Italian
Silvia’s Masterclass
Ingredients
For the Neapolitan-style pizza dough
400gr rigatoni
200g freshly grated Pecorino Romano
freshly ground black pepper
salt for seasoning
Method
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil
Add the pasta to the boiling water, keeping an eye on the time and cooking the pasta 2-3 minutes less than the desired cooking time.
While the pasta is cooking, place a large frying pan on the stove over medium heat with a generous amount of freshly ground pepper, and toast it for a few minutes until fragrant. Add a ladleful of pasta cooking water to the pan and bubble away for a few minutes.
Place the grated pecorino onto a bowl and add 1/2 a ladleful of pasta cooking water. Mix to form a thick paste.
Once the pasta has approx. 3 minutes left to cook, use a slotted spoon of the rigatoni and add it to your frying pan along with one ladleful of pasta cooking water. Mix as it keeps cooking for a few extra minutes, adding a little more pasta cooking water if it’s drying out too much.
Turn the heat off, and add the pecorino paste to the pan.
Keep mixing and tossing to allow the cheese to melt into the pasta cooking water and turn into a velvety cream.
Serve immediately with an extra dusting of freshly ground black pepper and pecorino cheese.
Silvia Colloca
Silvia Colloca is an Italian-born food writer, opera singer, TV producer and host. She has authored seven cookbooks, including Silvia’s Cucina, Made in Italy, La Dolce Vita, Love, Laugh, Bake!, Simple Italian (2024), and The Italian Homecook (2025), all published by Penguin.
Silvia’s most recent television work is Silvia’s Italian Masterclass (Channel 10), with its latest season airing in October 2025. The series is currently funding for Season 4. She has also appeared as a special guest on SBS’s Mastermind in 2025. Her earlier TV credits include the SBS Food series Cook Like an Italian, which has screened internationally across three seasons, as well as Made in Italy with Silvia Colloca (SBS), filmed on location in the Le Marche and Abruzzo regions and earning her a 2015 TV WEEK Logie Award nomination for Best New Talent. She also co-wrote, co-produced and hosted the ABC prime-time series Silvia’s Italian Table in 2016.
Outside of food and television, Silvia has enjoyed a career as a celebrated opera singer and actress. In 2022, she released her debut solo classical album with Universal Music, which topped the Classical Charts for over 20 weeks. That same year, she performed with Andrea Bocelli at his Sydney concert, a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Inspiration Starts Here
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