Chorizo, Ricotta & Lemon Papardelle
An original recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Serves 2-3 when accompanied with salad and bread
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250g papardelle pasta or lasagne sheets
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1 tablespoon oil for frying
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2 chorizo sausages, sliced
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1 onion, chopped
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2 garlic cloves
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3 tomatoes, chopped
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100g tin tomato paste
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zest of 1/2 lemon
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150g ricotta
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salt and pepper
Step 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.
Step 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.
Step 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.