A dish like this can look intimidating but I promise you it’s achievable if you break it down into steps. The filling is a super simple ricotta pesto, and the pasta parcels are nestled into a lemon butter with cooked and raw courgettes surrounding. Finished with toasted pine nuts, fresh basil and some edible flowers for the ultimate pop of prettiness.

SERVES 4

PREP TIME: 2 HOURS

COOKING TIME: 30 MINS

INGREDIENTS:

For the pasta

For the filling

For the sauce

Method

Making the pasta

I find it easier to start pasta dough in a bowl rather than on the bench but make it however you like. Make a well in the middle of the flour and tip eggs in and whisk with a fork, breaking up the yolks and gradually incorporating the flour from around the sides into the middle.

Keep doing this until the mixture in the middle is a scrambled egg consistency then start to mix it all together in cutting motions up and down and side to side to make it into an even shaggy mixture.

Squeeze it into a ball and knead for 3 – 4 minutes until it comes together into a workable ball. If it feels sticky resist the urge to add flour, if it feels dry wet your hands and continue kneading. Wrap in cling film and rest for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes knead for a further 3 - 4 minutes until you have a smooth dough.

Wrap in clingfilm and rest at room temperature for at least 30 mins but preferably an hour or up to three.

Making the filling

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, adding lemon juice and salt and pepper to your liking. Put into the fridge until ready to use.

Shaping the pasta

When the dough has rested cut it into four pieces and work with a quarter at a time.

Dust with flour and roll through the widest setting of your machine then through the next setting.

Fold in half, dust with flour then roll back through the widest and the next, repeating this process twice more before taking the sheets through all the settings twice stopping at setting 6 on a marcato roller or 7 on a kitchen aid attachment.

Using an 8cm or 9cm circular cookie cutter (or a knife around a glass) cut out circles and place a teaspoon of filling into the middle.

Fold the circle in half pressing all the air out and firmly sealing the edges. Place it upright with the curved side down, folding the curved edge underneath itself.

Press your finger down on the filling to create a dimple in the top and press the filling out into the sides.

Put the finished scarpinocc on a tray lined with baking paper and loosely covered with clingfilm. If you aren’t cooking them straight away, they can be frozen open on a tray until frozen (30ish minutes) then transferred to a snaplock bag or container to be cooked from frozen.

Making the sauce and finishing

Place the courgette slices into a sieve or colander, toss with a good teaspoon of salt and leave for 30 minutes to draw water out of them.

Rinse and pat dry with paper towels then fry over a medium heat in olive oil for 5 – 7 mins until just starting to brown and caramelise. Set aside.

Cook the scarpinocc in a pot of well salted boiling water for 5 minutes or until cooked to your liking. You will be cooking the pasta and making the sauce simultaneously.

Melt the butter over medium heat and when just starting to sizzle add the lemon juice and whisk vigorously to emulsify.

Add a good pinch of salt and a 1/3 cup of pasta water and whisk again vigorously.

Add the cooked courgettes and give some of them a little mash to sink into the butter. Let it gently bubble for a couple of minutes, adding more pasta water if you need to loosen.

Add the cooked pasta straight in and let it gently bubble for a minute, spooning some of the butter over the pasta.

Divide between plates and finish with the pine nuts, courgette ribbons, some fresh basil leaves, lemon zest and edible flowers if using.

Grate some freshly grated parmesan on top with a good crack of black pepper.

Recipe created for Yealands by Burnt Butter Table. Wine match: Yealands Reserve Sauvignon Blanc.