orrechiette with winter greens & almond crumbs

Puglia’s famous tiny ear-shaped pasta is fairly easy to make by hand, and I take great pride in making these from scratch when catering small or large gatherings.

Author

Elise Pulbrook

Category

Pasta

Ingredients

• 2 slices of stale sourdough
• Handful of raw almonds 
• 1 small clove garlic, minced 
• Zest of 1 lemon 
• 1 tsp chilli flakes 
• Handful of chopped parsley 
• 2 tsp Mount Zero Frantoio Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Mount Zero Pink Lake Salt, to taste 
• Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste 
• Handful of grated pecorino romano
• 1 bunch of mixed greens (I used red chard, broccoli rabe and chicory), roughly chopped
• 200g orecchiette (fresh or bought)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp chilli flakes, or to taste
• 2 tbsp Mount Zero Frantoio Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Mount Zero Pink Lake Salt, for the pasta water
• Juice of ½ lemon, or to taste
• Mount Zero Pink Lake Salt, to taste 
• Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
• Good Glug of Early Harvest Picual Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius (150 degrees fan forced).
2. Blitz the sourdough and almonds using a food processor to make coarse crumbs. Add remaining ingredients except for the pecorino.
3. Pulse briefly to combine then turn out onto an oven-proof tray. Bake for 10 minutes, stirring halfway through, until golden brown and fragrant. Allow to cool before stirring through the pecorino.
4. Bring a large pot of water to the boil.
5. Add a generous amount of salt to season (like the Mediterranean Sea) before blanching the greens for 1 minute.
6. Remove the greens and transfer to a chopping board. When cool enough to handle, finely chop.
7. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook as per packet instructions or until al dente (only 2 to 3 minutes if fresh).
8. For the sauce, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil to a large pan over medium-to-low heat. Add the garlic and chilli flakes, cooking until fragrant but not burnt. Add the greens.
9. When the pasta is ready, transfer to the pan. Toss to mix, using a bit of the pasta water to help emulsify and thicken the sauce.
10. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and turn off the heat. Add a gentle squeeze of lemon and drizzle with Early Harvest Picual Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
11. Generously sprinkle the pangrattato on top prior to serving. Enjoy!