Pappardelle With Greens and Ricotta

The more pasta dishes I make, the more I recognize the variety of dishes you can create once you know the basics.   The way I make pasta dishes today was started in engineering school at Wash U.   There we made what we called Engineer's Casserole, a mix of vegies, sometimes meat and a some sort of sauce served over noodles.   Some nights it would be Italian like, other Asian and often somewhere in between.  Anyway the technique we used was simple, quick and made some great meals.

The following recipe by Martha Rose Shulman (March 9, 2010 www.nytimes.com) is a graduated version of Engineer's Casserole.   It gives you an idea of how easy it is to create a nice pasta dish with few ingredients and little time.   A variation of this recipe is Shepherd’s-Style Rigatoni with Ricotta and Sausage.

1 pound greens, such as chard, kale or broccoli raab, stemmed and washed well, or half of a 1-pound bag prepared greens
Salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 to 2 garlic cloves, to taste, minced
3/4 cup fresh ricotta cheese
1/2 to 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, or a mixture of Parmesan and Romano Pecorino (to taste)
3/4 pound pappardelle

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Fill a bowl with ice water. When the water comes to a boil, salt generously and add the greens (you may have to do this in two batches). After the water returns to a boil, boil two to four minutes until the greens are tender. Using a deep-fry skimmer or slotted spoon, transfer them to the ice water. Do not drain the hot water in the pot, as you’ll use it to cook the pasta. Drain the greens, squeeze dry and chop.

2. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy nonstick skillet. Add the garlic, cook for about a minute just until fragrant, and stir in the greens. Toss in the hot pan for about a minute, just until the greens are lightly coated with oil and fragrant with garlic. Season with salt and pepper, and remove from the heat.

3. Place the ricotta in a large pasta bowl. Bring the water for the pasta back to a boil, and add the pappardelle. Cook al dente. Ladle 1/2 cup of the cooking water from the pasta into the ricotta and stir together. Drain the pasta, and toss with the ricotta, greens and cheeses. Serve at once.

Yield: Serves four.

Advance preparation: The greens, prepared through step 2, will keep for up to three days in the refrigerator.