Best Burrata With Speck English Peas And Parmigiano Reggiano Recipes

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PASTA ALLA CHITARRA WITH BURRATA-SPECK-PEA SAUCE



Pasta alla Chitarra with Burrata-Speck-Pea Sauce image

Nancy Silverton, of Mozza fame, is a culinary idol of mine, and she makes an appetizer with burrata, speck, and peas in "The Mozza Cookbook." This sauce is a pasta homage to her dish, to spring, and to the old-world Italian combination of peas, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and prosciutto. The big flavors and bold ingredients will overpower a wispy, lithe noodle, so thing textured and craggy, such as farfalle or fusilli, when deciding on a pasta pairing for this one. Labneh is just yogurt that has been drained to remove the whey, resulting in a thick and tangy cream. If you can't find it, substitute drained whole milk yogurt.

Provided by Linda Miller Nicholson

Categories     main-dish

Time 20m

Yield 4 servings

Number Of Ingredients 15

12 ounces pasta alla chitarra, fresh or dried
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for the pasta water
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small shallot, julienned
3 ounces speck (about 10 thin pieces), each piece sliced into 1/4-inch strips (can substitute prosciutto)
2/3 cup freshly shelled English peas
1/2 cup labneh
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
1 1/2 cups hot, starchy pasta water
30 sugar snap peas, stringy ends removed, sliced on the bias into 1/4-inch pieces
One 8-ounce tub burrata cheese (2 balls), drained
1/2 cup pea sprouts or tender vines of young peas (optional)
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, Q.B. (optional)

Steps:

  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
  • Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Fry the shallot for 2 minutes, then add the speck and fry for 2 minutes more. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the peas, labneh, lemon juice, salt, pepper, mint, and 1 cup of the pasta water. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and toss immediately with pasta and half of the sugar snap peas.
  • One minute before serving, pour the remaining 1/2 cup hot pasta water over the burrata balls. Plate the pasta and top with the remaining sugar snap peas. Gently remove the burrata from the hot water and tear each ball in half using your hands. Place half a burrata on top of each serving of pasta along with the pea sprouts (if using). Top with the Parmigiano, if desired.

BURRATA WITH SPECK, ENGLISH PEAS, AND PARMIGIANO-REGGIANO



Burrata with Speck, English Peas, and Parmigiano-Reggiano image

Peas, Parmigiano, and prosciutto are a combination that you see often in Italy, and one that, to me, says spring. The way we plate this dish it looks like a bird's nest, with half of a ball of burrata nestled into folds of speck, topped with a pile of peas, and then covered with a light dusting of Parmigiano that looks like fresh fallen snow. Although I prefer the smoky flavor of the speck, prosciutto is a fine substitute.

Yield serves 4

Number Of Ingredients 8

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup shelled fresh English peas (about 20 pods, or 2 1/2 pounds unshelled peas)
20 sugar snap peas
20 medium mint leaves, stacked and very thinly sliced lengthwise
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus a wedge for grating an additional 1/4 cup
2 tablespoons finishing-quality extra-virgin olive oil
16 thin slices of speck (about 2 ounces) or prosciutto (about 4 ounces)
8 ounces burrata

Steps:

  • Fill a large saucepan with water, salt the water to taste like the ocean, adding approximately 1 tablespoon of salt to each quart of water, and bring it to a boil over high heat. Fill a bowl with ice water and line a plate or small bowl with paper towels. Place a wire strainer in the sink. Add the Engllish peas to the boiling water and cook them for about 1 1/2 minutes, until they turn bright green but are still crunchy. Quickly drain the peas in the wire strainer and plunge them, still in the strainer, in the ice water to cool completely, about 1 minute. Transfer them to the paper towels to drain.
  • Pull the strings off the sugar snap peas, discard, and slice the sugar snap peas 1/8 inch thin on such an extreme bias that you are almost slicing them lengthwise. Put the peas, sugar snap peas, and mint in a medium bowl. Sprinkle with the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, season with salt and pepper, drizzle with the olive oil, and toss to combine the ingredients and coat the vegetables with the seasonings.
  • Drape four slices of speck in a rosette-like pattern on each of four salad plates, dropping the slices onto the plate so they stand up slightly rather than placing the slices flat against the plate. Cut the burrata into four equal segments and nestle one segment in the center of each "rosette." Pile the dressed peas on top of the burrata, allowing a bit to fall onto the speck below, and use a microplane or another fine grater to grate a light layer of Parmigiano-Reggiano over each plate, and serve.
  • Pinot Bianco (Alto Adige)

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