Cavetelli Pasta Dough:

1 cup semolina 

1 cup ‘OO’ flour 

¾ cup lukewarm water 

Alternatively use 500g cavatelli dried pasta 

Pasta Sauce:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter 

1 shallot, finely diced

4 cloves garlic, finely diced 

2 tablespoons plain flour 

¼ cup white wine (optional) 

400mls chicken stock (or vegetable if preferred)

1 teaspoon finely grated / microplanned lemon zest 

60mls / ¼ cup crème fraiche 

Juice of ½ lemon 

100g Le Gruyère AOP, finely grated 

Salt flakes, to season 

Cracked pepper, to season 

100g baby spinach  

1 small

Method:

  • If making pasta from scratch, combine pasta dough ingredients in a bowl and 
  • Knead for 5 minutes until dough bounces back 
  • Rest for 30 minutes wrapped in clingwrap 
  • Boil large pot of salted water, add pasta and cook until al dente. In last minute of cooking, add spinach. Drain pasta and spinach, reserving ¼ cup of pasta water. 
  • To make pasta sauce, place large frypan over medium heat. Add butter and when melted add shallots and cook for one minute, stirring occasionally, then add garlic and cook for a further two minutes. 
  • Stir in the flour and cook for one minute to make a light roux. Deglaze pan with white wine (if using) and whisk then slowly add the chicken stock and lemon zest, stirring constantly to so that the sauce is smooth. Simmer for a further three minutes so to thicken the sauce. 
  • Lower heat and stir through crème fraiche, lemon juice and gruyere cheese, whisk well and simmer for a further minute, season with plenty of salt flakes and cracked black pepper. 
  • Once pasta has cooked through, add pasta water and stir through drained pasta and wilted spinach. Tossing pasta well to coat. 

Option to serve with finely diced chervil or tarragon and more cracked black pepper and grated Le Gruyère AOP.