Courgette, mascarpone, basil and lemon cavatelli
- Prepare
- 1-2 hours
- Cook
- 10 to 30 mins
- Serve
- Serves 4
Gorgeously Italian and full of summer flavours, learn how to make your own fresh pasta without a machine. Cavatelli, little hand-rolled ridged hollows, are made from semolina and water, so are naturally egg-free. The shape is designed to carry plenty of the creamy lemon and garlic sauce.
Ingredients
For the cavatelli
For the sauce
- 1kg/2lb 4oz courgettes (ideally a few different colours, shapes and sizes)
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 4 large garlic cloves, finely sliced
- generous pinch dried red chilli flakes
- 400g/14oz pasta (method above for fresh cavatelli or use dried penne)
- 1 large unwaxed lemon
- 3 tbsp mascarpone
- large bunch fresh basil, leaves picked
- 30g/1oz butter
- extra virgin olive oil, to serve
- salt
- 75g/2½oz Parmesan cheese, grated
Method
To make the cavatelli, mix together the semolina and ‘00’ flour in a large bowl. Make sure the water is warm, but not so hot you can’t dip your finger into it, then pour over the flour. Season with a pinch of salt.
Using a chopstick or the end of wooden spoon, mix together until it forms a shaggy dough. Tip out onto a clean work surface and knead into a ball for just a few minutes. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rest for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, you will feel that the firm ball of dough has now relaxed. Sprinkle a work surface or tray with semolina. Take a small pea-sized piece of dough and roll it against the grooves of a butter paddle or fork to sort of curl it over on itself. You can even make these by just rolling the dough against a work surface.
As you make the shapes, place each one on the semolina-sprinkled work surface or tray to stop the cavatelli from sticking. Keep the dough covered with a tea towel as you work to stop it from drying out. You can also roll out little snakes of dough and chop into pea-sized pieces ready to roll for speed and efficiency.
To make the sauce, season a large saucepan of water with salt then bring to the boil.
Meanwhile, slice the courgettes into rounds about as thick as your little finger, cutting any large courgettes in half lengthways.
Heat the oil in a wide pan and add the courgettes. Season well with salt to draw out the moisture and fry for 5 minutes to get things going, then add the garlic and dried red chilli flakes. The key here is to end up with courgettes that are softened, but not mushy, some beginning to collapse while others still have a bit of bite. The oil should be richly infused with garlic that has sweetened and not take on any colour. Keep stirring the courgettes.
Meanwhile, add the pasta to the pan of boiling water. When the pasta is al dente, remove a large mug of starchy water from the pan, then drain the pasta.
Add the pasta to the courgettes, grate in the lemon zest then add the mascarpone and a generous splash of the reserved pasta water. Mix vigorously until the sauce is well combined and coats the pasta, adding more pasta water and mascarpone as needed.
Squeeze in the juice of half the lemon, then add the basil and butter. Mix again and taste to check your seasoning – it may need a splash more lemon juice and salt. Serve immediately with a drizzle of really good olive oil, a grind of fresh black pepper and a sprinkle of parmesan.
