For fresh pesto
Components
- 1 tea cup of mint leaves
- One-third of a tea cup of nuts
- Half a teaspoon of olive oil
- season with salt as desired
Setup phase
- Rinse and dry the mint leaves, then place them in the blender. Add the nuts, olive oil, and salt to taste, and blend thoroughly to crush the ingredients (you can also use a mixer if you prefer). Set aside.
Towards the noodles
Components
- 2 tea cups of orecchiette pasta (or any other small, dense type of dough)
- 2 zucchinis from Italy
- 1 cup (tea) of stored ricotta (150 g)
- 2 garlic cloves
- oil according to preference
- Add salt and ground pepper gradually to suit your taste.
- Fresh mint leaves as desired
Ready state
- Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, add one tablespoon of salt and the noodles. Cook according to the package instructions until al dente. In the meantime, get the zucchini ready.
- Using a vegetable brush, thoroughly clean the zucchini skin under running water. Remove the ends and slice each zucchini into 1 cm thick halves. Crush the garlic cloves with the side of the knife blade, leaving them whole to add fragrance to the olive oil in the skillet.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. As it warms, add water and half a tablespoon of olive oil, then place the garlic cloves and half of the zucchini slices in the pan—avoid adding all at once so the slices can touch the pan’s surface to caramelize. Season with salt and ground pepper, cooking for 2 minutes on each side until browned. Move the cooked pieces to a large bowl and repeat the process with the remaining zucchini, adding more olive oil to the skillet as needed.
- Put the ricotta in a bowl and season it with one tablespoon of olive oil, salt, and pepper to your liking. Stir thoroughly with a fork.
- Once cooked, drain the water and combine the noodles with the zucchini. Toss everything with the pesto sauce and stir thoroughly. Serve each portion topped with a spoonful of seasoned ricotta and garnished with mint leaves.
