Erica De Mane

Recipe below: Fusilli with Zucchini and Lemon Mint Ricotta

One night last week I binge-watched the YouTube series Pasta Grannies. If you don’t know about it, you should really take a look. As an Italian food lover, I find it a must-see. Older women from all over Italy show you how they make the pastas they’ve been creating for decades, classics from their regions, some so intricate, so rich with history that they seem born from religious fervor. Watching one of these ladies roll thin semolina pasta strands around a skinny metal rod, repeatedly, until she has a huge pile of delicate threads, made my mind spin with anxiety.  All I could think was, I’m so glad I don’t have to do that.

Many of these regional pastas are on the verge of dying out, as the show makes clear. Younger people aren’t inclined to quit their jobs so they can stay home and roll and stuff pasta all day. I get that. But I want these regional pastas to survive, even if made only on special occasions, the way I make orecchiette or cavatelli, pasta shapes typical of my ancestral town of Castelfranco in Miscano. And cavatelli are not all that hard, compared with the wild things some of these grannies are making (I was fascinated to learn, for instance, that some dishes traditionally contain two types of pasta, in one case mini ravioli placed on the bottom of a bowl, a long spindly pasta over that, and then the whole thing topped with a long-cooked ragù. That’s a lot of work.)

In one of the Pasta Grannies segments, a woman makes a slightly sweet pasta filling using ricotta, lemon, mint, and just a touch of sugar. Lemon and mint to flavor ricotta. Yes. I had forgotten how fragrant that combination is. I woke up the next morning thinking about those flavors and wanted to watch the segment again. But I had watched so many Pasta Grannies, and while drinking an ample amount of good Sicilian rosato, that when I went  back to look for the show, I couldn’t find it (there are more than 200 segments, and more in the works). And I can’t even remember exactly what type of pasta she made or what region it was from. Brain overload. Nevertheless, I was so inspired by that lady, I put together a simple summer pasta topped with a dollop of ricotta flavored with lemon and mint (using store-bought fusilli, I have to confess). I loved the way it came out. Thank you, Pasta Granny, wherever you are.

Fusilli with Zucchini and Lemon Mint Ricotta

(Serves 5 as a first course)

For the ricotta:

1½ cups ricotta, sheep’s milk if available
The grated zest from 2 large lemons
1 teaspoon sugar
A few big scrapings of nutmeg
A pinch of salt
About 10 spearmint leaves, chopped

For the rest:

Salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 summer onion, diced, using all of the tender green stem
10 small summer zucchini (or about 5 bigger ones), cut into thin rounds
1 large summer garlic clove, sliced
Black pepper
A few big scrapings of nutmeg
1 pound fusilli
A splash of white wine
A squeeze of lemon juice
A handful of spearmint leaves, lightly chopped
A chunk of pecorino Toscano or Sardo cheese

Mix all the ricotta ingredients together in a bowl, adding a little warm water to loosen them and smooth them out.

Set up a pot of pasta cooking water and bring it to a boil, adding a generous amount of salt.

While the water is coming to a boil, drizzle about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a large skillet over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the onion and the zucchini. Sauté until the zucchini just starts to brown at the edges, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic, and season with black pepper, salt, and the nutmeg. Continue cooking until the zucchini is tender but still holding its shape, a minute or so longer. Add the splash of wine to the skillet, and let it boil away.

Drop the fusilli into the boiling water. When it’s al dente, drain it, saving a little of the cooking water, and tip it into a large serving bowl. Add the zucchini sauce, the lemon juice, the mint, a fresh drizzle of olive oil, and a few gratings of cheese. Toss, loosening the pasta with some cooking water if it’s too dry. Check for seasoning.

Serve in bowls with a big spoonful of the ricotta on top, and a little more grated pecorino, if you desire.

And here’s the introduction to Pasta Grannies, to get you started: