michelle picker cooks

Here’s a delicious pasta recipe suitable for any short pasta. I used fusili.

In a dry pan toast ½ a cup of hazelnuts and set them aside to cool. When they’re cool roughly chop them. Boil a large pot of water and add a generous amount of salt. Add your pasta of choice and cook according to the packet instructions until just al dente. If you do this before cooking the sauce, make sure you retain some of the cooking water when you drain the pasta. Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan heat some olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter. Add a can of drained and quartered artichokes, 2 cloves of finely minced garlic, the zest of a medium lemon and some chilli flakes to taste. When the artichokes are cooked add 60g (2 oz) of cream cheese, ½ cup of finely grated parmesan and some of the pasta water. When the cheese has melted add the drained pasta and the hazelnuts. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste and stir to combine, adding more pasta water if needed. Serve with a drizzle of good quality olive oil and some freshly grated parmesan on top.