Oh, how I've missed you... and this... and my kitchen!
Forgive me for being absent the last month. I was a little busy with my new job and with moving at the same time. I got to enjoy the moving diet - you know, pizza, takeout, restaurants - for no fewer than 6 weeks! Thank goodness other people were willing to cook me dinner.
So now that the big event is over, I could not wait to get back in the kitchen and enjoy the bounty of summer! But what to cook for my first meal back? Time for a little soul-searching.
You might not know it from the website, but I am a pasta fiend. I think I eat so much semolina that I don't even think to blog about it... but after six weeks of eating nothing more exciting than plain noodles with butter and cheese, I knew it was time to treat myself to a real pasta dinner. I'm also an egg fiend, and I devour about a dozen free-rangers each week. (And I've had my cholesterol checked, and it came back with a GOLD STAR on it... no joke! Free range, farm-fresh eggs all the way, baby!)
So for the lover of pasta and eggs, there is but one solution for a special meal: carbonara. Bonus: I get bacon and cheese too! I'd been mulling over this recipe since it arrived in my mailbox last month, but also had another challenge: I'm getting a CSA, and I have an enormous quantity of vegetables to demolish. Fortunately, you can hide an enormous amount of chard in one pot of pasta.
The result here - particularly since all the veggies are cooked in rendered bacon fat, aka lipid crack - is surprisingly silky and light, and packed with gentle onion flavor. The leeks, chard and chervil bring what might otherwise be a wintry dish straight into summer.
Orecchiette Carbonara with Leeks and Swiss Chard
Adapted from Epicurious*
1 tablespoon butter
6 slices applewood smoked bacon, diced
2 medium leeks**, halved lengthwise, then cut into 1/3 inch slices***
1 large bunch Swiss chard, veins removed, chopped to bite-size pieces
1 pound orecchiette
2 large eggs****
1/4 cup half-and-half
1/2 - 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Fresh chervil, for garnish
Set a big pot of water to boil.
In a large sauté pan over medium heat, melt butter. Sauté bacon until browning at the edges, about 8 minutes. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Drain off all but 2 tablespoons of rendered fat. Once the pasta is in the water, start cooking the leeks - this is all going to come together pretty quick.
While the leeks cook, prepare the sauce. Whisk together eggs, half-and-half and cheese until well combined. When pasta is almost al dente, add one ladle of starchy pasta water to the sauce. This will thin it out and raise the temperature so that the eggs don't scramble later.
Right before you drain the pasta, add the chard to the pan with the leeks. While the pasta drips out in the sink, stir the chard over the heat until it all wilts - maybe a minute. Add the drained pasta and bacon to the pan and stir to combine with veggies. Remove the pan from heat, then gently stir in the egg mixture. Garnish with chopped chervil and serve with additional cheese for sprinkling.
*The original recipe serves four. With a good salad, this version could easily feed six... unless I am one of them.
**Good luck finding "medium leeks." The only ones I can find lately are "ginormous leeks." Fortunately, I love them!
***Leeks grow in really sandy soil, so you want to wash the leeks after you've sliced them so you can get all the gritties out from between the layers.
****Wow, four asterisks! But seriously, use the freshest eggs you can get. Mine were from my CSA and had sunshine-orange yolks. Delish.
P.S. Presto Pasta Night! I'm back!
Forgive me for being absent the last month. I was a little busy with my new job and with moving at the same time. I got to enjoy the moving diet - you know, pizza, takeout, restaurants - for no fewer than 6 weeks! Thank goodness other people were willing to cook me dinner.
So now that the big event is over, I could not wait to get back in the kitchen and enjoy the bounty of summer! But what to cook for my first meal back? Time for a little soul-searching.
You might not know it from the website, but I am a pasta fiend. I think I eat so much semolina that I don't even think to blog about it... but after six weeks of eating nothing more exciting than plain noodles with butter and cheese, I knew it was time to treat myself to a real pasta dinner. I'm also an egg fiend, and I devour about a dozen free-rangers each week. (And I've had my cholesterol checked, and it came back with a GOLD STAR on it... no joke! Free range, farm-fresh eggs all the way, baby!)So for the lover of pasta and eggs, there is but one solution for a special meal: carbonara. Bonus: I get bacon and cheese too! I'd been mulling over this recipe since it arrived in my mailbox last month, but also had another challenge: I'm getting a CSA, and I have an enormous quantity of vegetables to demolish. Fortunately, you can hide an enormous amount of chard in one pot of pasta.
The result here - particularly since all the veggies are cooked in rendered bacon fat, aka lipid crack - is surprisingly silky and light, and packed with gentle onion flavor. The leeks, chard and chervil bring what might otherwise be a wintry dish straight into summer.
Orecchiette Carbonara with Leeks and Swiss Chard
Adapted from Epicurious*
1 tablespoon butter
6 slices applewood smoked bacon, diced
2 medium leeks**, halved lengthwise, then cut into 1/3 inch slices***
1 large bunch Swiss chard, veins removed, chopped to bite-size pieces
1 pound orecchiette
2 large eggs****
1/4 cup half-and-half
1/2 - 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Fresh chervil, for garnish
Set a big pot of water to boil.
In a large sauté pan over medium heat, melt butter. Sauté bacon until browning at the edges, about 8 minutes. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Drain off all but 2 tablespoons of rendered fat. Once the pasta is in the water, start cooking the leeks - this is all going to come together pretty quick.
While the leeks cook, prepare the sauce. Whisk together eggs, half-and-half and cheese until well combined. When pasta is almost al dente, add one ladle of starchy pasta water to the sauce. This will thin it out and raise the temperature so that the eggs don't scramble later.
Right before you drain the pasta, add the chard to the pan with the leeks. While the pasta drips out in the sink, stir the chard over the heat until it all wilts - maybe a minute. Add the drained pasta and bacon to the pan and stir to combine with veggies. Remove the pan from heat, then gently stir in the egg mixture. Garnish with chopped chervil and serve with additional cheese for sprinkling.
*The original recipe serves four. With a good salad, this version could easily feed six... unless I am one of them.**Good luck finding "medium leeks." The only ones I can find lately are "ginormous leeks." Fortunately, I love them!
***Leeks grow in really sandy soil, so you want to wash the leeks after you've sliced them so you can get all the gritties out from between the layers.
****Wow, four asterisks! But seriously, use the freshest eggs you can get. Mine were from my CSA and had sunshine-orange yolks. Delish.
P.S. Presto Pasta Night! I'm back!
