• Categories: Cooking

After a fair number of iterations this is the result of my cooking pasta with greens. At home we just call it Pasta Verde. This version is with Swiss chard but a real nice combination is dandelion leaves (tarassaco in Italian) and Swiss chard (bieta). You can see how the various steps follow those for cooking a risotto.

1

Start preparing about an hour in advance a thick broth to use to cook the pasta. Include carrots is small cubes, some chopped greens (cicoria, leek greens, etc.). The crucial ingredients are: a few tablespoons of cooked chickpeas (from a can) and a few pieces of dry sourdough bread. These will give the broth and later the pasta its creamy texture as well as adding to the flavor. Let it cook for 45’-60’ in total.

2

Cut-off the stems from the Swiss chard, put them on a colander on top of the boiling broth and put a lid on.

Let the greens steam for 10’-15’ and then set them aside for later. Keep the broth boiling without a lid.

3

Blend the broth in the pot until there are no chunks. Lower the broth fire so that it stays hot.

4

Sauté the chopped white of a medium leek in olive oil in a pan until starting to brown.

5

Add the pasta. I use typically orecchiette but any other similar ones would work. I count three handfuls per person

plus an extra one. Here it was for two people.

Mix the leeks and the pasta so as to get the pasta well covered in oil. Sauté for a few minutes. Add the juice of half a lemon and stir well.

6

Add broth with a ladle until it covers the pasta. Stir frequently so that the pasta does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

After about 5’ add the Swiss chard chopped.

7

Add more broth along the way a few spoonfuls at a time to keep the right consistency (not too soupy or too thick). If it gets too thick add boiling water instead.

Check the pasta every so often to make sure it does not overcook. It will take much longer cooked this way than what it says on the package.

When the pasta is done (al dente) add (kosher) salt and pepper and a fair amount of grated parmeggian cheese plus some olive oil. Mix vigorously.

8

I typically add some finely chopped strong-flavored green on top of portions in each dish. Rucola, for example, works well.

9

Et voilà!

• Pasta