Pasta with Broad Beans, Ricotta & Lemon

📝 Ingredients

• 160 g dried short pasta (such as orecchiette)
• 300 g frozen broad beans
• 150 g ricotta
• 30 g grated parmesan (20 g for the cream, 10 g for serving)
• 1 unwaxed lemon (all the zest + 2 tbsp juice)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 8 fresh mint leaves
• 150 ml pasta cooking water
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large saucepan
• Large frying pan
• Slotted spoon
• Colander
• 2 bowls
• Fine grater

📖 Steps

1. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the frozen broad beans and cook for 2 min once it returns to the boil. Lift them out with the slotted spoon and plunge them into a bowl of cold water, keeping the cooking water on the heat.
2. Double-pod the beans: pinch the pale skin of each bean with your nails, then squeeze to pop out the bright green bean. This takes 5 min but makes the beans much more tender and less bitter.
3. Finely grate the lemon zest, then squeeze out 2 tbsp juice. In another bowl, mix the ricotta, zest, lemon juice and 20 g parmesan, season generously with pepper and set aside.
4. Cook the pasta in the bean water for 1 min less than the packet time, stirring occasionally. Before draining, scoop out 150 ml cooking water with a mug: its starch will bind the sauce.
5. While the pasta cooks, peel and thinly slice the garlic. Heat the oil in the large frying pan over a low heat, cook the garlic for 1 min without letting it colour, then add the broad beans and sauté for 2 to 3 min over a medium heat. Season lightly with salt.
6. Loosen the ricotta cream with 4 tbsp hot cooking water, whisking with a fork until smooth and silky, like thick cream.
7. Drain the pasta and tip it into the pan with the broad beans, off the heat. Add the ricotta cream and toss, pouring in the rest of the cooking water little by little, until the sauce coats the pasta without being runny.
8. Serve straight away on warmed plates, scattering over the remaining parmesan and the shredded mint leaves at the last moment so they don't blacken. Finish with a grind of pepper.