PASTA LA VISTA

Bring the magic of Padella, London's hottest pasta spot, into your home with its best-loved recipes

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STRACCI WITH PISTACHIO, MINT & BASIL PESTO

Serves 4 Takes 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 450g/1lb fresh stracci (also works with fresh tagliarini or fettuccine, and dried linguine, spaghetti, bucatini, penne or fusilli)

• Sea salt

• Finely grated zest and juice of 1½ a lemon

For the pesto

• 300g/11oz shelled dark green pistachio nuts (Sicilian or Persian ones are best)

• 30g/1¼oz mint leaves, finely chopped

• 30g/1¼oz basil leaves, finely chopped

• 200ml/7fl oz extra virgin olive oil

• 80g/3¼oz Parmesan, finely grated

1. In a large saucepan, bring 4-5 litres/7-8 pints of water to the boil and add a fistful of salt.

2. Meanwhile, to make the pesto, use a pestle and mortar to pound the pistachio nuts to a crumb texture, then add the chopped herbs, extra virgin olive oil and grated Parmesan and stir to combine. If the mortar isn’t big enough, transfer the pistachio crumbs to a bowl and stir through the other ingredients, seasoning to taste. (Alternatively, pulse the pistachios in a blender, then add the remaining ingredients and whiz for a few seconds to mix.)

3. Put roughly 300g/11oz of pesto into a pan large enough to hold the cooked pasta when it’s done. Add around 120ml/4½fl oz of the seasoned pasta water, with the lemon zest and juice, to loosen it.

4. Drop the stracci into the boiling water and cook for around 1-1½ minutes. Drain the pasta as soon as it’s ready, reserving two mugs of pasta water.

5. Add the pasta to the pesto and stir over a medium heat with a wooden spoon for 30 seconds or so, adding splashes of the pasta water to help the sauce come together. You are looking to achieve a nice creamy consistency; not too wet, not too dry. Taste and adjust the seasoning if required.

6. Serve the pasta on hot plates and eat immediately.