Whipped Ricotta Strozzapreti Carbonara

“This is my favourite comfort pasta. It’s a bit rich, but the addition of the chili crisp, found in grocery stores, cuts the richness and leaves you feeling full and satisfied! I love digging into a bowl of this pasta with a glass of Poplar Grove Chardonnay, its bright acidity balancing the intensity of the dish. We make our strozzapreti in-house from 100% semolina flour and sell it in our tasting room. If you cannot get your hands on some strozz, substitute for shells, or a sturdy, high quality shape” – Chef Stacy

Recipe Serves 2

For the Ricotta

• 1/2 cup Ricotta 
• ¼ cup Whipping Cream 
• Zest of one lemon 

For the Sauce (Cacio e Uova) 

• 3/4 lb Strozzapreti, dried 
• 2 tbsps Good quality butter 
• ½ tbsp Chili crisp 
• 1 tbsp Capers 
• 2 tbsps Castelvetrano olives, halved 
• 2 tsps Lemon Juice 
• ½ cup Parmigianno Reggiano, grated finely 
• 4-5 each Egg Yolks 

Directions: 

For the whipped ricotta:

• Whip 1/2 cup ricotta with 1/4 cup whipping cream and zest from 1 lemon.  Use a paddle on your mixer (or by hand) and whip until light and fluffy. 

 For the Pasta: 

• Bring a pot of heavily salted water to boil for the pasta. 
• In a large, nonstick frying pan over medium heat, reduce about 2 tbsp butter until nice and foamy. 
• Add your chili crisp (optional but a nice touch!), capers, and olives to infuse the butter. Cook for about 2 minutes to ensure all the flavors meld together. 
• Cook your pasta as per package instructions.  For our Strozzapreti, about 9 minutes does the trick! 
• While the pasta cooks, add about 1-2 oz of pasta water, this helps the sauce come together 
• Once the pasta is cooked, add it to the butter infusion at low heat. 
• Add 2 tsp lemon juice and the parmigiano) and toss until cheese is melted.  
• Next, take off heat and add egg yolks (throw in the 5th if you want it extra creamy), tossing /stirring the pan constantly to make sure you do not cook the egg yolk too far and scramble it.   
• If it is too thick for your liking, adding another 1 oz of hot pasta water while tossing will loosen it up a bit as well. 
• Toss until nice and glossy. Season with salt and a generous amount of ground black pepper. Put on top of the ricotta and finish with more parm! 

Best enjoyed with a glass of Poplar Grove Skaha Bench Chardonnay