Maker hopes solein, protein grown with CO2 and electricity, will cut environmental impact of farming

Nothing appears remarkable about a dish of fresh ravioli made with solein. It looks and tastes the same as normal pasta.

But the origins of the proteins which give it its full-bodied flavour are extraordinary: they come from Europe’s first factory dedicated to making human food from electricity and air.

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A margarita using both mezcal and tequila, with a hint of sweet almond for added depth

This take on the margarita uses both tequila and mezcal , with orgeat for a little balancing sweetness. It’s relatively straightforward, but complex in both execution and taste. When we came up with the idea, we applied the same principles as those we have in the kitchen, using only a few ingredients and letting the produce shine. We serve this straight up, but it’s also enjoyable over ice.

Chef Yahir Gonzalez and the bar team, Zapote , London EC2

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Meatable hopes its cultivated sausages will satisfy the world’s appetite for meat without harming animals or the planet

Even before I see the sausages, I am greeted by their rich, meaty aroma. Sizzling in a pan of foaming margarine, they look like regular chipolatas being fried up for a Sunday breakfast, their pink-grey exteriors slowly turning a rich caramel brown.

Consisting of 28% pork fat, bulked out with textured pea, chickpea, soy and wheat protein, these mini bratwursts would happily sit inside a hotdog or next to a plate of mashed potato. But these are no standard bangers.

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Zany caper follows Jo Hartley as a big-veg enthusiast defending her patch from elaborate ill-doings

Chaos reigns in this strange, funny and amiably anarchic mockumentary about dirty tricks in the cutthroat world of competitive marrow-growing, written and co-directed by film-maker Brook Driver. Maybe the script could have gone through another couple of drafts, but that might have removed some of the flavour. As it is, it feels like Thomas Pynchon had emailed Ricky Gervais an idea he’d had for a British comedy, and the result certainly has some laughs.

Jo Hartley (a stalwart of Shane Meadows’s movies Dead Man’s Shoes and This Is England) is Caroline, a marrow-grower and a divorcee who pretends her ex-husband is dead and is now in a kind of NSA relationship with her needy neighbour Willy (Celyn Jones); they are both mates with conspiracy theorist and fanatically competitive prize-veg enthusiast Paul (Richard Lumsden). When Caroline’s marrow is disqualified one year for having a hairline crack and then her other marrow (called Ricky Hatton because it’s such a fighter) is stolen from her garden greenhouse by masked raiders, Caroline sets out on a desperately dangerous quest to find what on earth is happening. But this involves hiring a supremely louche pair of private detectives: Louise (Aisling Bea) and Lawrence (Ray Fearon) a married couple who also run swinging parties that Caroline has attended.

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When you’re hankering after something starchy and satisfying, this soupy spring rice delight will definitely please the tastebuds

I don’t know whether I prefer saying risi e bisi or eating this Venetian springtime speciality, which is traditionally made to celebrate the feast of St Mark, the city’s patron saint, on 25 April. That said, this deliciously soupy, starchy dish ticks a lot of boxes for me at this time of year, not least because even I can amuse myself in a terrible Italian accent for only so long.

Prep 15 min
Cook 1 hr
Serves 4

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Celebrate the freshness of a new season with ricotta gnocchi with raw pea pesto, fennel sausage penne and broccoli orecchiette

Prep 20 min
Cook 1 hr 25 min
Serves 4

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Elizabeth Quinn raids her cutlery drawer for the indispensable – but underrated – utensils that make cooking a breeze

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Most of us have our go-to kitchen gadgets: the occasionally battered tools with the familiar feel that give us the confidence we might otherwise lack. My choux pastry never quite reached the same glossy consistency without the ancient enamel saucepan and “special” wooden spoon combination I had used over 20 years of making croquembouches.

The kitchen utensils we automatically reach for are as idiosyncratic as our thumbprints. A friend once gave me a replacement for my beloved old choux pastry spoon: an “indispensable” alternative stirring implement known as a spurtle. I kept my old spoon and used the spurtle to prop open the door.

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Soups and stews are what the rice-shaped pasta was made for, but it also works in salads and even some sweet dishes

What’s the best way to cook orzo?
“Orzo reminds me of being a child,” says Jacob Kenedy, chef/owner of Bocca di Lupo in London. “It’s very comforting, and you can eat it with a spoon.” It is perhaps first worth noting that in Italy the word orzo literally means “‘barley”, and the pasta we know as orzo more often goes by the name rosmarino (due to its likeness to a rosemary needle) or risoni (big rice). Here, we’re talking the pasta, which Kenedy uses as a substitute for both barley and rice, and says is particularly suited to soups and broths. For the latter, Feast’s Italian correspondent Rachel Roddy would look to Naples and a “really tasty, brothy soup with tomatoes and basil”. Gently sizzle some garlic in olive oil, then add tomatoes (“crush them with your hands”), basil and salt. Pour in water, add orzo and simmer until the pasta is soft. “Then plenty of cheese and pepper at the end, and you get this nice, thick soup.”

Orzo can also be treated like pilaf, which for Kenedy means melting a bit of butter, frying the pasta for a second, then adding “just the right amount of stock [chicken or fish] for it to absorb. That works really well.”

Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com

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A particularly bright and zingy way with roast veg for spring

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Remove the stems from 2 large aubergines or 3 medium ones (about 600g total in weight), then cut each one in half, then in half again and then into short lengths (about 4-5cm). Put the aubergine wedges in a roasting tin with 125ml of olive oil , then roast for 30 minutes or until golden on the underside. Turn them, pour in 100ml of water and return to the oven for about 20 minutes until soft and golden.

Meanwhile, cut a 250g piece of cucumber in half lengthways, scoop out the seeds and the wet central core with a teaspoon and discard them, then cut the flesh into small dice and put into a mixing bowl.

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