6-26-17 Penne with mixed greens and small white beans

It’s time to harvest our third crop of mixed greens, and once again I will pair them with white beans and pasta.  But the big news from Casa Renzulli is our new cooktop that will have its “maiden voyage” tonight.

INGREDIENTS:

      1.     Penne pasta

2.     Mixed greens- Collard, Beets, and Mustard greens

3.     Olive oil

4.     Leek

5.     Carrots

6.     Garlic

7.     Sundried tomatoes coarsely chopped

8.     Fresh Thyme and basil coarsely chopped

9.     Small white beans

10. Chicken broth

PROCESS:

Cook the Leek and carrots in the oil until soft and add the garlic and tomatoes. Continue cooking uncovered over med-low heat for several minutes before adding the beans and herbs.  Continue cooking uncovered for another 10 minutes.  Add about ¼ cup of chicken broth to prevent the sauce from getting to thick.  I added the mixed greens at the same time I put the pasta in the water to cook.  All of the times I’ve listed are very general estimates and there is a lot of flexibility in how you prepare this.

COMMENTS:

The tomatoes and Leek helped give this a little different flavor from the previous mixed greens recipes.  Patience loved it.  And I love our new cooktop with 5 – count them – 5 burners.  Although I only needed 2 tonight.

6-2-17 day 2 Penne with beans and greens

I walked into the kitchen tonight to prepare diner and was immediately reminded of a WWII song, Coming in on a wing and a prayer.  Revising a line from that song, I began singing to myself, “though there’re three burners gone, I can still carry on, cooking pasta on a wing and a prayer”. I guess you need to know the song to appreciate this so here is a link to check: http://www.historyonthenet.com/authentichistory/1939-1945/3-music/06-Services/19420200_Comin_In_On_A_Wing_And_A_Prayer-Song_Spinners.html  This is one of first songs I learned. But I digress.

Tonight’s mission was to use the greens from the porch garden that were ready to be harvested.  An easy and pleasant task using white beans, pasta, and a combination of beet greens, mustard greens, and Swiss chard.  The challenge was to accomplish this with only one burner.

INGREDIENTS:

1.Penne pasta

2. Mixed greens

3. Onion-celery-garlic

4.Beans (small white beans- but any other will do)

5. Fresh basil and parsley

6. Olive oil

7. Red pepper flakes

PROCESS:

Cook the onions and celery and red pepper flakes over medium –low heat until soft.  Add the garlic and cook for several minutes before adding the can of beans and the basil. Cook for 5-10 minutes.  At this point I replaced the skillet on the burner with a pot of salted water and blanched the greens in the boiling water for about 3 minutes. I transferred the green to the skillet with the beans, placed it back on the burner, and simmered for about 10 minutes before removing it and returning the pot of water to the burner to cook the pasta.  The pasta was then added to the beans and greens, which went back on the burner for about 2-3 more minutes of cooking.  Did you get all that?

COMMENTS:

It was worth all the effort.

MORE BROCCOLI RABE

Thanks to the folks at Midtown Market broccoli rabe is now a regular staple in our kitchen.  This means more opportunities to explore new ways of putting this unique green to use.

Last night, acting on Patience's suggestion, I combined the BR with mushrooms and onions and served it over a spinach Pappardelle.



INGREDIENTS:

Pappardelle - At Dented brand, available at Midtown Market
Broccoli Rabe - thick stems discarded and coarsely chopped
Onion
Garlic
Olive oi
Mushrooms - combination of shitake and baby portobella
Red pepper flakes

PROCESS;

Cook onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, then add the mushrooms.  Blanch the BR in boiling water for 3-4 minutes, drain, and add to the mushrooms.  (I drizzled a bit more olive oil at this stage but that is a judgement call.)  Cook over low heat.

In the meantime, bring the water back to a boil and cook the pasta.  Place in serving bowl and mix in the greens and mushrooms.  Serve with grated cheese of you choice.

Broccoli Rabe served with white beans

Finding happiness with onions and beans

Tonight I decided to borrow a page from the pasta edition of La Cucina Italiana; it is a recipe for onions and white wine, something I have in abundance.  I added my own twist with the addition of white beans and toasted ciabatta bread crumbs.

INGREDIENTS:

Al Dente Pasta's fiesta fettucine
Onion, cut into thin slices
Olive oil
Toasted bread crumbs...optional
Garlic
Parsley (I used cilantro because we had no parsley)
Dry white wine

PROCESS:

Toast the bread crumbs, but don't burn them like you know who did.  In a deep skillet add the wine and onions (I used 1/2 an onion and 1 cup of white wine for the 2 of us) and cook over high heat until the wine is gone, then reduce heat and cook until the onions are soft.  Add olive oil and garlic plus the white beans (I used navy beans but cannellini will also work.), herbs, and simmer while the pasta cooks.

Add the pasta plus some pasta water, mix well, and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the bread crumbs.

COMMENTS:

A delightful dish with a delightful flavor, thanks to the onions and wine.  The next time I do this, and there will definitely be a next time, I will use a whole onion.  For 4-6 people I would use 2 o3 onions.

12-23…PASTA FAGIOLI

If you look in Italian cookbooks you will find that pasta fagioli (pasta and beans) is usually presented as a soup, with a tomato based broth. My mom would make it with a thicker tomato sauce, and for a long time I would do the same. I have since learned that there are any number of ways to combine pasta and beans, and here is one of them



INGREDIENTS:

Fettuccini
Navy beans
Olive oil
Garlic and onions
Bacon, chopped
Dry basil and oregano
Parmigiano reggiano cheese

PROCESS:

Cook the bacon, remove to drain, and pour off the bacon fat. Add olive oil to the pan and sauté the garlic and onion until soft. Add the beans, herbs and seasoning, and simmer over low heat while the pasta cooks.

Add the pasta and bacon to the sauce and mix well. Serve with the PR cheese.

As always, save some pasta water to add to the sauce if you think it is too thick.

COMMENTS:

I am not going to call this a 50. I have learned to curb my enthusiasm. But it most certainly is a 10 (on a scale of 1-3).

In the future I will present more variations of this dish.