fresh orecchiette with vegan saffron butter and courgette
Safe to say; I’m in my fresh pasta era. Ever since switching my reel style I’ve been obsessed with making fresh pasta. It’s actually so easy and so much more tasty than store bought. It elevates even the simplest of dishes to a whole other level!
Today we are making a pasta shape from one of my favorite regions in Italian, PUGLIA! The famous “orecchiette” or translated “little ears”. I’ve served them with a very simple saffron butter and pan fried courgette to welcome early spring! Hope you love them as much as I did!
Recipe
Makes enough for 4 to 6 people
Ingredients
For the pasta dough:
100 ml warm water
200 gr semola rimacinata flour
For the condiment:
butter (vegan), depending on the amount of people, I use 2 tbs of butter per person.
2 gr of saffron powder
2 courgettes, diced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
a handful of fresh parsley, minced
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil
Instructions
Pour the flour on your workspace or in a bowl and make a well in the middle.
Pour the warm water in the middle of the well.
With a fork start incorporating the flour, adding flour slowly from the outside of the well to the middle.
Once it start to come together use your hands.
Transfer the dough on a clean surface dusted with more flour and kneed until a uniform dough forms.
Cover with plastic foil and leave to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. And have some tea or coffee or wine 😏
Take a little piece of dough and form it into a disk.
Extend your index finger along the blade of a table knife. With the tip of the knife, flatten the piece of dough and drag it slightly toward you over the work surface.
Gently push the flattened piece of dough over the tip of your thumb to form a small cup. Repeat steps 4 and 5 to shape the remaining pieces.
Leave the orecchiette to dry for at least 30 min.
Once the orecchiette have dried a little bring some salted water to a boil.
Cover the bottom of a frying pan with a generous amount of olive oil (the whole bottom should be covered) and place over medium high heat.
Once hot add the diced courgette.
Pan fry until slightly golden and soft but still firm.
Remove from the heat ad season with salt, the minced garlic and minced parsley.
Remove from the pan and set aside.
In the same pan add the butter and place it on the stove on low heat to melt.
Add the saffron powder and stir.
Meanwhile cook the orecchiette al dente in a few minutes.
Add them to the saffron butter and on low heat leave to heat through so the orecchiette turn bright yellow and and are coated in butter.
Add the fried courgettes and stir.
Serve with some extra parsley on top.
Buon appetito!
Spring is in the air, and what better way to have a delicious lunch in the sun with this aubergine tonnato. It’s again one of my older recipes but made a little simpler. The “tonnato” sauce is made with chickpeas, soy yoghurt and nori seaweed. this sauce is then drizzled over grilled aubergine slices then garnished with capers and sun dried tomato paste. You could add arugula, cherry tomatoes and a homemade tomato tartar, like in my first cookbook, if you want to spruce it up for a gathering! Serve with some crusty sourdough on the side and you have the perfect early spring lunch!
RECIPE
Serves 2 people
Ingredients
1 large aubergine, sliced in rounds of 5mm thick
160 gr of cooked chickpeas
60 ml of unsweetened soy yoghurt
1 small garlic clove
2 tbs of olive oil + extra
1 tbs of nori seaweed flakes
1 tbs of capers + extra for garnish
2 small or 1 big gherkin
2 tbs of fresh parsley + extra for garnish
salt and pepper to taste
sun dried tomato paste or chopped sun dried tomatoes for garnish
sourdough bread to serve
Instructions
Start by heating up a griddle pan until steaming hot.
Drizzle the aubergine slices with olive oil and grill them until charred and cooked on both sides.
Place them on a piece of kitchen paper and season with a sprinkle of salt to draw out any moisture.
Meanwhile add the chickpeas, yoghurt, garlic, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, nori, capers, gherkin(s) and parley to a blender/mixer.
Mix/blend until completely smooth. You might need to add a splash of water to make a thick but pourable sauce.
Place the grilled aubergine slices on a plate/serving dish.
Drizzle over (part of) the sauce and garnish with extra capers, sun dried tomato (paste), black pepper and fresh parsley.
Serve with fresh sourdough bread.
Buon appetito!
SHARING IS CARING!
Did you make this? Tag me @lunatrapani on instagram. Love to see your creations.
