Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Snow Day and Pasta with Spinach and Raddichio



It snowed last night.

Just enough to make everything look like a winter wonderland but not enough to cancel school for the kidadults.

That makes today a snow day for me!

I'm going to take the morning off and take Holly Bear for a long stroll through the park. She loves the snow! The temperature seems to be just perfect for her and her fur coat.

Then I'm going to curl up with Michael Pollan's new book, "Food Rules". It is a slim novel full of common sense; things your grandmother knew about food. I think a healthy dose of common sense is good thing.

Happy Snow Day!

Pasta with Spinach and Raddichio: Serves 6

1 box whole wheat pasta of your choice
12 ounces fresh spinach, rinsed
1 head raddichio, peeled and torn into 2 inch pieces
6 ounces thick cut bacon (or pancetta or slab bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces)
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs
large pinch red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
olive oil

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions until it is al dente. Don't overcook, we're going to cook it again.

In a large saucepan, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

Add the garlic to the pan with the bacon fat and saute for 1 minutes until fragrant. Add the breadcrumbs and pine nuts and stir and cook until the breadcrumbs are golden and the pine nuts are toasted. Add large pinch of red pepper flakes. Set aside.

Drain al dente pasta, reserving 1 cup cooking water.

Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to pan. Add pasta, spinach, radicchio and one cup pasta cooking water to pan. Saute over high heat until spinach and radicchio is wilted and heated through, about 2-3 minutes. Toss in half the bacon.

Turn out into large serving dish, toss in the breadcrumb mixture. Top with rest of bacon and sprinkle on the parmesan cheese.

A Cook's Notes: You can use any type of pasta you like, I used whole wheat spaghetti and everyone loved it! This dish would also be great with shredded chicken or no meat at all! Just substitute the bacon fat with olive oil - about 3 tablespoons!


7 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. Enjoy your snow day! The sun is finally shining her and we are suppsoed to reach 40. And......I have water!

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  3. This looks splendid! I'm going to try it this weekend. Did you see I tried the donuts and posted about them on my cooking blog?! YUUMMMM!

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  4. Kathy - yeah for water! What a trial h20 has been for you.. you have the patience of a saint.

    Kate - I read the donut post! They looked awesome. You are right, they have a very bread like quality to them. I am thinking of removing the thyme and adding another tbsp of sugar next time I make them... I love to tinker with recipes.. maybe some apple pie spice and cinnamon instead of thyme and maple syrup instead of lemon juice.. hmmm... now I'm thinking I should be baking donuts today.

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  5. Snow! I love it and unfortunately it looks like none for us this year.

    I just finished food rules, great common sense guide. I know you already know the stuff he talks about though.

    Enjoy your day!

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  6. I wish it was snowing here... 9.30am and already 30degrees. Hot, hot, hot... can you post a nice cold meal next time ;0))

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  7. It was cold here last night, and I had a wonderful dish of macaroni with a simple meat sauce. Warm me up completely, including in my head! Yours sounds similarly wonderful.

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Wow. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. I love feedback... what with being a cook and all. I will respond to your comments via email (if you do not have a "noreply" address or here, below your comment) As always, Bon Appetite!

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