Pappardelle with fresh pea, mint, roasted ricotta and pecorino toscano

Pappardelle with fresh pea, mint, roasted ricotta and pecorino toscano

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

• 1 packet of 250g ‘Sapori di Casa’ pappardelle fresh egg pasta

• 300g sliced hard ricotta

• 250g shelled fresh or frozen peas

• 30g butter

• 12 medium mint leaves thinly cut

• 100g pecorino toscano DOP

• Extra virgin olive oil pressed with fresh lemons – known as ‘limonolio’

• Extra virgin olive oil

• zest of 1 organic lemon or untreated

• salt

• pepper

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 180C, 350F or gas mark 4.

• Line the bottom of a baking tray with baking paper and lie the sliced ricotta on top.

• Drizzle the ricotta with limonolio, salt and pepper and bake in the middle of the oven for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

• Then turn the ricotta over, drizzle with oil and bake for further 10 minutes or so. Remove the ricotta from the oven and let it cool.

• Melt the butter in a pan and quickly cook the peas for a couple of minutes with a pinch of salt and nutmeg.

• Cook the pasta in plenty of salty boiling water. The Sapori di Casa brand cooks very quickly so get ready to drain the pasta in just a few minutes.

• Pour the cooked pasta into a bowl and mix well with a generous tablespoon of olive oil to avoid stickiness.

• Once the ricotta is cool enough to touch, break it into rough pieces by hand and mix them with the pasta and peas.

• Add the lemon zest and chopped mint to the pasta and divide it onto 4 dishes.

• Grate a generous amount of pecorino on top of each dish and serve.