Yesterday when I picked my son up from childcare, there was the beautiful aroma of fresh basil in the warm, humid air. Inside the centre playground, the kids had been planting herbs and the basil plants were overflowing the wine barrel they were planted in. When I asked whether I could take some, I was told to go for it, because no one else ate it. What a bonus!
On the walk home I was thinking of all the things I could make with my basil - pesto, a tomato, basil and boconcini salad, a simple pasta sauce........
After a week of curry and chilli con carne, I thought that a nice simple pasta with beautiful fresh produce was the go. Ripe red tomatoes, fresh basil and roasted ricotta. The perfect combination!
I used a basil infused olive oil to add a bit more depth of flavour, but any good extra virgin olive oil will do. You won't need all of the roasted ricotta for this dish, so keep the rest for breakfast or lunch. Good food doesn't have to be fancy!
Tomato, Basil and Baked Ricotta Pasta
500g fresh ricotta
250g short pasta of your choice
3 small ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 sprigs of fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
Finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
A handful of rocket
Salt and pepper to taste
A good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
Grated parmesan and extra basil to serve
To roast the ricotta, pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees. Slice the fresh ricotta into 2cm wide slices and place on a greased oven tray. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until starting to turn golden on the outside. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
When cooled to room temperature, cut roughly into 1cm dice.
Cook pasta according to packet instructions and drain, keeping about a cup of pasta water to the side.
Return the pasta to the same saucepan with the chopped tomatoes, torn basil, lemon rind and juice, oil and pasta water. Season to taste and stir gently to combine the flavours.
Add the ricotta and rocket and gently toss to combine.
Serve with some extra basil over the top and a grating of fresh parmesan, if you like.
Enjoy as a simple dinner or an easy lunch.
And To Drink....
I was planning to match this simple pasta dish with a nice light, fruity pinot noir. A storm had just set in and we'd got absolutely saturated on the walk home from school. It was pouring with rain and the temperature had dropped. I was secretly looking forward to opening a bottle of red. In typical Melbourne fashion, ten minutes later, the sky had cleared, the sun had come out and the temperature and humidity had risen. Now I was hot and wanted a refreshing white!
The choice of the day was the Vinaceous 'Shakre' chardonnay from Margaret River. I came across these wines at The Fabulous Ladies Wine Society Melbourne dinner a couple of months ago. I was blown away by the freshness of the chardonnay and how un-chardonnay it tasted. Full of citrus, passionfruit and zing, it's not quite like a sauvignon blanc, but not like a rich buttery chardonnay either.
It was a perfect match to the lemon in the pasta and complimented the sweet tomatoes and fragrant basil. A lovely drop to enjoy on what ended up being a warm night.
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