Fettuccine with zucchini, lemon and ricotta with fried almonds
“Less means more when creating a wonderful pasta dish.”
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 4 tbsp slivered or flaked almonds
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced into 1cm pieces
- 2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
- 1 cup chicken stock
- juice of 1 lemon
- zest of 1 lemon
- 400g dried fettuccine or 500g fresh fettuccine
- 125g fresh ricotta
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp freshly chopped flatleaf parsley
Drain cooked pasta in a colander over the sink. Don't rinse it - the precious sauce-catching starch will disappear down the sink. As mentioned earlier, a few tablespoons of the cooking water can be used to thin a too-thick sauce.
Method
Heat half the butter and fry almonds until golden brown. Tip through a strainer to remove excess butter and reserve until needed.
Put the rest of the butter, the olive oil, the zucchini, garlic, stock, lemon juice and half of the lemon zest in a pan and cook gently, covered, for at least 20 minutes until zucchini is quite soft. Put aside until needed.
Cook fettuccine. Drain.
Increase heat under zucchini to return to simmering point, add the ricotta in chunks and the drained pasta, then season with salt and pepper. Tip into a warmed bowl and mix through, adding parsley and remaining lemon zest. Scatter with the reserved almonds.
Serves 4.
