Ivano Ricchebono stays with Antonella Clerici and cooks penne alla Portofino, the recipe

A new menu and new recipes. It's always noon today, September 21, 2026. It's time for Ivano Ricchebono and his recipe for penne alla Portofino. We may be at the end of summer, and we can't stand this heat anymore, but the Genoese chef continues to work undaunted. But wasn't Ivano Ricchebono too busy to be at It's always noon? He must have changed his mind, and we're discovering the recipe for penne alla Portofino with him, the Ligurian dish we have to try.

Today's dessert by Daniele Persegani, the Improta tuna meatballs, Ivano Ricchebono's recipe and all the delicious ideas from Fulvio Marino to others, an episode to discover together and now let's discover today's pasta by the Genoese chef >>>> Fulvio Marino reveals the recipe for the soft Margherita pizza in a pan.

Ivano Ricchebono's recipe for penne alla Portofino

Ingredients for Ivano Ricchebono's pesto and cheese penne.

• 300 g penne, 300 g cherry tomatoes, 100 g stracciatella or burrata, 1 bunch of basil, 200 g grated cheese, 50 g pecorino, 20 g pine nuts, 1 clove of garlic, 100 ml extra virgin olive oil, coarse salt, fresh basil

Add oil, garlic, basil, and cherry tomatoes and cook for about 15 minutes, not too long. Then strain and pour into a large pan. Make the pesto using a mortar and pestle: crush pine nuts, garlic, and coarse salt, then add the fresh basil leaves. Crush them, but not too much. Add the grated cheese, stir, and then add the oil.

Cook the penne in boiling salted water. Drain the pasta and pour it into the pan with the prepared sauce. Add the grated cheese, toss, and add the fresh basil leaves, tossing well.

We serve, finishing the dish with pesto and stracciatella or burrata. We have a delicious first course, a pasta dish we can make right away and often. Antonella Clerici already knows she'll steal this recipe; she thinks it's perfect, tasty, quick, and easy. Everyone else teases Ivano a little, always with lots of affection, but laughingly tells him he doesn't have a great personality, that he always serves his beloved pesto, and that he never leaves his mortar and pestle at home.

The grated cheese suggested instead of pecorino is some good Parmigiano Reggiano, as for the rest, Ricchebono doesn't like his recipes to be changed, and we must say that in this edition of E' sempre mezzogiorno his dishes are much more delicious.