Bucatini Pasta with House Bacon, English Peas, and Salt-cured Egg Broccolini with Crushed Hazelnuts Ingredients: Pasta Bacon English peas
Broccolini Hazelnuts Cheese
Salt-cured egg Parsley
(For best results, read recipe fully before beginning.) 1) Prepare the ingredients: - Cut the bacon cross-wise into lardons (1/4-1/2” thick bite-sized matchsticks). - Shuck the peas. Discard the pods. - Separate the broccolini into more or less individual stalks. (This vegetable is the tender center shoot so the entire stem will be edible and sweet.) - Heat the oven to 300 degrees. - Heat a large pot of generously salted water to the boil on high. - Finely grate the cheese. - Pick the parsley leaves from the stems and roughly chop. - Prepare a bowl of heavily iced and salted water (this will be to shock the broccolini after cooking it). 2) Roast the hazelnuts: - Arrange the hazelnuts on a sheet pan or saute pan and roast in the oven, shaking occasionally, for 10 minutes. While they are still warm, gather them in a kitchen towel and rub them together in your hands to loosen the papery skin (it won’t all come off; that’s ok). Roughly chop, or, using the side of your knife, crush the skinned hazelnuts. 3) Cook the broccolini: - While the hazelnuts are roasting, add the prepped broccolini to the boiling salted water and cook for 1 minute. Using tongs, transfer the broccolini from the boiling water to the bowl of ice water and stir to quickly cool. Transfer to a colander, or a paper towel lined plate, to dry. Keep the boiling water on the heat. 4) Cook the pasta: - Add the pasta to the boiling salted water (that the broccolini was just cooked in) and cook, stirring occasionally, for 7.5 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking water. 5) Make the sauce: - While the pasta cooks, heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a saute pan on medium-high until hot. Add the bacon lardons and cook, stirring occasionally, until much of the fat has rendered and the pieces are browned, about 4 minutes. Add the shucked peas and season with salt and pepper. - Add the cooked pasta and the reserved pasta water and simmer until sauce reduces and loosely coats pasta. Remove pan from heat and add the grated cheese, chopped parsley, and a glug of olive oil. Stir to combine. 6) Finish your dish: - Toss the blanched broccolini in a mixing bowl with the crushed hazelnuts, drizzle generously with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. - Divide the pasta between 2 bowls. Serve the broccolini alongside. Grate the salt-cured egg over the top of both the pasta and the broccoli. Enjoy!