Since I knew we were going to have leftover Gorgonzola from those pumpkin ravioli we made last night, tonight for dinner I made a recipe for Whole-Wheat Spaghetti with Gorgonzola and Escarole to use the rest up.
While we waited on the whole-wheat pasta to cook, we lightly browned thinly sliced onions in a couple pats of butter - a minute or two before they were done, I tossed in some minced garlic to release its fragrant aroma. A mountain of trimmed and washed escarole is added to the onions in batches until the vegetable becomes tender. When you clean up the escarole (I got a couple beautiful heads from our local natural co-op called Valley Natural Foods), be sure to not dry it - you want the leaves to have some water clinging to them as that will help steam them in the skillet. When the bulky mixture is added to the nutty pasta, the flavorful cooking liquid that came off the escarole is also added along with another pat of butter - this doesn't really form a sauce or anything, it just gives enough liquid to keep the pasta moist.
Luscious crumbles of the strong cheese are added on top to finish off the dish. The escarole has just the slightest bitter quality to it that adds a little bite to the dish without being too aggressive like endive or radicchio. While I groove on the more pungent cheeses, Jeff, well, not so much. Unlike the dish last night where the Gorgonzola was tempered by the sauce, straight up like this he thought the flavor was a bit too much for him - however, that didn't seem to stop him from finishing his plate! Maybe there is hope for him yet!
You said that you love doing this every year and I love reading about it. My son was doing brown sugar fudge last night. It is so good. This year we don't have anybody to bake for. We don't know enough people in the neighborhood. Hopefully next year because I love doing all kind of goodies during this time of the year.
ReplyDeleteHelene - It would be a good way to introduce yourself though! We will be delivering a plate to the new neighbors here, but I think they are already expecting it... hee hee!
ReplyDeleteYou're right. But now we are starting to think about our trip in Quebec, so we just bake for the family. Next yr I should. And also my youngest son brings friend home and they are always surprised to find homemade treats. So next yr I will prepare them some goodies to take home.
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