Seasonal Recipe of the Week
I thought I would go Italian to keep with the program, this is a simple pasta recipe from Evan Kleinman’s book Pasta Fresca and it uses endive, which I love sautéed with pancetta, which I love even more. Now in Italy, she notes, this would be done with Trevisio which is like red thick endive but that is not always available, so this is a substitute but sometimes we can get Trivisio here so you have options.
Ingredients
3 Belgian endive heads
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced
2 slices pancetta, coarsely chopped
12 fresh basil leaves
Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 pound fettucini
Freshly grated Parmesan
Procedure
Trim the endive root ends off and remove any blemishes. Cut each head in half lengthways and wash and dry leaves. Cut the endive into julienne strips and set aside. Heat the oil in a medium skillet, add and onion and cook covered for 3 minutes. Now add the pancetta and cook till it gives off some of its fat. Now add endive, basil salt and pepper. Cook just till endive wilts. Deglaze the pan with the wine and chicken broth and set aside. In the meantime, you should have been bringing the salted pasta water to a boil. Now cook the fettucini till it is al dente. Drain and mix 2 tablespoons olive oil in a bowl. Toss in the endive mixture and top with freshly grated Parmesan or Asiago and serve. Yum!
