When you crave some greenery, but still want something comforting and satisfying, this pasta dish hits the spot. The Comté is combined with crème fraîche and eggs to make a creamy, rich sauce that goes beautifully with the broccoli.
Method
- Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, add a teaspoon of water and rest a large heatproof bowl over the top of the pan, so that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Boil a kettle of water (for later on).
- Put the crème fraîche and 300g of the Comté in the bowl. Stir gently until the cheese is melted into the crème fraîche. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Cut off the hard ends of the broccoli, slice the stalks diagonally and leave the smaller florets whole, or cut any large ones in half.
- Once the cheese mixture is all combined, remove the bowl from the pan, turn the heat up high so the water is boiling hard. Drop in the tagliatelle and broccoli – top up pan with boiling water to cover it all fully. Boil for 2 to 3 minutes until the pasta is just cooked through.
- Whisk the egg yolks and thyme leaves into the sauce, drain the pasta and broccoli (keep a little of the cooking water) and toss them in the sauce. If the sauce is a bit too thick, you can loosen it with a little of the cooking water. Taste and season if necessary, then serve immediately with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and the remaining Comté sprinkled over the top.
Recipe © Laura Pope