Now that spring promises to finally reappear, I've got into the mood with "paccheri con zucca, asparagi e capesante" today; a simple and delicious dish of large-format pasta with butternut squash, scallops and grilled asparagus with a spicy red pepper pesto.
Paccheri, a pasta originally from Campania, is a personal favourite and I cook it often. But, this dish works with a range of pastas including rigatoni, bucatini, conchiglioni or tagliatelle.
It's actually simple, though there are a number of different steps in the cooking process. It's less about cooking a complicated sauce, and more about creating a pesto and preparing a range of ingredients separately. Then you cook the pasta and bring it all together at the last moment. I suggest you read through the whole recipe to "get" how choreographing this dish works. No, it's not difficult, but always good to know your dance steps in advance...
This recipe serves 3 to 4 diners. Scale up (or down) as needed.
Shopping list
300 to 350g dried paccheri (or your preferred pasta)
Approx. 300g green asparagus (aka sprue)
½ a large butternut squash, cut into large pieces, skin-on
150g small closed-cup mushrooms; cut in half
1 medium brown onion; chopped
Approx. 100g small, raw small scallops
250g ricotta cheese
3 large red bell peppers
2 tbsns of minced hot Italian chillies
2 tspns oregano
2 tbspns chopped smoked garlic
A generous clutch of fresh basil
Approx. 6 tbspns extra virgin olive oil
Approx. 1 tbspn of butter
3 tbspns tomato purée
2 handfulls of pine nuts (alternatively, walnuts if you prefer "bitter")
juice of ½ a fresh lemon
salt and pepper to taste
for the side salad
1 (or more) little gem lettuce
150g small plum tomatoes, halved
4 or 5 spring onions, chopped
Approx. 50g Grana Padano (or other hard, aged cheese); finely grated
A little balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil; as dressing
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Cooking Method
Grill the asparagus and red bell peppers using a grilling pan,"overhead" grill or charcoal grill. Peel the bell peppers using this nifty hack and chop the asparagus into "bite-size" sections. You can do both/either even days before. Simply dress with a little olive oil and lemon juice and store, covered, in the fridge until near serving the dish
Cut the butternut squash into large segments (skin on) and bring to the boil in a pot of lightly salted water with a lid. After roughly 12 to15 mins, the squash should be cooked. Make deep vertical and horizontal cuts into the cooked squash flesh using a sharp knife. Scoop the cooked squash off the skin using a large spoon. Again, you can do this the day before and store, dressed with a little lemon juice and olive oil, covered, in the fridge. Just ensure that you remove it from the fridge with sufficient time to return to room temperature before preparing the dish for serving
Add the smoked garlic, roasted bell peppers, ricotta, pine nuts, oregano, tomato purée, basil and half of the lemon juice to a suitably deep dish or jug. Using a hand-held blender, blend these ingredients into a smooth pesto. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Again, you can do this the day before serving the dish and store any extra, sealed, in the fridge for a couple of days. Simply make sure you remove it with sufficient time to return to room temperature before serving. It will store safely in the fridge for later use for at least 4 or 5 days
Prepare the salad of little gem lettuce, tomatoes, spring onions and cheese, but hold off adding the olive oil and balsamico until just before serving
Cook the pasta in lightly salted water. While the pasta is cooking, sauté the mushrooms in a little olive oil. As soon as the mushrooms are cooked, remove them and add them to a bowl with the butternut squash and asparagus
Without cleaning the pot/pan, add a tbspn of butter and melt it until it bubbles, ensuring it's hot. Throw in the scallops, add the reminder of the lemon juice and season with a little pepper and salt. Cook until the scallops are seared on the outside, but still "tender" on the inside. Remove from the heat and allow to rest. Then, add to the microwave-proof dish containing the butternut squash, mushrooms, asparagus and other vegetable ingredients
Shortly before the pasta is cooked, place the asparagus, mushrooms and butternut squash and scallops—in their glass or ceramic bowl—into the microwave oven and reheat for 1 or 2 mins
Drain the pasta, return to the pot and cover. First add the pesto and stir in throughly, allowing it to seep in. Then add the reheated butternut squash, asparagus, scallops and mushrooms, folding in gently.
Plate and take to table, serving with the simple salad. Dress the salad just before you take it to the table or "at table"
Alternatives
Vegetarians and vegans
This is a default pescatarian dish. You can transform it into a veggie meal simply by leaving out the scallops and increasing the mushroom, asparagus and butternut squash proportionally. And, by simply removing the cheese in the salad, it becomes vegan (assuming you opt for a pasta that doesn't use eggs).
Carnivores
You can swap out the scallops for thick bacon lardons. Or, if you're feeling decadent, go for the full surf-'n-turf iteration by using both. Buon appetito!
Pairings
I love this dish simply with sparkling water and a slice of lemon. That said, it's also great with perky white such as a good South African Chenin Blanc, with those lovely undertones of black pepper or even a gritty Chardonnay.
Yes, of course there are great whites out there that can sing with this dish. But, given its humble paesan DNA, these days I'm much more into committing to wines that come from a verified ethical producer.
Just as I can, I'm sure you can find a suitable dry white wine in your region that wasn't created by making the lives of the workers at the winery hell. Go there.
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