This week is all about eating. And for some of us, it’s also about cooking. So for the next few days I’m planning to post every day. And to cook. Let’s see how that goes.
We’ve started our Winter CSA share with Clark Farm a few weeks ago, and even with cold weather, we are pretty darn impressed with our weekly haul. Week one brought us a beautiful bunch of chard along with garlic and some of Clark Farm’s Arugula Pesto. So, we had a pasta night which included all three.
One of the skills I started to develop as we’ve been part of this CSA is the ability to imagine how different ingredients will come together. So for this recipe, the actual skill was to cook the pasta to al dente and remember to reserve about a cup of the pasta water before draining (used to loosen the pasta at serving).
After a quick sauté of the garlic (olive oil and don’t cook the garlic too long or on too high a heat), I added the cleaned chard (leaves cut in half and then in ribbons, some of the stems cut in chunks) and about a cup of water to the skillet with the cooked garlic. Cover and let the chard steam away until limp.
When the pasta is al dente, reserve the cup of pasta water and drain the pasta. Return it to the pan and add in the chard and garlic. Gradually add pasta water a little at a time to loosen the pasta (you shouldn’t need the whole cup).
Top it with a healthy dollop of pesto and some grated Romano or Parmesan, whichever you prefer.
Dinner in about 15 minutes. What’s not to like about that?
Ingredients
- About 1/2-3/4 lb of pasta (I used tubes, anything you fancy is fine)
- Olive oil
- 2-3 cloves of chopped garlic
- a good healthy head of chard
- Pesto (premade or if you luck out like we did, get some freshly made)
- Parmesan or Romano grated for serving
Four Nights A Week 
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