Classic Pumpkin Pie

Imagine yourself in a roadside diner with red booths and waitresses called Wilma and Gertie.
This is pure Americana.

Ragù alla Bolognese

This Bolognese is the Original, the Definitive, the Ultimate... It's just really really awesome. Using only the bare essentials and a few wise words from the great Antonio Carluccio, this sauce is little effort & great reward.

Fry beef and pork mince (half and half) in some butter until brown. Add chopped onion and garlic and season generously. Once the onion is translucent, add a glass of white wine (if you don't feel like opening a bottle for just a glass, use white vermouth, which I always keep beside the stove for such occasions). Stir in a few tablespoons of tomato paste and a bottle of sieved tomatoes (feel free to haughtily call this "Passata di Pomodoro", I always do). Bring to a boil and move to the lowest flame you've got. Leave to simmer gently for three hours. No, really.
Stir occasionally and finally add some dried oregano, if you feel like it.

Now for a major revalation: originally Bolognese is supposed to be eaten with fresh tagliatelle, not spaghetti. I know! End of the world, right? But it actually makes sense; this is such a thick, strong, dense sauce that only the broad strands of tagliatelle can really stand up to it. Now, the pasta doesn't necessarily need to be made fresh, I'm a great fan of dried pasta and could not imagine my life without it. But just do me a favour and use tagliatelle. It may sound wrong, but it's oh so very right.

Insert joke about getting caught in the rain [ here ]

Piña Colada Cake

Whisk together 250 gr of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon bicarb and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
In another bowl cream 115 gr of soft butter with 55 gr of light brown sugar. When pale and fluffy, beat in two eggs, one at a time. Add 240 ml cream of coconut (which is different from coconut milk!) and a generous tablespoon of dark rum.
Whisk in the dry ingredients (gradually) and stop whisking as soon as the flour is incorporated. Using a spatula, stir in 90 gr of finely chopped fresh pineapple. Spread batter evenly in a prepared 24 cm spring form and bake for 35 - 40 minutes in a 180 C oven, until a skewer (use a piece of uncooked spaghetti!) inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Let it cool, then using that same piece of spaghetti, prick little holes in the cake and drizzle over some more (a tablespoon or two) pineapple juice, or rum... or both.

Make some icing by whisking together 100 gr of icing sugar with a pinch of salt and 2 tablespoons of pineapple juice and spread this over the cake. Allow the icing to set, if you can, and consume with inappropriate relish. This really is something else.