Effortlessly Elegant Pasta

Chilli, mint, almonds, double cream & Parmesan. Serves 6  150ml double cream  50g Parmesan cheese  50g whole blanched almonds

 1 clove of garlic

 1 fresh red chilli  1 lemon

 4 sprigs of mint  750g fresh free-range egg lasagne sheets YOU WILL ALSO NEED  Extra virgin olive oil

TO SERVE Put a large pan of boiling salted water on a high heat. Pour the cream into a large serving bowl, then finely grate in the Parmesan. Pound up the almonds in a pestle and mortar until fine. Peel and pound in the garlic, finely slice and add the chilli, finely grate in the lemon zest, tear in the mint leaves and pound it all together, then squeeze in the lemon juice and muddle in 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Spoon into the bowl with the cream, then sit it over the pan of water to gently warm through, stirring occasionally, while you use a large sharp knife to cut the lasagne sheets into 1/2cm strips. Remove the bowl of sauce from the pan and cook the pasta in the boiling water for 3 minutes, or until just cooked through. Use tongs to move it straight into the sauce, letting little splashes of cooking water go with it. Toss together until you have a silky sauce, loosening with extra splashes of cooking water, if needed, then season to perfection, tasting and tweaking. Serve right away in the middle of the table, finishing with an extra drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

PER SERVING 410cals,

11.1g protein, 25.4g fat (10.9g saturates), 33.5g carbs (1.1g total sugars), 2.1g fibre, 0.3g salt