Friday Night Special at Kari's House: Drunken Tuscan Pasta!

As a reward for all of my hard work today, I spent time with Pink Martini (the band, Splendor in the Grass) and Rachael (Ray) cooking dinner...one of my very favorite pasttimes lately.

My camera...or perhaps the lighting...did not allow for appetizing pictures.  It's rather embarrassing actually...belive me: Posting the pictures I took would have an untoward effect. 

To smell the portobello mushrooms cooking with garlic, rosemary and panchetta, click HERE. 

To have an order of this recipe brought to your door in 30 minutes or less, click HERE.

Oh my...are the links not working?  Sorry about that...I'll see what I can do.

Well, in lieu of the smells and tastes, here's a picture and the recipe...with a few edits, it is fabulous!!  I have prepared many of the recipes from Rachael's extensive collection, and in general, there are just too many tastes in competition with each dish.  A very good friend of mine (who happens to be a chef herself) has said that keeping it simple with few key ingredients makes for the most luscious dishes.  So, I have included Rachael's recipe, with my edits :-)

Drunken Tuscan Pasta (The original, with my edits!)

from:  Rachael Ray's Book of 10

INGREDIENTS: 

1 (750 ml) bottle tuscan red table wine (Rosso di Montalcino or Chianti)

Coarse salt and Black pepper to taste

1 lb bucatini pasta or spaghetti or perciatelli
     (I used whole wheat spaghetti, which was wonderful!)

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/4 lb deli-sliced (or packaged very-thin-sliced) pancetta

3 portabella mushroom caps, thinly sliced
     (Okay to double this to 6 if you like mushrooms and rich flavor!)

2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves finely chopped
     (A different hearty herb would likely be very good in this dish, depending on your preferences!)

4 garlic cloves, chopped
     (Be generous if you like garlic!)

red pepper flakes (a couple of pinches)
     (No offense Rachael, but this just makes for too much going on with the taste buds.)

4-5 cups chopped chard leaves or escarole or spinach or kale
     (Be generous to get more servings of good green veggies...this recipe will take it!)

1/4 teaspoon grated fresh nutmeg

Grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

DIRECTIONS:

     Pour a glass of red wine to sip, from a different bottle than you will cook with...preferably a bottle of higher quality wine than wasted in a pot of water and pasta.

Pour the entire bottle of wine into a large pan; add water to fill the pot up as you would to cook pasta.
     (Use the low-end amount of liquid for cooking the pasta, as not to dilute the wine/liquid.  Heads up! You will use some of the cooking liquid later in the recipe!)

Bring the wine and water to a boil over high heat.
     (Note:  The pasta combines with the remainder of the recipe much easier, and with less pasta strand breakage, when the items are combined immediately after pasta is cooked. Therefore, it wouldn't hurt to wait until the other yummy goodness is about ready to start cooking the pasta.) 

When the liquids boil, add salt and the pasta; cook to al dente.
     (Before draining the pasta, ladle 3-4 scoops of liquid into a separate container and save.)

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Chop and add the pancetta. Brown the pieces until they are golden at the edges and transfer them to a paper-towel lined plate.

Add the mushrooms to the olive oil in the same skillet and season with the rosemary.  Cook 6-8 minutes until deeply golden. 
     (Lower your face in toward the steaming skillet and inhale deeply through the nose.  Mmmmm.  Sip wine; inhale mushroom-rosemary aroma once again.  You're welcome!)

Push the mushrooms to the sides of the skillet.  Add the remaining tablespoon (-ish) of olive oil and the garlic and red pepper flakes.  Cook for a few minutes or so, then toss the mushrooms together with the garlic.

Add the greens to the pan; season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
     (Depending on the size of the pan, add the greens in stages.  As they wilt, more greens will fit.  I used Kale, which was exceptionally good...although any dark greens you like will work great!  If you like, use a-plenty of greens...the recipe will take more than the 5-6 cups just fine, in my humble opinion!)

When the greens have wilted down, add a couple (I used 3-4) ladles of the starchy pasta cooking liquid to the pan.  Cook for several minutes to reduce it a little.
     (You will want to do this, so it's not so soupy and the flavors will concentrate.  Mmmm!)

Add in the pancetta and a handful of cheese to the pan; toss the pasta for a minute or so to allow it to absorb the remaining liquid.
     (Cover the skillet if helpful...)

Drain pasta well and add it to the skillet.
     (This was a little awkard; the pan I was using was a tad small.  You could transfer all into a large bowl and mix it up that way! )

Adjust the seasonings and serve; pass the extra cheese at the table.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 
I do apologize for the messy-appearance of the recipe above...feel free to edit before you print it!

The book says this recipe will make 4 servings...but I just got dinner - plus - 6 freezer containers for lunches!!
 
As Julia Child would say (use the falsetto voice):  Bon Appetite!