Farfalle with Bacon & Kale

We ate this for dinner tonight. It was so good.

You need to experience the delectable joy of a big bowl of pasta blanketed with smoky morsels of bacon and wilted kale. Highly regarded as a “superfood” for the vitamin punch it packs, kale is an excellent source of calcium, beta carotene, vitamins C and K, and lutein. So, of course, what better way to incorporate some nutritious kale into your diet than to cook it up with a lot of bacon? (There’s a joke in there somewhere…) Sorry, vegetarians. You’ll want to avert your eyes for the next couple of minutes. Everybody else, feast your eyes upon this recipe and try not to drool all over your keyboard.

FARFALLE WITH BACON & KALE

1 1/2 pounds farfalle (bow-tie pasta)
10 slices thick cut bacon, chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 yellow onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
20 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 pound of kale, chopped or torn into bite size pieces
1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 cup crumbled ricotta salata
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Farfalle usually takes about 12 to 14 minutes to prepare once the water is boiling.

Meanwhile, saute the bacon over moderately high heat in a large saute pan with high sides. Cook until the bacon begins to brown lightly and releases most of its fat but is not crispy, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Drain off most of the fat. Lower heat to medium.

Add the onion and garlic. Saute until the onion becomes translucent, about 5 or 6 minutes. Stir frequently to avoid burning the garlic.

Add the tomatoes and saute until they start to soften and collapse a bit, about 5 minutes.

Spread the kale on top of the bacon mixture. Pour over the broth. Gently mix the kale and bacon a bit.

Cover the pan.

Return heat to a moderately high temperature and steam the kale until it is completely wilted, about 10 minutes. Most of the broth should evaporate during this time. It’s okay if some broth remains.

Remove the cover and season generously with black pepper.

Drain the pasta and pour into a serving bowl. Pour the sauce over the pasta. Garnish with the crumbled ricotta salata and chopped parsley.

Serves 6 generously – enough for a laid back dinner party. Try it with your favorite shiraz.

Penne with Greens and Tomatoes

Another recipe that appeared last year on World Wide Webers. Enjoy!

Today I will share with you a simple pasta dish that uses traditional Italian flavors, like tomatoes and spinach, but with a little twist that might be new to you. I imagine that Popeye would order this pasta dish if he went to Italy with Olive Oyl and Swee’Pea on a family vacation. I picture him strolling around a Roman piazza, puffing away on his corncob pipe and scoping out the nearest supply of spinach to bulk up his strength in case Bluto shows up.

Fortunately, we don’t need to travel to Italy to get real Italian flavor in our American kitchens. I have never been to Italy but I really enjoy that country’s tradition of combining dark, leafy greens with pasta. You’ve probably eaten sauteed spinach but have you ever tried cooking arugula? It’s delicious and pairs extremely well with garlic. Cooking arugula intensifies its peppery bite, which is beautifully tempered by the sweetness of tomatoes. Although I can’t promise that eating this dish will result in superhuman strength like Popeye, I can promise that it tastes great.

PENNE WITH GREENS AND TOMATOES

1 pound penne
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 garlic cloves, thinly slice
1 28 ounce can Italian style diced tomatoes
3 cups chopped spinach
1 cup chopped arugula
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup grated parmesan or pecorino romano or your favorite Italian cheese

Cook the penne according to package directions.

The sauce takes about the same amount to prepare as the penne takes to cook so begin the sauce while you wait for the pasta water to boil.

Heat the olive oil to medium in a large saute pan with high sides.

Add the garlic and saute until the garlic begins to turns golden brown on the edges, about three minutes. Stir the garlic frequently to avoid burning. (Tip: If the garlic begins to burn, lower the heat and add a tablespoon of the tomato juice from the canned tomatoes to stop the burning. Slowly bring the pan back up to medium heat once the burning stops.)

Add the spinach, arugula and salt. Cook the greens until just wilted, about 2 minutes.

Add the entire can of tomatoes, including the juice.

Stir in the oregano.

Let the sauce simmer gently until the pasta is done cooking.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain thoroughly but do not rinse. Pour into a large serving bowl and ladle the sauce over the pasta.

Sprinkle the cheese on top or pass the cheese at the table.

Serves 4 very generously.

Bucatini Rigati with Artichokes & Prosciutto

This is another one of my recipes that was published previously on World Wide Webers.

There are a few universal truths in which I whole-heartedly believe: all babies are precious, what goes up must come down, and everybody likes pasta. So, because I already have all the babies I want and because I can’t control gravity (although that would be an awesome superpower to have), I present to you:

BUCATINI RIGATI WITH ARTICHOKES AND PROSCIUTTO

1 pound bucatini rigati (ridged, hollow spaghetti)

1/4 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon flour

1 cup chicken broth (reduced sodium) (I like Better Than Bouillon- find it in the soup aisle)

3-4 large garlic cloves, chopped

4 tablespoons chopped Italian flat leaf parsley

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 14 ounce can artichoke hearts packed in water, drained & sliced (NOT the marinated kind) (feel free to use thawed and drained frozen artichoke hearts)

4 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

8 ounces prosciutto, chopped (if you don’t have prosciutto, try Virginia ham or pancetta)

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

Put a large pot of water on high heat and bring to a boil. Feel free to season the water with a big pinch of salt.

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Bucatini rigati usually takes about 6 minutes to cook until al dente.

Meanwhile, melt butter and oil in small saucepan over medium low heat. Stir until well combined.

Add flour, stirring until smooth. Cook for two minutes until thickened slightly.

Add chicken broth, stirring until fully incorporated.

Add garlic, parsley, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring once or twice. Do not allow to boil.

Blend in cheese, stirring until smooth.

Fold in artichoke hearts. Cook for 3 more minutes. Stir a few times. Again, do not allow to boil.

Add prosciutto and stir carefully to avoid clumping up the prosciutto. If it does clump, no worries. Separate the clumps with a fork or just leave them. It will still taste good.

Lower heat and continue to cook until prosciutto is warmed through, about 5 minutes. If the pasta isn’t done yet, reduce heat to the lowest setting and cover the pot to keep the sauce warm. Stir every once in a while to prevent the proscuitto from sticking to the bottom.

Drain pasta thoroughly (do not rinse) and transfer to serving dish. Pour over sauce. Toss gently to spread sauce throughout the pasta. Serve immediately.

Serves 4 generously.

COOKING TIPS: You probably looked at the ingredients list and thought, “Holy crap! That’s a lot of stuff.” It’s not–I promise that this is a manageable recipe if you follow a few suggestions:

1. Put out your colander for draining the pasta and your bowl for serving before you begin cooking.

2. Measure and chop all of your ingredients before you begin cooking.

3. Start preparing the sauce as soon as you put the water on to boil.

4. If you forget to add an ingredient at the proper time, so what? Add it when you remember. If you forgot the garlic, I suggest adding a few extra minutes of cooking time to allow the garlic to cook through completely.

Pumpkin Ravioli with Pancetta & Walnuts

My darling daughter wanted to bake pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving so we had a large can of pumpkin puree leftover. For the past few months, I’ve been seeing pumpkin ravioli in various forms just about everywhere I go so I decided to experiment with creating my own pumpkin ravioli recipe. The results were homey but sophisticated. This beautiful dish looks difficult to prepare but it’s not even though there are multiple steps. You can impress your dinner guests without breaking a sweat if you follow the recipe one step at a time. The trick is to allow yourself plenty of time to put it all together, maybe even preparing the ravioli beforehand and freezing them. I made a large batch of ravioli and froze some of it in single layers separated by wax paper. They cooked up like a dream and retained the freshness that comes from making your own pasta by hand.

PUMPKIN RAVIOLI WITH PANCETTA & WALNUTS

For the ravioli filling:

1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree (this is not the same as pumpkin pie filling, which is already seasoned)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

For the fresh pasta:

3/4 cup unbleached flour
3/4 cup semolina flour, plus 1/4 cup semolina for dusting the work surface
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons tomato paste

For the sauce:

5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large shallot, minced
4 ounces of pancetta, shredded
1 teaspoon dried sage
1/4 cup toasted and chopped walnuts

To prepare the filling: In a medium sized bowl, thoroughly mix together all of the ingredients for the ravioli filling. Refrigerate until you’re ready to fill the ravioli.

To prepare the pasta:

1. On a cutting board or other flat surface, make a mound with the flour and 3/4 of a cup of the semolina. Create a small well in the center.

2. In small bowl, beat together the eggs, salt, water, olive oil and tomato paste.

3. Pour the eggs into the center of the well.

4. Use a large fork to slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the eggs, pushing a little from the inside wall of well into the eggs and stirring slowly in a circular motion until all of the ingredients are mixed together.

5. You should have a soft, somewhat crumbly dough. If it’s too crumbly to hold together with pressure, knead in an extra egg white.

6. Dust the work surface with some of the reserved semolina. Knead the pasta dough for ten minutes, until pliable and smooth.

7. Fashion the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Let rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

8. Divide the dough into six equal pieces. If you’re lucky enough to have a pasta machine, follow the manufacturer’s instructions for rolling the dough to create sheets for ravioli. If you’re like me and have no machine, you are about to have a really fun time rolling that dough by hand.

9. To roll by hand, dust the work surface with semolina and rub a little on a rolling pin. Use your hands to pat a portion of the dough into a flat oval or rectangle. Using the rolling pin, roll with firm pressure to create a thin, almost translucent sheet of pasta, about 12 inches by 14 inches.

10. Use a wine glass or round cookie cutter to cut out circles in the dough. Gently remove the excess dough and save to roll out again.

11. To make the individual ravioli pieces, place one rounded teaspoon of filling in the middle of one circle. Using your finger or a small pastry brush, brush water on the exposed dough around the filling. Use another circle to make the top, gently stretching the dough to cover the filling and firmly sealing the edges with your fingers. You can be fancy and crimp the edges with a fork or use a fluter to trim the edges. Or leave them plain. Whatever you want.

12. Place finished ravioli on a piece of wax paper or a clean, moist dishtowel until ready to cook.

13. Repeat steps 9 through 12 until all of the filling and dough is gone.

14. If freezing for later use, line a container with wax paper and place ravioli in single layers, each separated by a layer of wax paper. This will stay fresh in the freezer for a couple of months.

15. To cook fresh or frozen ravioli, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drop in the ravioli one by one. Lower heat and allow water to simmer. Stir ravioli gently to prevent them from sticking together. Fresh ravioli cooks in five to six minutes. Frozen ravioli cooks in about 12 minutes.

16. Remove cooked ravioli with a slotted spoon to a deep platter.

To prepare the sauce:

1. While the ravioli is cooking, melt the butter in a small skillet over high heat.

2. When the butter is melted and beginning to brown, add the shallots. Cook until the shallots begin to turn golden.

3. Add the pancetta and saute until the pancetta become crisp.

4. Add the sage and cook for another minute or two to incorporate the flavors.

5. Pour the sauce over the ravioli.

6. Sprinkle walnuts over the ravioli and serve immediately.

Should make 40 ravioli, if you roll out the dough thin enough. Serves 4.

PS: Vegetarians can leave out the pancetta to create a meat free dish. Try adding an extra shallot or a little garlic instead.