To make your napoli sauce, start with plenty of olive oil in a deep-sided heavy pan. Gently cook 5 large sliced onions until rich, sweet and brown. Add 10 crushed garlic cloves and cook for a couple of minutes until fragrant, but not catching or browned, then add 5 cans of tomatoes. Simmer for at least 30 minutes; it’s ready when oil is separating around the edges of the sauce. Cool, then split into portions to store in the freezer, to use later in these sure-fire winners:

Pasta recipe

Napoli is an ideal base for spaghetti amatriciana, with fried bacon, speck or torn pancetta; arrabiata with bucatini, diced, deseeded long red chillies and chilli flakes; or Sicilian Norma with a hint of chilli and chunks of roast eggplant, and Sicilian pasta like casarecce or rigatoni. Top a Norma with shaved salted ricotta (or fold in fresh ricotta).

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Daube of beef recipe

Toss chuck steak cubes in seasoned flour, then brown. Deglaze the pan with lots of red wine. Add chunks of carrot, a couple of cloves in a strip of orange peel and chopped parsley stems. Add napoli and beef stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce, cover and let bubble for a couple of hours, adding stock if it dries out. Add a squeeze of orange juice. Serve on buttered egg noodles or mash, with orange zest and chopped parsley leaves.

Chicken cacciatore recipe

Cook browned chicken thighs or marylands in napoli with green olives and, if you have any, oregano, rosemary or a bay leaf. Braise skinless chicken on the stove, covered in napoli; or make skin-on chook snug in a baking dish, skin-side up, and pour in napoli, leaving the skin clean so it crisps up, and roast in the oven until the sauce thickens and chook falls off the bone. Garnish with parsley.

Paprikash recipe

To make this delicious Hungarian dish, brown chicken, pork or mushrooms in butter and olive oil, then stir in too many chopped red capsicums and a hit of paprika. Add the napoli and some stock, and simmer until the meat is soft. To finish, mix sour cream or cream fraiche in a 4:1 ratio with flour. Stir into paprikash and cook for a few minutes to thicken. Serve authentically with nokedli or spaetzle, or gnocchi – but don’t stress; any pasta will do.

Student curry recipe

Fry more grated ginger and garlic than seems necessary slowly, until they tan up. Add cumin powder, garam masala (or curry powder), ground turmeric and coriander, and napoli to a deep pan. Add chickpeas and cook for 15 minutes. Add a few handfuls of spinach; it’s ready when the spinach wilts. Add green chilli or chilli powder for heat, yoghurt or coconut milk for creaminess, and tofu or chook for protein. Serve with rice or naan, and chopped coriander.

Baked fish puttanesca recipe

My fish puttanesca recipe features diced fennel, capers, black olives, parsley and anchovies, cooked in napoli sauce. Pour into a baking dish, nestle in some white fish fillets and cook in a pre-warmed oven for 10 minutes. Taste and season with lemon juice and salt.

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