There are some dishes that stick with you forever and remain imprinted in your mind. For me, it was Tetsuya’s Confit of Ocean Trout, as well as Marcus Wareing’s Lemonade dessert at Petrus. One that came from a meal I had while back was the papardelle from Pendolino’s in the Strand Arcade. I’ve said that I’m not a big pasta eater, but now that Winter is coming up, it seems that it’s what I crave. I will admit I haven’t had much papardelle in my life but when I tried theirs I sought to rectify that.
I bought these lasagne sheets as I was again, seduced by the packaging. What I didn’t realise was that they required pre boiling unlike most lasagne sheets you can find today so I stowed them away and used my ready to bake ones instead. Then I realised that I could make fat papardelle pasta out of it with whatever thickness I liked. It was a bit fiddly, and I would certainly recommend either buying some papardelle or fresh lasagne sheets instead but the taste of this with the creamy ricotta, spicy chorizo and zingy lemon zest is gorgeous. The ricotta was sent to me by Perfect Italiano and it’s is a soft ricotta which is ideal for using in a recipe like this where it needs to meld into the sauce.
The flavour was everything that I wished for and more and we both ate greedily, even though the dish should have served up to three people, it served just the two of us on this cold, rainy Winter’s night. And it was eaten in a silence of satisfaction, where there is no need to talk or converse. Our contented murmuring and eating was the perfect background to the falling rain.
Chorizo, Ricotta & Lemon Papardelle
An original recipe by Not Quite Nigella
Serves 2-3 when accompanied with salad and bread
- 250g papardelle pasta or lasagne sheets
- 1 tablespoon oil for frying
- 2 chorizo sausages, sliced
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3 tomatoes, chopped
- 100g tin tomato paste
- zest of 1/2 lemon
- 150g ricotta
- salt and pepper
1. I make the sauce first as the thick ribbons of papardelle means that it doesn’t really do well when it sits around in a colander draining and waiting for the sauce to cook and tends to stick together. In a large saucepan fry the garlic, onion and chorizo in the oil until the chorizo is cooked and then add tomatoes and tomato paste and cook for a further 2-3 minutes until tomatoes start to break down. Add ricotta and stir and then add lemon zest.
2. Meanwhile, start a very large pot of water to boil and salt it generously. When the water is boiling cook the papardelle. If you are using dry lasagne sheets as I did, par boil them and then strain them and slice them into ribbons and then return them to the boiling water. It is a bit more fiddly, I won’t lie, and if you’ve got fresh lasagne sheets, you should be able to cut them without the need to par boil them.
3. Strain and reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking liquid which you add to the sauce. Mix the papardelle in the sauce so that the ribbons get coated in sauce and serve with cracked pepper.
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37 Comments | Add your own
Mmmm, this looks totally yummy! Wow.
Never thought of turning lasagna into pappardelle. It’s one of those things that should have been clear to me that, for some reason, wasn’t until someone pointed it out. This is brilliant.
I love chorizo and creamy tomato sauce. I haven’t tried using lasagne sheets for other recipes than making lasagne. Will definitely give this recipe a try. What is the quantity of ricotta? It’s not listed in your ingredients.
Since I had Papardelle at Pendolino. I can tell myself and others that one of my favourite pasta is Papardelle.. When I go to Supermarket and see it, always wanna cook it with ragout but scared that it won’t turn out good. Your recipe seems a lot easier ^ ^
I am so trying this recipe! Big fan of chorizo & ricotta separately but never thought they’d work in a sauce together. Yum!
That’s a little bit ingenious using the lasagne sheets to make papardelle
Yummm it looks so moreish, love chorizo and ricotta, am planning to make my own ricotta soon!
It’s hard for me to imagine it’s winter there. The pasta looks wonderful!
oh my, I’ve never seen noodles like that before…how cool! very smart to use lasange noodles into such a great pasta dish.
actually, it kind of reminds me of kway teou…the flat rice noodles in SE Asia!
Looks delicious! They sent me ricotta too and I’m rather sick of cheese now LOL!
xo
I love pasta but even more so when it is thick like this papadelle ^^! And chorizo and ricotta yayyyy!
oh you made me hungry with this amazing dish . It looks delicious
yummy
In this cold rainy weather I’m feeling like eating more too, and with such a nice sauce it would be even more tempting. I like the pink ricotta sauce idea.
That looks delicious! I am in the mood for pasta too!
Btw do you have a good recipe for a vegetarian lasagna? That would be an awesome to do. *hint hint*
Also any suggestions for sticky date pudding????? since moving to oz, that is one of the things I love about this place!
This looks delicious – such lovely flavours, perfect for a rainy day.
I love pasta! This looks and sounds so delicious esp with the chorizo! Love the addition of lemon too!
Yum Yum Yum, I love chorizo, ricotta and pasta… I will put this on my list of pastas to make.. along with a lot of your other recipes
Read this morning & just made it for dinner – loved it, thanks for sharing this great dish. The flavours match perfectly!!
Hi sara-Thankyou so much!
Hi Leela-It came out of pure greed and lust
I wanted papardelle and I didn’t have any and thought I should try making it and then realised I didn’t have to 
Thankyou!
Hi Ellie-Me too. It’s 150grams of ricotta, the soft kind so it melds into the sauce.
Hi Ja-It’s so memorable isn’t it! Ragout is really easy, you could definitely do it. I made a rabbit ragu and it was divine-you could substitute it with pork!
Hi ESZ-Excellent! Please let me know what you think of it!
Hi Steph-Aww shucks thankyou! Great idea! I’ve seen it done on quite a few blogs and it looks great!
Hi Barbara-Hehe yes I now, I’m so envious of your glorious Summer! Thankyou!
Hi Sophia-Thankyou! I love papardelle-it’s funny how something like changing the shape can have a preference. Yes it is quite like that but in pasta form!
Hi Iron Chef Shellie-Oh you’re sick of it already?
What did you make?
Hi FFichiban -Hehe yes I loved every element of this separately so I figured out why not put them together?
Hi snooky doodle-Aww thanks, you are too kind!
Hi Arwen-Thanks! Yes the weather has so much to answer for with my eating habits!
Hi Wilkie-Thankyou! Hehe yes it is actually a very good idea. I will keep that hint in mind
Have you tried Nigella’s Sticky Date Pudding recipe? It’s fantastic!
Hi Cakelaw-Thanks! I agree, perfect rainy day food
Hi pigpigscorner-Thanks! It’s definitely worth a try if you feel like staying in and eating pasta
Hi Anita-Wonderful! I’d love to know what you think of it!
Hi Shanks-How fabulous! I’m so glad you loved it! That’s so sweet of you to say-very happy!
I love chorizo, it goes amazingly well with so many things! I use it with prawns on a regular basis, the flavours are simply yummy together. Will have to try it with ricotta and lemon one day, I bet it tastes amazing too! (How could it not?)
sausage!! what a clean and completely wonderful pasta dish you have here, and come on, there’s sausage!!
Ahhh I love Chorizo! Do you have any favourite place to get Chorizo from?
And I totally understand the package attraction – I’m a package whore and I can’t resist packages that are gooooood LOL
How neat to turn lasagna noodles into Papardelle! It looks very good with chorizo and ricotta!
Mmm, I just made a pasta dish too. The flavors used sound fantastic!
Hay lorraine, you know that I love chorizo! This pasta dish looks superb! every flavour I love! Do you use the picanté version of the chorizo or the non- picanté version?
Looks fabulous!
Hi Su-yin-I totally agree!
I could eat chorizo with almost anything 
Thankyou!
Hi grace-Hehe yes! I love sausages!
Hi Yas-An excellent chorizo is from Eumundi Smokehouse (available from their shop or markets). They’re really lovely and meaty (ie no filler or water). Hehe excellent, a fellow package whore! I love wrapping and packaging things nicely!
Hi 5 Star Foodie-Thankyou so much!
Hi Feasting on Art-Thankyou! It’s pasta weather isn’t it!
Hi Sophie-hehe cool! it’s so good isn’t it! I love the spicy version, I love spicy flavours
But either is fine 
Bookmarked for later in the week. Thanks!
thanks to your recipe I got myself out of my dilemna of what to substitute the sausages for in a pasta recipe I was trying out on the weekend! it was my first time cooking with chorizo and it works wonders!
I like cutting up lasagne sheets as well! That way you can make those glorious wide ribbons, or skinny scrappy ones! Love it!
Delicious dish, very rustic and family-pleasing!
Hi Suzie-Cool! I’d love to know what you think of it!
Hi Panda-Oh wonderful! That’s great to hear! YAY
Hi Marta-Fabulous
Yes you can do it however wide you want!
that looks delicious. oh chorizo. i almost want the chorizo to be ground up more instead of big slabs, but i am sure its delicious either way!!!
Papardelle is my favorite go to pasta. So much lighter and tastier than regular pasta in my opinion.
Looks amazing and when I weather starts to cool down I am definitely trying this!
Hi Morta Di Fame-You could definitely do that if you prefer!
I can imagine it would be great either way!
Hi Jeff-That’s great! So you’re a papardelle fan from way back!
It’s great for cold weather (which we’re having right now 
)
Oh! O_O
I must make!
I love pappardelle. One of my favorite pastas!
Hi ArtemisIII-Oooh yes please do!
Hi maris-It’s such a nice silky texture isn’t it!
Unusual flavors for pasta but it makes perfect sense. The brightness of lemons should go great with the rich chorizo and ricotta.
Hi ….. Just loved this meal. My husband wanted more liquid, so would add an extra half cup of the pasta cooking water next time to please him, but I loved it just as it was. He also wants thinner pasta next time, so will do that too. Myself … loved it so much just as it was and used low-fat ricotta and was like eating a creamy, decadent sauce. Thanks so much for your recipes
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