So I was totally pissed after I took these photos of this dish BECAUSE- the whole freakin’ point of the dish was for me to do a seafood pasta with LEMON RICOTTA and smoked bacon. And what do you friggin’ know- those were the two ingredients I left in the fridge and completely forgot. As we ate our pasta- I just kept grunting and grumbling about how pissed I was I left out those two ingredients. So- Aaron suggested I make some kind of toast dish with the lemon ricotta and then I calmed down whilst day dreaming of what I was going to create with it. (I pretty much love anything with the word “toast” in the name of the dish. Or when it’s referring to bubbles.
I wanted to keep this dish light and summery- and to make something that we could cook in the cast iron skillet in the grill. Perfect summer ingredients= white wine, lemon, fresh herbs, swiss chard, capers and mussels! If you include the peas for this dish, I recommend you add them in last thing- nobody likes an overcooked, mushy pea (unless you’re a British grandpa). I think if we make this again I’ll opt out on the peas and sub in some smoked bacon!
We chose to use Bucatini (also known as Perciatelli) in this recipe because we wanted to try a type of pasta we’ve never had before. Bucatini looks similar to spaghetti- except they are a bit thicker and have a hole that runs down the middle the length of the noodle. These were great- chewy and soaked up the white wine sauce- I would definitely use them again. If you can find fresh pasta, of course I recommend that. But for the sake of ease, we just grabbed some that was boxed. You should be able to find at your local grocer- this recipe used Barilla brand.
As a side note- Aaron and I collaborated on this one! I prepped all the ingredients and Aaron fired up the grill. Cooking together is one of our favorite things to do as a couple! If you like bourbon, beer and BBQ- follow him on instagram: @aequitas_veritas_81
Also- can I tell you guys how much I LOVE grilled bread? I’ve also used the rest of this loaf in my next recipe post- so I hope you’re read to fill up on gluten! This bread came fresh from the bakery and is simply rubbed with olive oil and tossed on the hot grill. It was especially great with a little squeeze of lemon and dipped in the sauce on the bottom of the skillet.
