Nothing makes me happier than a bowl of pasta placed in front of me. What makes me happier is the hundreds of different ways you can eat it, and although I’ve eaten & cooked many, what makes me ridiculously happy is all the other recipes, combinations of ingredients I’m still yet to try, test, cook & devour.
That’s why I got excited when my lovely man spoilt me recently for my birthday. He bought me a traditional Salento (Puglia) cook book that I had my eye on for ages, but due to Ryanair’s ridiculous baggage restrictions, I couldn’t bring back the Italian kitchen that I wanted.
Not only does the recipe take only 30 mins to prep & cook, the flavour combinations are so moorish. The smoky pancetta with the artichokes & carrot are a delight on their own, but combined with the pasta coated in the creamy, cheesy & basil sauce, you just won’t want to put your fork down. Trust me!!
Ingredients (serves 4-6)
500g Farfalle pasta (ones that look like bow ties!)
240g artichokes, canned & drained, sliced
2 carrots, peeled & sliced
1 onion, finely sliced
150g, smoked pancetta, cubed.
1/2 glass of white wine
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
100ml Double cream
100g Parmesan, grated
For the Pesto
100g Fresh Basil
50g pine nuts
Salt
1 garlic clove
120ml olive oil
1/2 lemon, juice
- Blitz all the ingredients for the pesto in a food processor. A tip from Giorgio Locatelli is to try & blitz as quickly as possible so the sauce does not get over heated & darken the pesto.
- In a wide sauce pan, drizzle olive oil & fry the onion until it’s translucent on a medium heat.
- Then add the pancetta, carrot & artichokes.
- Pour the white wine into the mixture, increase the heat & cook until it has evaporated.
- In the mean time, cook the Farfalle in boiling salted water for as long as stated on the packet.
- When the pasta is cooked, drain & add to the pancetta & vegetable mixture.
- Pour in the pesto, double cream & add the Parmesan
- Stir all the ingredients & serve it while it is hot.
