Sardinian Recipe Idea: Caserecce with Fava Beans & Cherry Tomatoes
A light and fresh pasta dish, bursting with flavour and perfect for summer. The shape of the Sardinian Caserecce suits this delicate style of sauce which allows the unique shape of the pasta to feature prominently.
Ingredients:
- Caserecce - 500G
- Cherry tomatoes - 200G
- Fava beans - roughly 2 cups
- Smoked buffalo mozzarella - 175G
- Broth - 1 cup
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 clove of garlic
- Extra virgin olive oil - 7 tablespoons
- Sardinian chilli flakes - 1 teaspoon
- Fresh parsley, chopped
- Salt & pepper - qb / to taste
- Start heating the oven to 200°C (180°C for fan ovens)
- Place the tomatoes on a sheet pan covered with baking paper, drizzle over 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and Sardinian chilli flakes.
- Roast until the tomatoes collapse, about 10 minutes.
- Peel and chop a large onion and add it to the pan with a cracked garlic clove and 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Cook the onion until brown. At this point add the shelled beans and stir. After a few minutes, add a couple large ladles of broth and cook over low heat for 20-25 minutes. Season with black pepper. More time may be required for larger beans.
- When they are cooked, drain the beans and onions and add them to the roasted tomatoes with part of the chopped smoked buffalo mozzarella and the fresh chopped parsley on top. Leave to rest.
- Boil the water and add rock salt when the water comes to boil. Wait until the water returns to full rolling boil before putting in the pasta. Make sure that the bowl has enough water to cover all the pasta.
- When the pasta is cooking, you can add some of the boiling water to the tomatoes and bean sauce to thicken the sauce thanks to the starch contained on it.
- Read the cooking time on the pasta packaging and stop cooking it a touch before the suggested cooking time. Rinse the Caserecce after cooking and draining.
- Add the pasta to the pan with the tomatoes, beans and the rest of the buffalo mozzarella and mix all together at low heat until the mozzarella starts melting down; in the meantime, warm up the plates and serve the pasta, adding more fresh chopped parsley on top and fresh black pepper to garnish.
Enjoy!
