delightful take on Italian farmhouse cooking. This Penne Alla Carbonara recipe is one of our favourites.Penne Alla CarbonaraServes 6For us, the two most important ingredients are excellent free-range eggs and good quality pancetta.Ingredients200g (7oz

Serves 4 (makes about 8 pancakes)Two of your five a dayYou can make US-style pancakes without eggs by using coconut milk instead, but they’re not as light and fluffy as these ones. The milk typically called for in pancake recipes, however, can

to make all the meatballs the same size, so that they will cook evenly in the pan. Rigatoni is a tube-shaped pasta with ridges around the outside, but you could use penne, fusilli or any other short types of pasta for this recipe if you prefer

The Moomins Cook Book by Tove Jansson and Sami Malila (SelfMadeHero, £12.99) is a beautifully illustrated introduction to Finnish cuisine.PancakesMakes 14 pancakesIngredients80g (3oz) wheat flour20g (3/4oz) barley flour 500ml (18fl oz) milk1/2 tsp

This recipe is called 'Inca’s Delight'because it uses the grain quinoa, which the Incas once grew high up in the Andes. Freshen it up by adding toasted sesame seeds, half a tin of chickpeas or chopped herbs, like fresh mint, before serving.Serves 2

Supper For A Song by Tamasin Day-Lewis (Quadrille, £20) has lots of recipes that can be rustled up with little effort and these stuffed peppers with a Middle Eastern twist are our favourite. I cooked these in Ireland in the summer and I’m still

an eye on the sauce and give it a good stir every few minutes. Put a large pan of salted water onto the stove to boil then add the macaroni and cook until just tender. Drain well.Reserve about a third of the cheese, then remove the sauce from the heat

, you’ve made pesto! 4. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the linguine according to the packet instructions. If your child is doing this, you will need to help him drain the linguine and tip it back into the empty pan. Add the pesto

on top of each cupcake. Tint 3 tsp of the frosting black and pipe eyes on the ghosts. Finally, sprinkle with edible glitter.Adapted from Halloween Treats by Annie Rigg (£9.99, Ryland Peters & Small)More spooky recipes...Pumpkin whoopie piesSwampy slimy

at different depths and refrigerate again until the jelly is completely set.Serve with a few extra creepy-crawly sweets scattered around the jars.Adapted from Halloween Treats by Annie Rigg (£9.99, Ryland Peters & Small)More spooky recipes...Pumpkin whoopie