This post is written using material leftover from a piece I am writing for the Yorkshire Post about Gennaro Contaldo who I met today at Jamie's in Leeds where he was promoting his new book Let's Cook Italian. It's a lovely book and you can read more about this when the article is published.

But for now what I really want to say is a very big thank you to Gennaro for showing me his way of making the silkiest, most tender tagliatelle I have ever tasted. Of course no pasta is complete without a sauce of some kind, however simple, and Gennaro excelled by showing me four. All were delicious.

I am going to talk you through the one shown above - tagliatelle with wild mushrooms, tomatoes and mussels. So if you have not thought about anything special to eat this weekend you might like to give this a try. October is a good month for fresh mussels and you just need a few for this stunning dish. This recipe is enough for two people and you can increase or decrease the ingredients a little according to what you have available. This is very much the Italian way of cooking.

Perhaps I should also point out that the chefs at Jamie's 'prep up' a palette of Italian ingredients including olives, capers, anchovies, freshly grated Parmesan cheese so that sauces can be made quickly and intuitively. So here is the list of ingredients and approximate quantities which you can adjust according to your preference.

How to make Gennaro's tagliatelle with wild mushrooms

Serves 2

2 tbsp olive oil

1 shallot, finely chopped

30g pancetta, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

12 cherry tomatoes cut in half

1/2 long red chilli, finely chopped

75ml dry white wine

100ml weak vegetable stock

100ml passata

150g wild mushrooms, cleaned (roughly chop the larger ones)

1 tbsp capers

2 tbsp black olives

4 to 6 mussels per person

1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

100g fresh tagliatelle person

Start by cooking a finely chopped shallot, 30g or so of pancetta and garlic in a little olive oil until soft and just turning golden. Add a few chopped cherry tomatoes, a touch of chopped red chilli and continue to cook. Add a splash of dry white wine, a ladle of hot, weak flavoured vegetable stock and the passata. Allow the sauce to bubble vigorously. Add a selection of cleaned wild mushrooms and a few capers and black olives. Allow the sauce to cook for a further two to three minutes and then add a a handful of cleaned mussels per person and a couple of tablespoons of chopped parsley. The mussels will be closed as you put them in the sauce and open as they cook. Taste the sauce and season with freshly ground black pepper and a little sea salt if it needs it.

Meanwhile cook 100g of fresh tagliatelle person. For 100g of pasta you will need 1 litre of boiling water and 30g salt. This sounds like a lot of salt but I am under strict instructions from Gennaro on this. "Not all of the salt is taken up by the pasta" he reassures me and when we come to taste it he is right. Fresh tagliatelle will only take three or four minutes to cook. When the pasta is cooked, drain and place in shallow bowls and top with the sauce.

Tomorrow I will write up my pasta lesson with Gennaro. The pasta is to die for.