Seasonal vegetable and crème fraîche linguini

 

Make the most of the fine weather with this summer recipe, perfect eaten al fresco in the garden with loved ones around.


Serves: 4

Difficulty: Easy


Ingredients


For the pasta

  • 275gm Pasta flour ‘type 00’
  • 3 Egg yolks
  • 2 Whole egg
  • Pinch of salt
  • 15gm Extra virgin olive oil

For the seasonal vegetable mixture
(You can use any vegetables you have in the fridge. The given vegetables are just a guide line.)

  • 1 medium Red pepper, cut into small dice
  • 1 medium Red onion, peeled and cut into small dice
  • 50g peas
  • 50g fine green beans
  • 100gm Spinach, washed, dried and shredded
  • 5 Asparagus spears, peeled and trimmed
  • 1/4th bunch Parsley, washed, dried and finely chopped
  • 3cloves Garlic, peeled and finely chopped
  • 15ml Vegetable oil
  • 15ml Extra virgin olive oil
  • 100gm Crème fraîche
  • Drizzle of lemon juice
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method


  1. Prepare the pasta by mixing the salt, extra virgin olive oil and the pasta flour in a medium size mixing bowl.
  2. Make a well in the centre. Add the eggs and knead to a smooth dough. Cover with cling-film and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes before using.
  3. After the pasta is rested, roll as thin as possible so that the pasta can easily pass through the pasta rolling machine.
  4. Start on a highest setting and pass the pasta through the pasta roller once. Fold the pasta so that the width corresponds to the width of the pasta roller.
  5. Then, start rolling the pasta by reducing the pasta roller setting until you reach no.6 on the roller. Pass the rolled sheets through the linguini cutter. Flour them well and leave on the side to rest (you can use shop bought linguini but home-made is much nicer).
  6. Boil water in a stock pan, sprinkle rock salt and some extra virgin olive oil. Blanch the linguini for maximum 30 seconds (3-7 minutes for shop bought) and refresh in ice water or very cold water. Drain and drizzle more olive oil to prevent the linguini from sticking to each other.
  7. Take a large sauté pan, heat the vegetable and extra virgin olive oil. Add onions and pepper and quickly sauté for a minute.
  8. Add the chopped garlic, toss well. Add a cube of butter and about 20ml of water then add the spinach, asparagus, peas and green beans. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute.
  9. Add the linguini and toss and then finish with crème fraiche and drizzle of lemon juice. Check for the seasoning. Sprinkle parsley and serve.
  10. You can grate parmesan or cheddar cheese on the top for extra flavour, drizzle some more extra virgin olive oil if preferred.