I have raved about cicoria in the past, but sadly beyond finding new types of the green, I haven’t been able to do much with it, only to boil it, sauté it and eat it as a side dish, it certainly doesn’t make for new and interesting blogging. That is, until I found this fantastic recipe in my new Slow Food cookbook with recipes from Osterie in Puglia. Such an exciting new addition to my library.

I would have never thought to put cicoria on pasta, not terribly creative of me, I know, I needed a book to teach me that it was possible. The pairing with an olive paté and a sprinkling of a fresh cacioricotta on top, it was truly a memorable meal. Healthy with lots of good deep green vegetables, flavorful with the salty olives and honestly, spaghetti is delicious, even with just a tab of butter dressing it up.

Bavette con Cicoria e Paté di Olive

adapted and translated from Ricette di osterie della Puglia. Mare, erbe e fornelli Slow Food Editor

• 200 grams (1/2 lb) long pasta, like bavette, linguini, we used spaghetti alla chittara, delish
• 300 grams (a little more than 1/2 lb) cicoria or dandelion greens
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 80 grams (3 oz.) olive paté (recipe below)
• a handful of a young pecorino cheese, grated
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• salt, to taste

Wash the greens thoroughly. Bring a large pot of water to boil for the greens’ initial cooking. Once the water starts to boil add a small handful of salt to the water and bring to a rolling boil. Add dandelion greens and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the greens with a slotted spoon and into an ice bath. Drain in a colander and save the cooking water for the pasta. You may want to add a little more salt to the water for the pasta

While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a wide saucepan over medium-high heat and add the garlic. When garlic starts to sizzle add boiled dandelion greens and sauté, add the olive paté and stir into the greens.

When the pasta is perfectly al dente, turn up the heat on the sauce and drain the pasta. Without shaking all of the water out of the colander pour the pasta into the pan and toss it with the sauce. This allows for the pasta to cook a little longer in the sauce and to absorb the flavor.

Serve with grated cacioricotta.

Olive Paté

adapted from The Joy of Cooking

• 2 cups black olives, preferably oil cured, pitted
• 3 tbsp drained capers
• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves

Combine in a food processor and pulse until the mixture is still course but of a uniform consistency.

One Year Ago: Grilled Bread Salad

~ by italicious on August 3, 2012.

Posted in capers, cicoria, formaggi, olives, pasta, primi, Puglia, thyme, vegetarian
Tags: capers, cicoria, dandelion greens, lemon juice, olives, pasta, thyme, vegetarian