Zucchini, mint and ricotta paccheri

This zucchini, mint and ricotta paccheri pasta from Massimo Mele is simple, but packed with flavour. Zucchinis are pan-fried until golden and caramelised with chilli and garlic, then the sauce is enriched with mint leaves, fresh lemon juice and parmesan cheese. Serve with dollops of rich ricotta for the final touch.

Zucchini, mint and ricotta paccheri Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

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Ingredients

• 375 g paccheri pasta (giant rigatoni style)
• ½ cup finely grated parmesan cheese, plus extra to serve
• 250 g full-fat ricotta cheese
• fresh mint leaves, to serve

Zucchini

• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 zucchinis, thinly sliced into half-moons
• 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• ½ tsp chilli flakes
• salt and black pepper
• ½ cup mint leaves
• ½ lemon, juiced

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil (reserve 2 tbsp for later) in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the sliced zucchini, garlic and chilli flakes and cook, stirring, until golden. Cover and reduce the heat to low, stirring frequently for 10 minutes, or until very tender. If the pan gets too hot, add a little pasta water to the pan.
2. While the zucchinis are cooking, bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, then cook the pasta until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, then drain the pasta.
3. Season the zucchini with salt and pepper, then stir in ½ a cup of pasta water, the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil, ½ cup mint leaves and lemon juice. Add the drained pasta to the zucchini mixture with the finely grated parmesan and toss well until combined.
4. Serve the pasta with dollops of ricotta, extra mint leaves and parmesan.

Note

• Use the best quality full fat ricotta from the deli for best results.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

In A Pinch

Watch the full episode here

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Watch the full episode here

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