porchetta; tortelli limone, bacca rosa, zest, micro mustard

Lemon pasta, what a concept.

But then so is something called, ‘porchetta’, which preceded the pasta.

  • four ounces of Principe Italian uncured roasted porchetta rolled in pancetta from Chelsea Whole Foods Market, drizzled with a little olive oil
  • baby arugula from Alewife Farm, drizzled with a little olive oil
  • slices of Pain d’Avignon seven grain bread (whole wheat, honey, sesame/sunflower/flax seeds, oats) from Foragers Market

I had prepared this delightful filled pasta at least twice before, but it’s always a little different.

  • twelve ounces of fresh ravioli rounds from Luca Donofrio‘s fresh pasta shop inside Eataly’s Flatiron store (filled with ricotta, lemon zest, marjoram, nutmeg, and mascarpone), boiled carefully until barely cooked through in a large amount of well-salted water, drained, some of the pasta water retained, then slipped into a large antique high-sided tin-lined copper pot in which 2 or 3 tablespoons of Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ had been melted, stirred over medium-high heat along with some of the reserved pasta water until the liquid had emulsified, then almost a tablespoon of lightly crushed pink peppercorns (Fr. baie rose, It. bacca rosa), which are actually not pepper, from Dean & DeLuca [where I had discovered it in their beautiful little tins in their Prince Street shop way back in the early 80’s] added, the pasta arranged inside 2 shallow bowls where it was topped with the zest, or la scorza, from half of an organic Whole Foods Market lemon, and garnished with micro red mustard (micro mostarda rossa) from Two Guys from Woodbridge