Orecchiette with peas, pine nuts, and ricotta

We have cooked a lot of recipes out of the April/May 2015 issue of Cook's Country, and most of them we haven't written up, so this is going to be the first of a series. It's one of the recipe cards, and may in fact be the recipe that introduced me to the deliciousness that is orecchiette pasta. Orecchiette + peas in particular is an ideal combo, since the peas nestle perfectly into the cup-shaped orecchiette.

Ingredients

• 125mL part-skim ricotta cheese
• 45mL chopped fresh mint
• 5mL grated lemon zest
• 15mL lemon juice
• salt and pepper
• 1mL red pepper flakes
• 64mL olive oil
• 3 thinly sliced shallots
• 250mL frozen peas
• 500g dried, store-bought orecchiette
• 64mL toasted pine nuts

Procedure

1. In the background, bring pasta water to a boil.
2. Combine ricotta, 30mL of the mint, lemon zest, lemon juice, 2mL salt, 2mL pepper, and pepper flakes in a bowl; set aside.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots, 1mL salt, and 1mL pepper and cook until lightly browned, 3-5 minutes.
4. Remove from the heat, stir in peas, and set aside.
5. Cook pasta in the boiling water; once al dente, reserve 125mL of the cooking water and drain the pasta.
6. Stir shallot mixture and reserved water into pasta. Season with salt and pepper to taste, transfer to serving platter, and top with ricotta mixture.