Orecchiette with Bacon, Courgettes and Peas

There's something quietly satisfying about handmade pasta - simple, rustic, and grounded in
tradition. This orecchiette, shaped by hand and paired with smoky bacon, tender courgettes, and sweet peas, is a celebration of both patience and payoff. The sauce is built on the rendered richness of lardons, lifted by lemon and crème fraiche, and bound with a handful of fresh basil and a dusting of Parmesan.

It’s the kind of dish that rewards slowing down: from the meditative shaping of the pasta to the gentle sizzle of the garlic in bacon fat. Seasoned with freshly cracked pepper and a shake of salt from the Cole and Mason salt shaker and pepper mill and finished with a hint of chilli warmth (if you're so inclined), it brings together the best of British summer garden flavours with comforting depth.

Perfect for a weekend cook when you’ve got time to linger in the kitchen, or to impress guests with something that you can put your heart into - this is pasta the way it should be: honest, fresh, and full of flavour. 

Ingredients

• 275g fine semolina
  
• 130g water
  
• 180g bacon lardons
  
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
  
• 1 courgette, cut into thin rounds
  
• 75g frozen peas
  
• 3 tbsp crème fraiche
  
• Pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
  
• A handful of basil leaves
  
• 30g Parmesan cheese, grated
  
• The juice of half a lemon

Method: 

1. To make the orecchiette, place the semolina in a mound on a clean worktop. Make a large well in the middle and slowly pour in the water. Using a fork, gently incorporate the semolina into the water a little at a time.
   
2. Once you have a thick paste, use your hands to bring the dough together, ensuring that you incorporate all the semolina. Knead the dough for 3 minutes, then tightly cover and rest for 5 minutes.
   
3. After 5 minutes, knead the dough again for a few minutes, then rest for a further 30 minutes.
   
4. When you are ready to roll the pasta, divide the dough into four equal pieces. Roll one of the pieces into one long sausage, about 1.5 cm thick, then cut into 1.5cm pillows.
   
5. To shape the orecchiette, take one of the pieces of dough and use the back of a butter knife at a 45-degree angle to apply pressure to one of the edges while you pull back. Turn it inside out over your thumb to create to finished shape. You should end up with a rough circle with one smooth side and one rough side.
   
6. Place the pasta onto a tray dusted with semolina and work through all the dough. Be patient, as it may take a few goes to get the hang of things.
   
7. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, ready for the pasta.
   
8. For the sauce, add the lardons to a large cold pan, then turn the heat to medium-low to allow the fat to render. Once the fat has rendered from the lardons and they have crisped up, remove them from the pan, but leave the fat.
   
9. Add the garlic and gently cook for a few minutes before adding the courgettes, seasoning with salt and pepper and allowing to slightly soften. Add the peas and crème fraiche and stir through.
   
10. Drop the pasta in the boiling water and cook for 2-4minutes or until it floats to the top of the water and tastes cooked through. Add the pasta to the sauce along with the basil, chilli flakes if using, parmesan cheese and just enough pasta water to bring everything together into a light creamy sauce. Squeeze over the juice of a lemon, check the seasoning for salt and pepper, then serve.