The most over-the-top Italian recipes in London – and how to cook them at home

There are restaurant dishes you order because you’re hungry and dishes you order because you want to feel big, silly pleasure. Nostalgia. A bit of theatre.

The Big Mamma restaurant group has always understood the second category far better than most. Long before “viral” became a strategy, its plates were built for spectacle – towering, molten, shaved, poured, torched – and for the kind of indulgence that feels faintly rebellious in a dining culture increasingly obsessed with restraint.

That instinct landed in London seven years ago with Gloria, the group’s first UK opening, and it hasn’t really let up since. In a city now full of small plates and small ambitions, Big Mamma’s food remains proudly excessive: pasta served from absurdly large wheels of cheese, lasagne stacked so high it borders on architectural, desserts that arrive looking like props from a cartoon. It’s maximalsim as comfort food; reassuringly unfashionable, and all the better for it.

The return of the legendary 10-layer lasagne – back on menus from 1-28 February – feels like a neat excuse to revisit the dishes that defined that early moment, and which readers still ask about now. Not because they’re clever or restrained, but because they’re deeply satisfying. This is food designed to be shared, photographed, argued over and remembered long after the plate’s been cleared.

The recipes here capture that spirit at home: unapologetically rich, technically reassuring rather than showy, and built around pleasure first. You don’t cook these on a Tuesday night to be virtuous. You cook them because sometimes what you want is abundance, drama and a reminder that dinner can still be a bit ridiculous, in the best possible way.

Serves: 4–6

Ingredients:

For the ragu:

1kg minced pork

1kg minced beef

500g minced veal

5 tbsp olive oil

1 brown onion, finely chopped

3 celery sticks, finely diced

1 carrot, finely sliced

100ml red wine

1.5L tomato passata (or tomato sauce – see recipe below)

2 sprigs rosemary

1 small bunch sage leaves

A few bay leaves (for garnish)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the bechamel sauce:

100g unsalted butter

100g plain flour (preferably Italian ‘00’)

1.5L whole milk, hot

1 tbsp freshly grated nutmeg

To assemble:

1kg fresh pasta dough or fresh lasagna sheets

200g parmesan, finely grated

Method:

Make the ragu:

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the minced meat and brown well for about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

2. In a large heavy-based pan, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the onion and cook gently for 5 minutes until softened.

3. Add the celery and carrot and cook for a further 8 minutes until fragrant and beginning to soften.

4. Return the meat to the pan and mix well. Increase the heat, add the red wine and cook for about 5 minutes until completely reduced.

5. Stir in the tomato passata. Season well with salt and pepper. Add the rosemary sprigs and sage leaves.

6. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Remove and discard the rosemary and sage before assembling.

Make the bechamel:

7. Melt the butter gently in a saucepan over low heat. Add the flour and stir to form a smooth roux.

8. Gradually add the hot milk, whisking continuously to prevent lumps.

9. Add the nutmeg and cook gently for about 15 minutes, stirring constantly, until thick and glossy. Set aside.

Assemble and bake:

10. Preheat the oven to 150C (fan 130C)/gas mark 2.

11. If using fresh pasta dough, roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about 1 mm thick and cut into sheets to fit your ovenproof dish.

12. Spoon a layer of ragu over the base of the dish. Add a layer of pasta, followed by more ragù, then a layer of bechamel. Sprinkle with parmesan.

13. Repeat this layering process until you have built 10 layers, finishing with bechamel and parmesan on top. Reserve about 8 tablespoons of bechamel for serving.

14. Bake for 45 minutes, until bubbling and lightly golden.

15. Rest for 10 minutes before serving. Plate individually, topping each portion with a spoonful of reserved béchamel and garnish with bay leaves.

Ingredients:

3-4 tbsp olive oil

250g small fresh tomatoes (datterini or cherry), halved

500g canned peeled tomatoes (eg San Marzano)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based pan over medium heat. Add the fresh tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes, crushing a few with the back of a spoon to release their juices.

2. Purée the canned tomatoes using a hand blender and add to the pan.

3. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer gently for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

4. For a thicker sauce, continue cooking for up to a further 1 hour. Adjust seasoning before using.

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Serves: 2

Ingredients:

400g mafaldine, linguine or tagliatelle

70g parmesan

20g butter

2 tbsps of truffle oil

½ shallot

20g autumn black truffle

200g button mushrooms

30ml white wine

80g mascarpone

Method:

For the truffle cream:

1. Melt the butter with the truffle oil in a frying pan. Add the shallot and half of the finely chopped truffle, then the minced/chopped mushrooms. Let it brown for a few minutes, then deglaze with white wine, stirring well with a wooden spoon. Let it simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes, and then stir.

For the pasta:

2. In another saucepan, cook your pasta in boiling salted water, until it’s a little less than al dente. Mix the mascarpone with the truffle cream in another saucepan and heat gently. Add the pasta, grated parmesan and a little bit of cooking water, if necessary. Serve immediately, garnishing with fine slithers of the remaining truffle (you can use a peeler for this).

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Prep time: 20 minutes | Cook time: 15 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

3 whole eggs and 6 egg yolks

90g/3 oz (1 cup) grated pecorino cheese

90g/3 oz (1 cup) grated parmesan cheese

1 tsp pepper

400g/14 oz spaghetti

8 slices of guanciale (cured pork cheek/jowl), finely sliced

Method:

1. In a bowl, mix the whole eggs and egg yolks with the pecorino, parmesan and pepper. Set aside.

2. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the spaghetti according to the package directions, then drain, reserving the cooking water.

3. In the meantime, add the guanciale slices to a dry frying pan (skillet) over a medium heat and sear for 5 minutes, or until crispy. Add 1 tablespoon of the pasta cooking water, followed by the spaghetti.

4. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the egg mixture and mix briskly. The eggs should not cook too much and the consistency of the sauce should be creamy.

5. Transfer to a large serving dish and serve immediately.

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Serves: 6

Prep time: 25 minutes | Chill time: overnight | Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

For the pastry (pie dough):

90g/3¼ oz (6 tbsp) unsalted butter

20g/¾ oz (scant 3½ tbsp) ground almonds (almond meal)

50g/1¾ oz (generous ⅓ cup) icing (confectioners’) sugar

2 large (US extra large) eggs

150g/5oz (1¼ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour

½ teaspoon salt

For the lemon custard:

1 leaf (sheet) gelatine

3 unwaxed lemons

3 eggs

70g/2½oz (⅓ cup) caster (superfine) sugar

140g/5oz (1¼ sticks) unsalted butter

For the Italian meringue:

230g/8oz (scant 1¼ cups) caster (superfine) sugar

2 tbsp water

Juice of 1 lemon

4 egg whites

Method:

1. Make the pastry. In a bowl, soften the butter with a spatula. In a mixer with a paddle (flat beater) attachment, beat the softened butter, ground almonds (almond meal) and icing (confectioners’) sugar until smooth. Then add the eggs, one at a time, while beating. Incorporate the flour and salt. Mix the pastry dough until crumbly. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in clingfilm (plastic wrap) and rest overnight in the refrigerator.

2. Make the lemon custard. Soften the gelatine in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes. Zest two of the lemons and squeeze all three. In a bowl, beat the eggs with a fork. Combine the lemon juice, sugar and butter in a pan and bring to the boil. Gradually add the eggs, incorporating with a whisk. Cook over a low heat until the mixture comes to a gentle boil. Pour the mixture into a bowl. Squeeze the gelatine and incorporate. Add the lemon zest. Use an immersion blender to mix well. Put into an airtight container and rest overnight in the refrigerator.

3. Preheat the oven to 175C/350F/gas mark 4). Roll out the pastry dough into a 6mm/¼in-thick disc. Grease a tart pan with butter and line with the pastry. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.

4. Make the Italian meringue. Dissolve the sugar into 2 tablespoons of water and the lemon juice in a pan over a low heat. Bring to the boil and cook until the mixture reads 120C/250F on a cooking thermometer. If you don’t have a cooking thermometer, put a little of the syrup in a spoon and let one drop fall into a glass of cold water. If it forms a small, soft ball, the syrup is ready. In a grease-free bowl, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks. Pour the syrup in a thin stream into the meringue while whisking until the mixture cools.

5. Fill the pastry case (shell) with the lemon custard. Use a plastic spatula to cover the tart with meringue, creating a dome in the centre. Caramelise with a chef's blowtorch. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour before serving.

Recipes from www.bigmammagroup.com