FRESH PASTA WITH LEMON, PARSLEY AND NUTS

This is a dish I remember from my time at the River Café it is fresh, simple and perfectly balanced.  For a dish so simple you need to use great quality pasta and that is where Mia Pasta comes in; all handmade and then rolled and cut with bronze dyes which gives the pasta a rougher texture which adheres the sauce to the pasta resulting in a more flavoursome dish.

Serves 4

115g pinenuts or hazelnuts juice and zest of 2 lemons a large bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked, half finely chopped and half left whole 215ml extra virgin olive oil 150g  Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, plus extra for shaving 50g pecorino cheese, freshly grated sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 500g good-quality tagliarini, tagliatelle or spaghetti – (Mia’s Pasta)

Method

Smash up half of the pinenuts to a paste, then put it into a big heatproof bowl with the rest of the whole pinenuts, the lemon juice and zest, the finely chopped parsley and the extra virgin olive oil. Stir and add the Parmesan and pecorino. What you should have now is a reasonably thick sauce, which you should think of more as a dressing, so taste it and think about how the different flavours are coming through. I want you to balance the flavours so you end up with something quite zingy because, as the sauce heats up and the cheese melts, the flavour of the lemon will calm down a lot. Season with some freshly ground black pepper. Taste it and if you think you haven’t got the balance right, simply add a little more oil and Parmesan.

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil for your pasta. Sit the sauce bowl on top of the pan while the water’s heating up – this will take the chill out of the sauce and warm it through slightly. When the water starts to boil, remove the bowl and add your pasta to the water. Cook it according to the packet instructions then drain in a colander, reserving a little of the cooking water. Toss the pasta with the sauce and a little of the reserved cooking water to help loosen it up a bit. The heat from the pasta will melt the cheese, allowing all the lovely sauce to coat it. If you find the sauce is too thick then add a little more water. It’s not supposed to be claggy, thick and miserable, but incredibly silky, fresh and fragrant. Have one last taste to balance the flavours, and serve with a little extra Parmesan shaved over the top and a sprinkle of parsley leaves. Eat immediately.