Pappardelle with broad beans and rocket

⇐ Recipes from cookery books

Ingredients

Pappardelle, pasta noodles about 2-3cm wide, fresh made according to pasta recipe or shop bought

2 handfuls podded broad beans - frozen are fine

2 tbsp Pecorino Sardo, grated

2 small bunches of rocket

salt & pepper

for the butter sauce

250g butter, cut into cubes (some is used for sweating shallots, some for the pasta beans and the rest for making up the sauce)

1 shallot, finely chopped

2 black peppercorns

100ml white wine

2 tbsp double cream

for the broad bean puree

2 tbsp olive oil

1 white onion, finely chopped

300g frozen broad beans, defrosted, blanched and the the skins removed

100g cold diced unsalted butter

Method

1. Make the pappardelle (or open the packet 😉)
2. To make the purée, heat the olive oil in a pan, add the onion and cook for 4-5 minutes without allowing to colour. Add the frozen brand beans and cook with the onion for a further 4-5 minutes.
3. Slowly add some water until the beans are covered. Bring to a boil, turn down heat and cook slowly, adding water if it starts to dry out, for 20-25 minutes until beans are soft. Then carry on cooking, without adding more water, until you have quite a firm mixture.
4. While still hot, purée with a hand blender or food processor adding the diced butter as you go. If too dry, add a little water or white wine. Season. If it seems a little grainy pass through a sieve.
5. For the butter sauce, melt a couple of cubes of the butter and sweat the shallots for 2-3 minutes with the peppercorns. Add the wine and reduce by three-quarters. Add the cream and reduce for another couple of minutes. Tahe of heat and keep to one side.
6. Bring a large pam of salted water to the boil and put in braod beans and blanch for 2-3 minutes, then drain and refresh under cold water. Peel off the outer skins of the beans.
7. Melt another couple of cubes of butter in sauté pan and add the broad beans. Season lightly and turn off the heat.
8. Put the pan containing the wine reduction for the butter sauce back on the heat, bring to the boil and slowly whisk in the remaining cold butter. While whisking in butter, turn up heat a little to stop sauce from splitting, but once all butter is incorporated reduce heat again for the same reason. Pass through a fine sieve and keep warm
9. Bring a large pan of water to the boil, add plenty of salt, and cook the pappardelle, moving them around all the time till al dente. It will only take a minute or two. Drain but keep some of the cooking water
10. Put the pan containing the broad beans back on the heat and add the pasta and some of the cooking liquid. Toss, add the pecorino, some pepper, the rocket and 3-4 ladles of butter sauce. Toss and heat a little more for 1-2 minutes, adding more cooking liquid if necessary to loosen
11. While tossing the pasta, warm up the purée, and spread a little on each plate, and top with pasta. Garnish with a little more fresh rocket.

Made in Italy Georgio Locatelli

pasta

italian pasta