Stranger Foods

Saffron tagliatelle with ricotta and crispy chipotle shallots

Serves 4 | Prep 15 mins | Cook 30 mins

You can use shop-bought fresh or dried pasta here, or make your own saffron tagliatelle. Either way, there is so much going on – from the Parmesan sauce to the pickled chillies to the crispy chipotle shallots – that you are sure to both surprise and delight the lucky recipients of this dish.

Source: FLAVOUR by Ottolenghi

Ingredients

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Imperial

x0.5

50 ml olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
400 g shop-bought fresh tagliatelle
¼ tsp saffron threads, soaked in 2.5 tbsp boiling water for at least 20 minutes (double the saffron if using shop-bought pasta rather than the homemade saffron tagliatelle)
10 g parsley, finely chopped, plus an extra 0.5 tbsp to serve
60 g Parmesan, finely grated
120 g ricotta
salt and black pepper

Crispy chipotle shallots

2 tbsp olive oil
3-4 shallots, thinly sliced on a mandolin if you have 1, or by hand, and rings pulled apart
2 tbsp maple syrup
¾ tsp coriander seeds
¾ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp chipotle flakes

Pickled green chillies

2 large green chillies, finely sliced into rounds
2 tbsp rice vinegar
½ tsp caster sugar

Instructions

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For the shallots, heat the oil in a large, non-stick frying pan on a high heat. Once hot, add the shallots, maple syrup, coriander and cumin seeds, chipotle flakes and ¼ teaspoon of salt. Fry for , using a spatula to separate the shallots and stop them clumping so they crisp up evenly. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook for until they are caramelised and a deep, golden-brown. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper and use two forks to spread the shallots out – they will be sticky but will crisp up a little as they cool.
Put the green chillies into a small bowl with the vinegar, sugar and ¼ teaspoon of salt, stir to mix and set aside.
For the pasta sauce, put the 50 ml of oil, the garlic and ¼ teaspoon of salt into a large sauté pan on a medium-high heat. Gently fry for , then set aside.
Bring a very large pot of salted water to the boil (the pot needs to be large so the pasta doesn’t clump). If you’ve made fresh saffron tagliatelle, cook for , stirring with a fork to separate the strands. If using shop-bought, cook as per packet instructions, until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving 140 ml of the cooking water.
Add the cooked pasta to the sauté pan of garlic and return to a medium-high heat. Add the pasta water, the saffron and its soaking water, the parsley and a generous amount of pepper and toss everything together. Add the Parmesan slowly, tossing the pasta as you go and continuing to add more Parmesan as it melts into the sauce; this should take .
Transfer the pasta to a platter with a lip and dot the ricotta haphazardly over. Top with the crispy shallots, the pickled chillies along with ½ tablespoon of their pickling liquid, the remaining ½ tablespoon of parsley and a good grind of pepper. Serve at once.

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