This week when our CSA box contained a huge bouquet of collard greens, I knew it was time to find a new recipe. My past efforts at braising greens have been less than successful (algae, anyone?) So I bypassed my trusted cookbooks and went to epicurious.com. (I wonder if cookbooks are still the best selling genre in this internet-age. I use mine less and less.)
With a quick search, I found this recipe and decided to give it a whirl, as I had all the ingredients on hand except the linguine, for which I substituted some little spiraled stuff (spiralini?) that I found in the cupboard. I am always running out of pasta, and have been known to rip open the kids’ Amy Mac and Cheese box for the little noodles
Let me tell you, THESE. GREENS. ROCK.
Although honestly, you could cook shoe leather with these ingredients.
Savory and nutty and tangy and of course, bacony. Really scrumptious. I didn’t use as much bacon grease as it called for, or any of the olive oil, and it still worked.
LInguine with Bacon and Collard Greens
3/4 cup pine nuts (1/4 lb)
1/4 lb shallots, finely chopped (3/4 cup)
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 lb collard greens, stems and center ribs discarded and leaves chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups water
1 lb dried linguine
1 lb grape or cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano shavings
Cook bacon in a 5-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 5 minutes, then transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 3 tablespoons bacon fat from pot. Add pine nuts to pot and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until golden, about 2 minutes. Transfer nuts with slotted spoon to paper towels to drain and season with salt.
Add shallots to pot and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add oil and half of collard greens and cook, stirring, until slightly wilted, about 1 minute. Add remaining greens and salt and continue to cook, stirring, until greens are crisp-tender, about 2 minutes more. Add water and cover pot, then simmer greens, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 15 minutes.
While collard greens are simmering, cook linguine in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water
until al dente.Drain linguine in a colander. Add drained linguine and tomatoes to pot with greens and cook over moderately high heat, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Season pasta with salt and pepper and serve topped with bacon, pine nuts, and cheese shavings.
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