An end-of-winter dinner when spinach is plentiful and cheap. Olive oil and cream tame the rustic earthiness of the green leaves into a silky voluptuous pasta dish for spring. Yes, it’s still more than a week away but the sky can’t help telling the story.
Sauté a medium chopped onion, a leek chopped into thin rounds, a chopped garlic clove and a red capsicum chopped into fine strips in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.
In another pot, wilt a bunch of spinach, washed - but not spun, so the leaves retain some water - and chopped roughly, in some more olive oil. Turn with a wooden spoon occasionally and add plenty of salt and pepper. Remove from heat immediately the leaves have collapsed.
*
In the west, those winter evening skies have all but gone. The show is over: the dramatic severe blood-orange stains marked with patches of black, like Turner paint storms, are now transforming into paling blue-white spring ambitions, hanging on for longer, fingers of light grasping for summer.
*
Meanwhile cook orecchiette. Drain well: these little ears want to hold on to their cooking water. Turn pasta through spinach. Add sautéed vegetables. Add half a cup of cream (just enough to add a sheen and amplify the flavour; this is not a full-on cream-based sauce) and turn again. Shower with chopped parsley stalks and grated pecorino.
Comments
Post a Comment