Make the most of wild garlic season with this fresh and zingy pasta recipe by Passo.

NEED TO KNOW

Preparation Time: 1 hour
Serves: 4-6 as a main, double as a starter
Difficulty: Intermediate

INGREDIENTS

For the dough:

170g 00 pasta flour (or strong bread flour)
55g semolina flour
9 egg yolks
1 pinch salt
1 tbsp wild garlic puree
For the wild garlic puree

75g wild garlic leaves
75ml extra virgin olive oil
For the pasta:

1 lemon
150g butter
Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
200g pancetta slices
150g pecorino
Extra wild garlic leaves for garnish

1. Blanch the wild garlic leaves in rapidly boiling water for a few seconds. Remove, douse with iced water and squeeze all the water out after.
2. Mix the leaves with the oil and blend until a smooth paste, strain off the excess oil through a jay cloth or sieve. Keep the oil and puree separate.
3. Make the pasta dough by mixing all the ingredients, including the garlic puree, together in a bowl. You may need to add extra flour to ensure it’s not too sticky. The dough needs to be soft and light green in colour but you must be able to handle it without it sticking to your hands. Once made, knead for 10-15 minutes and then cover with cling film to rest for 1 hour, or preferably overnight.
4. Chop the pancetta into bitesize size pieces. Cook in a little wild garlic oil until golden and crisp, then allow to drain and cool on a piece of kitchen paper.
5. To make the pasta, roll it on a pasta roller to thickness number 2. Use a knife or a pasta cutter to cut the desired shape – fazzoletti translates to handkerchief in English. Aim for 3 by 5 inch rectangles.
6. Once ready place the sheets onto a tray dusted with semolina and allow to dry for a while – 1\2 hours or so.
7. In the meantime, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and in a separate pan put the juice and zest of the lemon and the diced butter in and start to heat it gently.
8. Cook the pasta for 2-3 mins or to your desired stage of cooking. Add 3 ladles of the cooking water to the pan with lemon juice and butter. Then add the pasta, wild garlic leaves, and season.
9. Divide among the plates and pour the lemon butter sauce equally on the pasta. Garnish with crispy pancetta and shaved pecorino.