Happy National Linguine Day! My favorite way to enjoy this cut of pasta by far has got to be Binging with Babish’s Pasta Aglio e Olio inspired by Chef. It is so gratifyingly moreish yet so unbelievably no frills in its preparation, few rival this pasta dish in its elegant simplicity and repeatability in Soot’s Cook Nook. Buon appetito!

pine mushroom, parmesan & sage

I rarely enjoy pastas at restaurants but damn, this one was good.

A Sicilian-style pesto that surprised me with its depth despite the simplicity of its preparation. Roasted peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, pecorino, garlic, pine nuts, and good olive oil meld into a sauce greater than the sum of its sweet, savory, and nutty parts. A fitting bowl to celebrate World Pasta Day.

BRIEF: “Funghi porcini, pancetta, aglio, panna, peperoncino, pomodoro.” SOOT’S TAKE: Tastes like something I’d be able to reproduce in the kitchen. Reminds me of similar Italian-American pasta dishes I’ve had.

Tagliatelle with Porcini Mushroom and White Truffle Cream

It’s got everything I love (principally, the corn which I made a sort of mirepoix with and puréed and with which I made a stock of with the cobs and cooked the pasta in). And there’s no cream!

I had to attempt this after watching the first episode of “Fermat’s Cuisine” in which the protagonist unwittingly impresses a renowned chef with his rendition of the dish at his school’s dining hall and @justonecookbook’s recipe did not disappoint! It brought back a kind of unexplained nostalgia despite my never having had one at a kissaten or my lack of Japanese credentials. At any rate, everyone devoured these noodles with gusto. Happy National Eat Your Noodles Day.

BRIEF: “Indulge in a mouthwatering plate of egg tagliatelle crowned with Parmesan and wood-fired smoked beef (Daging Salai). With a hint of smoky flavor and a creamy texture, this pasta dish is an absolute feast for the senses.” SOOT’S TAKE: One of a few dishes on their menu showcasing Pahang fusion cuisine, with the use of local ingredients, this carbonara pays homage to a certain Ms. Elliot, one of Dato Lim Hoe Lek’s (a prominent businessman and major contributor to Kuantan’s development) western business partners. Ms. Elliot apparently was a foodie and “always keen to try out delicacies from local communities whenever she visited Kuantan. One of her favourite ingredients was local daging salai (smoked beef), which she fused with the key ingredient of another dish that was very popular in the UK during the 1970s - spaghetti carbonara.” Well, Ms. Elliot certainly nailed it with this creation. Smoke and carbonara are a match made in heaven.

Celebrating spaghetti with a full-bodied yet citrusy take on aglio e olio. Lemon lightens and brightens, which is all I need in my life now!

The perfect dish to indulge my fatty, carby, salty fantasies in these dark moments. I don’t care that I had to go to the cheese shop for Aged Asiago or that I had to make ricotta from scratch. Thankfully, I had the other 3 cheeses on hand; also thanks to Todd Wilbur for cracking the recipe and to the server and chef at Todd’s local OG for the cheese intel!

BRIEF: “Beef, sous-vide egg, carrot, celery, tomatoes, onions parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, al dente spaghetti.” SOOT’S TAKE: This was all I felt like eating after today’s fishy lunch. I’m so glad it was available within walking distance and it was perfect.

EZPZ hot weather lunch with Calabrian chile paste to spice things up just a tad. The only stovetop work involved was cooking the pasta. 🙌

My current go-to method for a relatively fuss-free pasta dish using cherry tomatoes, zhuzhed up this time with some Burrata.

BRIEF: “Egg yolk | Parmesan cheese | Smoked duck | Al dente spaghetti” SOOT’S TAKE: The spaghetti was cooked to perfection. 👍

Happy National Eat Your Noodles Day! Is there a better excuse to get rid of that opened bag of bucatini and bacon you haven’t really had occasion to use otherwise? Love the crispy bacon and shrooms in garlic herb cream sauce combo!

BRIEF: “Chicken tenders tossed in a creamy pesto and chilli Padi Alfredo sauce. Its hot!” SOOT’S TAKE: Scrumptious! I would return for this.

Fancy-tasting, umami-packed pasta on the relative cheap made possible with a light, creamy duxelles-based sauce of white buttons and (just a quarter ounce of) dried porcini. Then to top it off, a crisp topping of maitakes seared in extra-virgin olive oil. Genius. I think we did good here!

Commemorating National Spaghetti Day with what may be my favorite spaghetti dish of all. It is remarkably simple yet deliciously indulgent in the way comfort food can be. It is also reminiscent of the first pasta dish I ever had at an Italian-Japanese restaurant in the Roppongi area of Tokyo that one night my mom and I had to lay over unexpectedly on the way to Boston so many, many, many moons ago. I am so glad to have found this recipe from because I think of that pasta dish often and this brings back warm and fuzzy memories of gentler times.

A riff on French onion soup but make it extra rich with a heavy cream- and gruyere-based sauce, creamy burrata, crispy prosciutto and a pound of pasta thrown in for good measure. May the heart and pancreas have mercy upon yours truly.

Simple and yummy solution to a hungry tummy.

BRIEF: “Australian grass fed minced beef, carrot, onion, celery, pomodoro, parmesan cheese.” SOOT’S TAKE: Worth a repeat.

Fusilli Corti Bucati tossed in a deliciously creamy cherry tomato vodka sauce. Another one pot wonder that’s up there among my “definitely gonna repeat!” list. Yummo! 😋

BRIEF: “Round shaped semolina pasta cooked in a creamy bisque broth, prawns, zucchini, confit peppers.” SOOT’S TAKE: I really enjoyed the pasta, more so than I did the prawns (even though those were also well done).

Happy National Fettuccine Day! “Delicious and deeply satisfying” is right. Apparently, Jackie O. was a fan and I am too! 🕶️

Happy National Pumpkin Day & day after World Pasta Day, except all I’m seeing is the Flying Spaghetti Monster. I love every element in this pumpkin-y pasta, from the chew of the bucatini to the flavorful, fall-forward sauce and breadcrumbs. Thank goodness I made a substantial batch coz I’m now sick with a respiratory bug.

It’s World Pasta Day! This one consists of tagliatelle and just 3 other ingredients (minus S&P). Buon appetito! 👅

Happy National Pasta Day and happy National Pumpkin Month! We can quibble over the semantics of categorizing 2 types of winter squash, but ya know what? If they’ve called it a butternut pumpkin since god knows when, it’s a goddamn pumpkin to me! 😁 So there, a cozy, satisfying meal to satisfy the fall nut in me. 😌

Had leftover passata in the fridge + it seemed appropriate with an episode of “Billions.” Buon appetito, amici!

Quick, easy and delicious.