Nima Safaei's first Italian recipe book begins with four techniques rather than four recipes. Before any of the forty seasonal dishes appear, At Home with Nima sets out how to make the pasta dough, the ciabatta, the focaccia, and the classic tomato sauce, the four foundations the rest of the book leans on. Those same four foundations sit behind almost every plate at 27 Old Compton Street.
The fresh pasta chapter
Nima's fresh pasta recipe is built for the home cook, with 250g of flour, three eggs, a pinch of sea salt, and a method that works with either a pasta machine or a rolling pin. Throughout, the emphasis is on feel rather than precision, with adjustments for flour or water guided by how the dough looks and behaves. It is the same dough we shape behind the counter at 27 every morning, before being cut to suit the day's menu.
The pasta recipes in the book
At Home with Nima holds seven pasta recipes spread across the seasons, covering ribbons, ravioli, mafalda, and two lasagnes. They are the Pasta alla Negroni and Nima's Vegetarian Lasagne, a Ham and Artichoke Lasagne built for autumn, a Pear, Blue Cheese and Walnut Pasta, a Smoked salmon and dill ravioli with tomato, cream and vodka sauce, a Venison Mafalda with black truffle, and a Crab Linguine for spring.
A few more of the dishes you'll cook from it:
Risotto alla Milanese, the classic saffron risotto
Torta di Mele, a simple Italian apple cake
Panzanella, the Tuscan bread salad for summer
Panettone Bread & Butter Pudding for the festive table
Italian cocktails, including the Italian Mule and the Elderflower Spritz
What's on our menu, also in the book
The Conchiglie Octopus Ragu we serve at 27 is the dish that planted the seed for the restaurant in the first place. Nima ordered it at a Roman tavola calda (a counter where fresh pasta is made and served quickly), and that meal became the blueprint for what 27 would become a few years later. The full origin story sits in the book's introduction.
Our Mafalda Beef Ragu, fresh on the 27 pasta menu, has its book equivalent in Nima's Venison Mafalda with Black Truffle, with both built on the same long, flat pasta cut and slow-cooked ragu treatment.
The Sweet Gnocchi filled with Pistachio Paste, one of the desserts at 27, shares its main flavour with the book's Pistachio Tiramisu, a recipe Nima publishes here for the first time.
Get your copy
At Home with Nima is on sale now, available at 27 Old Compton Street or to order online.