FRESH RICOTTA WITH BOTTARGA, PEAS, BROAD BEANS AND ASPARAGUS
❚ 80 g (2 3/4 oz) fresh podded peas
❚ 100 g (3 1/2 oz) podded broad beans
❚ 70 g (2 1/2 oz) sugar-snap peas
❚ 1 bunch asparagus
❚ 1 bunch broad bean leaves
❚ Bottarga (salted, cured mullet roe), to serve
Ricotta:
❚ 1 litre (34 fl oz/4 cups) milk
❚ 125 ml (4 fl oz) cream
❚ 1 tsp salt
❚ 40 ml (1 1/4 fl oz) white vinegar Vinaigrette:
❚ 50 ml (1 3/4 fl oz) olive oil
❚ 1 tbsp brown rice mirin
❚ 1/2 tbsp colatura (see note) or good-quality fish sauce
❚ Juice of 1 lemon
❚ 15 g (1/2 oz) bottarga (see note)
1. For the ricotta, add the milk, cream and salt to a saucepan, stir to combine and bring up to 90°C (190°F) over a low heat. Add the vinegar, stir and leave to sit for 1 hour. Scoop into an 8 cm (3 1/4 in) cheese mould (see note) and leave to drain.
2. For the vinaigrette, combine all the liquids in a bowl and whisk, then microplane in the bottarga.
3. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and blanch the vegetables, one at a time, for 30 seconds–1 minute, refreshing them in ice water immediately afterwards. Drain the vegetables. Cut the asparagus into rondelles (flat rounds), leaving the tips whole. Test the broad beans to see if they need to be double podded. Otherwise, leave the shells on.
4. Toss the vegetables with the vinaigrette and the broad bean leaves and serve alongside the ricotta turned out of the mould. Grate some more bottarga over the top to serve. Serves: 2–3
Notes: Colatura is an amber-coloured fish sauce made from anchovies.
Bottarga is the salted, pressed and dried roe sac of a fish. Eat it with vegetables, grate it over grains (such as risotto), pasta, scrambled eggs, or a slice of bread and butter for a unique hit of umami. Find it at Italian specialty stores and online.
If you don’t have a cheese mould, use a fine-mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth to drain the ricotta.