This is really a dish for the early spring when peas are available. You can make this recipe with frozen peas (see below), but fresh are best.
Ingredients:
fresh peas
short pasta (e.g., cavatelli, dischi, orecchiete, very small shells…
chopped herbs (parsley, basil, or mint, or a combination)
white wine
butter
ricotta
lemon zest
good olive oil
This recipe works for fresh peas - frozen would get mushy with this much cooking time. If using frozen, skip the part of steaming them in water and head straight to wine.
Shell the peas from their pods. For 2 portions you’ll want about one cup of peas. Put a little water in a pot and add a good amount of salt, and steam the peas, just for about 2 minutes. They should not be cooked all the way but still a bit crunchy. Drain the peas, turn the heat off the pot. Add a big pat of butter to the pot, some pepper, and a splash of dry white wine, and set aside.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the pasta.
While the pasta is cooking, take a moment to mix the ricotta with some lemon zest, salt, and pepper.
Towards the end of the pasta cooking time, turn the peas back on. Steam the peas a minute or two in the white wine and butter, adding more if necessary. Taste to check for seasoning — the peas need to be thoroughly seasoned since they are the sauce for the pasta. Turn the heat off the peas and add in chopped fresh herbs (I like parsley, but mint and basil would also be good).
When the pasta is al dente, drain it but reserve some of the pasta cooking liquid.
Dump the pasta in to the pot with the peas and mix. If the pasta looks dry, add a little bit of the pasta cooking liquid to make a sauce.
Put the pasta in a dish and top with the ricotta, top the ricotta with a little extra lemon zest and a good oil.
Buon appetito!
