My cooking is often inspired by what happens to be on hand, like some delicious ricotta left over from a cooking class and a huge bunch of chives from a herb patch gone berserk. That’s how this dish came about.
Serves: 6 as an entrée
Ingredients
500g large pasta shells (see below)
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
600g ricotta
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 bunches chives, finely sliced
1 lemon, zest finely grated.
Taleggio Sauce
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion, finely diced
500ml single cream
200g Taleggio*
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste.
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Cook pasta in plenty of well-salted boiling water until just al dente. Drain well, toss gently with oil and spread out on a tray to cool.
Meanwhile, make Taleggio Sauce: heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat, add onion and cook, covered, for about 6 minutes, until soft but not coloured. Add cream and boil for a couple of minutes until slightly thickened. Reduce heat, add Taleggio and nutmeg and stir until cheese melts. Set aside.
Combine ricotta, egg, chives and lemon zest.
Pour Taleggio Sauce into a large baking dish.
Fill shells with ricotta mixture, gently squeezing them back into shape, and arrange them in the baking dish in a single layer.
Bake for about 35 minutes, until just starting to brown.
Serve immediately.
Note: You won’t need all the pasta shells for this recipe, but some always break so it’s best to cook them all. You can turn the leftovers into a delicious mac’n’cheese.
*Taleggio has a mild and tangy flavour. Good substitutes are Brie, Gorgonzola Dolce and Fontina.
Roberta Muir is a food, wine and travel writer and manager of the Sydney Seafood School. Visit her website for more recipes and insights.
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