricky to get right, but so rewarding when you do.

Ingredients

For one portion: 60 to 80gm spaghetti freshly cooked al dente 1 tb Extra virgin olivae oil 30g flat pancetta or guanciale 1 or 2 eggs, beaten 25g freshly grated Pecorino Romano and/or aged Italian Grana Cheese (Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano) freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Mix the beaten egg with grated cheese and grounded black pepper. 2. Slice the pancetta 7 to 10 mm thick and cut in 2 cm rectangular bites. 3. Slowly fry the pancetta in the extra virgin olive oil in a non stick pan until crispy. If the pancetta has enough fat you will not need to add oil. 4. Add the spaghetti with some of the cooking water, do not fry the spaghetti but rather just let it absorb the flavour of the pancetta. 5. Simmer gently until the water

A simple dish, successfully prepared by Dan (who can often muck up a piece of toast). Try it, a true crowd pleaser.

Ingredients

120g pitted green olives 2 garlic cloves - roughly chopped ½ bunch mint leaves picked ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley leaves picked ⅓ cup grated pecorino, plus extra shavings to serve ⅓ cup (80ml) olive oil 400g spaghetti

Method

Rinse and drain olives, then pulse in a food processor with garlic, herbs, cheese and oil until roughly chopped, not smooth. Season with pepper. Cook pasta in a large pan of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup (250ml) cooking water. Return pasta to pan, add the pesto and enough of the cooking water to form a smooth sauce. Serve with extra cheese.

Our Italian Imports have landed!

We tasted hundreds of wines earlier this year at the massive German Trade wine fair, Prowein, at the Italian wine expo Vinitaly and throughout various Italian wine regions. Overseas we tasted and reviewed the wines at least twice and then we did it all again as a panel back in Australia, tasting and reviewing the best wines from those shortlisted for consideration. We settled on a very select few - just the 17 superb wines which are now in stock. Drum roll please…

Here’s a little info on each of the wineries from which we have chosen to import these beautiful wines:

Ca’ de Lion is a boutique producer which has been based in the Piedmont since 1655, making wine for many, many years. We’ve chosen to start with two of their brilliant Barberas from Asti. These are exceptional examples of Barb