London’s love affair with fresh pasta is showing little sign of waning. From pici cacio e pepe at Padella to oxtail ravioli at Pophams and carbonara bucatini at Pastaio, every week sees a new bowl of delicious carb-filled comfort food appearing all over Instagram. Whether it’s down to a backlash against years of demonising carbohydrates, or a need for comfort food during chaotic political times, there’s never been a better time to eat pasta in the English capital. The latest restaurant to join the ranks is Officina 00, a laid-back spot in Shoreditch serving a concise menu of small plates and handmade fresh spaghetti, cavaletti and linguine, with a focus on regional Italian dishes given a modern update.

“There’s definitely been an explosion of pasta restaurants over the past two years,” says executive chef Mr Elia Sebregondi, who co-founded Officina 00 alongside director Mr Enzo Mirto after the pair met working in Kiln, the much-loved Northern Thai-influenced restaurant in Soho. “We think people were always in love with carbs, but these days, they understand they’re not junk food – so they appreciate them more.

“We base everything at Officina 00 on five core values,” Mr Sebregondi continues. “Quality, passion, dedication, respect, and flexibility.” The approach is writ large in the “pasta lab”, an open workspace at the front of the restaurant, where golden-hued nests of tagliatelle, perfect disc-shaped ravioli and fat worms of pici are lovingly made throughout the day. “The idea is to incorporate the ingredients and methods we use into the guests’ experience of visiting the restaurant,” says Mr Sebregondi.

As well as the craftsmanship that goes into making the pasta itself, the meticulous sourcing of the finest ingredients – from burrata to summer truffles – sets the dishes at Officina 00 apart. “We always look for the best quality produce,” says Mr Sebregondi. “We trace every step the products make before they enter our kitchen.”

The dish that’s been garnering some serious Insta-fame since Officina 00 opened earlier this autumn is the pumpkin gnocchi. “We wanted to put a lighter version of gnocchi on the menu by reducing the amount of starch in the dough. The seasonal pumpkin is very important, and balances well with the brown butter, sage, and gorgonzola,” says Mr Sebregondi. “It all makes for the perfect autumn flavour.” At a time of year when the weather turns colder and we need sustenance to fuel us through party season, it seems particularly fitting.

To recreate the gnocchi at home, says Mr Sebregondi, “work the dough while it’s still warm, reduce the flour as much as you can, use a piping bag to shape the dough – and do it all at a fast and furious pace,” he says. Try it yourself with the recipe below, and enjoy alongside Mr Sebregodi’s recommendation, Donnafugata Nero D’avola DOC, a velvet-smooth Sicilian red.

• 500g delicia pumpkin
• 50g coarse sea salt
• 400g red skinned potatoes
• 140g 00 pasta flour
• 5g table salt
• 20g parmigiano reggiano, grated
• 1 egg yolk
• A knob of butter
• 5-6 sage leaves
• A handful of gorgonzola, crumbled, to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC (fan). Lay the pumpkins and potatoes on a baking tray covered in a layer of coarse sea salt and bake for around 40-50 minutes, until cooked through.
2. Place in a large mixing bowl, discarding the skin, and smash into a purée with the flour, table salt, parmesan and egg yolk.
3. Scoop into a medium-sized piping bag and pipe long sausage shapes, then cut these into gnocchi.
4. Cook the gnocchi in a pan of boiling salted water for a couple of minutes, until softened.
5. Meanwhile, heat the butter and sage in a frying pan, swirling the pan every now and again, until the butter is brown and the sage leaves are crisp. Toss the gnocchi in the butter and stir in the gorgonzola just before serving.