Puttanesca with Greens

Puttanesca has a reputation for being fast and easy.Puttanesca with GreensIt’s an Italian pasta sauce made from whatever is in the pantry:  capers, olives, anchovies, garlic– all those irresistible Italian aromatics.  Puttanesca with GreensOnce they hit the pan they make the house smell amazing, like something that’s been chopped, simmered, and stirred all day.  The smell is deceiving, because it’s ready in the time it takes to boil pasta.  Pasta Puttanesca with GreensPuttanesca is Italian for “of or relating to a prostitute.”  It was coined for this pasta because either the ladies were too busy to go to the market for fresh ingredients, or they were trying to lure men into brothels, and the smell of this sizzling did the trick. Pasta Puttanesca with GreensThis version swaps the traditional tomatoes for a big pile of garden greens.  Use whatever type you have on hand, because that’s what this dish is all about.  Any shape of pasta works, too. I like orecchiette, or “little ears,” because they’re tiny cups that scoop up capers and garlic and all the other bits in the sauce.Pasta Puttanesca with GreensIf you’ve got 15 minutes, you can make puttanesca with greens.  What you do with the rest of the day is your business.Pasta Puttanesca with Garden Greens

It sounds so much worse in English

Puttanesca with Greens
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Ingredients
  1. 1 pound pasta
  2. 2 tablespoons olive oil
  3. 1 small shallot, minced
  4. 4-6 anchovy fillets
  5. 1 tablespoon capers
  6. 1 tablespoon olives, any type, pitted and roughly chopped
  7. 3 garlic cloves, minced
  8. 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  9. 12 cups chopped greens (mustard, collard, chard, or kale)
  10. 1 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted until golden in a dry skillet
  11. a handful of Italian parsley, chopped
  12. a handful of basil, chopped
  13. parmesan cheese
Instructions
  1. Boil the pasta in 4 quarts of salted water. Cook al dente according to the package.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium low. Add the shallots and cook until they begin to soften. Add the anchovies, capers, olives, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Stir constantly and reduce the heat if the garlic starts to brown. After a couple minutes, add the greens to the pot, stirring all the aromatics up from the bottom to coat the leaves. Raise the heat to medium and cook until the greens are a beautiful emerald green, then lower the heat again.
  3. Once the pasta is cooked, reserve a couple tablespoons of the pasta water, then drain it well. Toss the pasta with the greens, along with the reserved pasta water.
  4. Stir in the pine nuts and herbs just before serving. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Suwannee Rose https://suwanneerose.com/
Pasta Puttanesca with Garden Greens - known for being fast and easy, and smelling so good it will lure men to your door. This puttanesca is Rated PG, and it's loaded up with your favorite garden greens, but it still lives up to its namesake. And now you don't even have to make a salad. Ha.