I had decided to take a break between two strongly-flavored meals, so my thoughts went to a simple pasta, and one of Luca’s fresh pastas in particular, my idea being that many of his specials could be best enjoyed with the very lightest of additions.
When I arrived at the counter I saw a honey and ricotta ravioli, something I hadn’t come across before. The pasta assistant suggested a brown butter sauce would be enough. But enough is sometimes not enough, so my mind strayed to the beautiful young mizuna I had at home, and once I had begun assembling the dish, to thoughts of including some freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper and a dash of my magic dried golden Habanada as well.
It was delicious, but very rich, and, yes, it was a little sweet, so the next time I’ll prepare a smaller amount, and serve it as a primo, following it with a small grilled steak, or agnello alla scottadito.
- about 12 ounces of ravioli ricotta e miele from Luca Donofrio‘s fresh pasta shop inside Eataly, boiled briefly then slipped into a tin-lined high-sided heavy copper pan in which several tablespoons of rich Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter had been heated with a dash of home-dried heatless, orange Habanada pepper and some fresh;y-ground tellicherry pepper until brown, then stirred gently until the pasta was covered with the butter, served in shallow bowls lined with mizuna from Norwich Meadows Farm, greens and pasta drizzled with a bit of olive oil
- the wine was an Italian (Veneto) white, Il Conte Pinot Grigio 2015
- the music was Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s Symphony No. 1, Thord Svedlund conducting the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra