Who else has been stumped with what to do with the BITTER GREENS in our CSA box? I admit, I had “to google it” and read this: “Bitter Greens: mixed green leaves of a variety of salad vegetables with a bitter taste, such as kale, mustard, collard, endive, chicory, or spinach.”
I was happy to get a HEADS UP email from Farmer Ray with a recipe recommendation from a fellow CSA customer. Amy said it is a delicious dish, so I had to check it out for myelf.
WHAT YOU NEED:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 to 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 medium onions, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-thick rings
1 teaspoon sugar
4 cups chicken broth (preferably homemade) or water
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pound fettuccine
1 bunch bitter greens
WHAT YOU DO:
Prep bitter greens: I washed, removed any brown, wilted leaves, and drained while I was cooking the onions.
Prep onions: peel and thinly slice four onions (I used yellow.) You can slice with knife; I used my Pampered Chef Easy Slicer. I love the handle that protects my fingers!
Heat oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and sugar and cook, stirring once or twice, until well browned, about 10 minutes. Turn heat to low; continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until very soft, about 10 minutes.
While onions are caramelizing, cook pasta in boiling salted water until a little underdone, and drain. I wanted to use up some pasta in my pantry, so I boiled a combination of rotini and bowtie.
When onions are caramelized and fully cooked, remove half the onions and set aside. Add broth or water to the pan and bring to a boil. I used chicken broth.
Cook over high heat, scraping bottom of pan, for 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Add cooked pasta to broth; simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.
Add greens; cook, covered, until wilted, about 1 minute.
I used two packages of bitter greens, and they cooked down to almost nothing, so don’t be afraid to push them down into the pasta and broth.
The recipe calls for an additional tablespoon of butter, if desired. Amy suggested cream, so that’s what I did.
Divide among 4 shallow bowls, garnish with reserved onions.
This is a surprisingly tasty dish! The sweetness of the caramelized onions balances out the “bitterness” of the greens, and the cream adds a nice richness to the broth.
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