Farfalle with Zucchini Flowers, Mint and Pecorino
Zucchini flowers have a similar life span to a butterfly, they are wonderful when just picked but by day two, they are already starting to wilt. This is therefore a spontanteous treat, when you have them in hand, you must use them immediately!
INGREDIENTS
12 Zucchini Flowers, with baby zucchinis attached
80ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil, we use Zefiro from Frantoio Fonte di Foiano on the Tuscan Coast
1 clove of garlic, finely grated or crushed
1 small tropea onion, finely sliced
1 lemon, rind and juice required
400g Farfalle pasta
A bunch of roughly torn mint
50g pecorino, finely grated plus extra to serve
Flaked Salt and freshly ground pepper
METHOD
Wash the zucchini and flowers carefully and then snap off the zucchini flowers from the baby zucchini. Discard the stamen from the flowers and roughly chop the flowers in to around 4 pieces.
Finely slice the baby zucchini in to discs and set aside.
Gently heat the oil in a deep bottomed frying pan and add the zucchini flowers, cooking until they are crisp (2-3 minutes). Remove with a slotted spoon and place on kitchen paper.
In the same pan, add the garlic and onion and allow to soften over 2-3 minutes. Then add the zucchini discs and coat well, cooking for just 1-2 minutes so that they retain a good bite. Remove from the heat and add the lemon zest and juice and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the farfalle until al dente, typically around 12-13 minutes. Reserve 2 tablespoons of pasta water and drain.
Then add the pasta to the zucchini pan along with the mint, and pecorino. Combine thoroughly adding the pasta water as necessary as well as a good swirl of olive oil.
To serve, scatter the fried zucchini flowers on the top and add some additional pecorino to taste.