PASTA master

Chef Tim Siadatan chats to LAUREN TAYLOR about his best advice for home cooks - and the ethos behind his cult pasta restaurant Padella

- 

DIGGING into an unctuous 16-hour beef shin ragu wrapped around fat pappardelle pasta, it’s obvious why this is a signature dish at Padella.

“It’s really, really, really good, it's hard to explain to English people how good,” says my waiter Francesco (and he’s Italian). The pici cacio e pepe is their other most popular choice, he shares.

There’s usually a queue out the door here for owner and chef Tim Siadatan’s creations and Padella has gained something like cult status since opening in 2016.

“Pasta shouldn't be expensive,” Tim says. “You can definitely make it high quality and make it affordable and accessible.” So here, plates of unpretentious, handmade pasta range from £9.50 to £16.50.

Tim and business partner Jordan Frieda, who also own Italian restaurant Trullo, are British. “We're not pretending to be Italian, we're not trying to pull the wool over people’s eyes. I'm inspired by Italy but cooking in London - that gives me wiggle room to do an interpretation of what they do.

“I respect tradition, the culture, I certainly wouldn't be messing around and putting cumin or lemongrass into pasta.”

Tim’s new cookbook, Padella, aims to help home cooks improve their pasta game. “My hope is bringing 20-odd years of theory and being a professional chef, translated into not-chef-talk. I've broken it down so it’s easy to follow and some super-simple steps that will elevate your pasta to the next level.”

From everyday dishes like tagliarini with crab, chilli, lemon and parsley, to slow-cooked creations like pici with duck, orange and cinnamon ragu, there are so many flavours to inspire cooks to put down the jar of pesto.

So what advice would he give for levelling up your pasta?

Try making your own sauce

Pasta sauce can be extremely quick and straightforward to whip up at home, says Tim - “and it will be far superior to what you're buying in a jar.