Tagliatelle with charred red pepper sauce and salsa verde

Ingredients Serves 4

250g dried tagliatelle (or another pasta)

Charred red pepper sauce

340g red romano peppers (3-4 peppers)

125g single cream

25g parmesan

25g tomato paste 

2 tbsp olive oil 

1 small garlic clove

1 tsp dried onion granules

1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (or ¼ tsp ground nutmeg), plus extra to serve

½ tsp paprika (not smoked)

Salsa verde

10g chives, very finely chopped

5g parsley, very finely chopped

2 thin slices of lemon, skin left on, deseeded and very finely chopped

3 tbsp olive oil

Method

Preheat the oven to the highest grill setting. 

Place the peppers on a flat baking tray. Grill on the top shelf of the oven until soft and blackened in patches, about 8 mins, then turn and grill for another 7-8 minutes, or until that side is soft and blackened in patches too. Keep an eye on them, they may be ready sooner if your grill is particularly powerful - you don’t want them to be completely charred all over.

Remove the peppers’ stalks and seeds, then transfer to a blender (no need to peel the peppers). Add all the remaining ingredients for the sauce, ¼ tsp fine salt and about 50 twists of freshly ground black pepper. Blitz until smooth, then tip into a large saute pan. Set aside.

Add all the ingredients for the salsa verde to a small bowl with ⅛ tsp fine salt and some black pepper. Mix and set aside.

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water per packet instructions until al dente. Drain, reserving 325ml of the pasta water.

Return the saute pan with the sauce to a medium-high heat, then add the 325 ml pasta water. Bring to a simmer. Once simmering, add the drained tagliatelle and toss over the heat until the pasta and sauce have emulsified; 1½ - 2  minutes. Add more salt to taste, if needed.

Divide between four plates and drizzle over some of the salsa verde. Finish with a grating of fresh nutmeg, some black pepper and more olive oil.