Fusilli a la Crazy Bastard extra veggies
This recipe is adapted from one that appeared in Food & Wine January 2009. Ive made it several times and think that it tastes best when more of the greens and tomatoes are added in proportion to the pasta and cheese. I also recently discovered Watkins ground black pepper and think it is amazing stuff, but fresh ground pepper is good too. The original recipe is by chef Andy Nussar of the Tarry Lodge.
This recipe is adapted from one that appeared in Food & Wine January 2009. Ive made it several times and think that it tastes best when more of the greens and tomatoes are added in proportion to the pasta and cheese. I also recently discovered Watkins ground black pepper and think it is amazing stuff, but fresh ground pepper is good too. The original recipe is by chef Andy Nussar of the Tarry Lodge.
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 3/4 cup walnut pieces
- 3 pints cherry tomatoes
- sea salt ground
- watkins black pepper freshly ground
- 1 1/2 lbs fusilli pasta
- 1 medium sweet onion sliced
- 5 bunches beet greens washed & coarsely chopped (about 1.5 lbs)
- 1/2 pound soft goat cheese thickly sliced
- 1 crushed red pepper
- 1/4 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese grated
- Carbohydrate 71.046667317094 g
- Cholesterol 114.92 mg
- Fat 28.9681684258852 g
- Fiber 2.4829059550673 g
- Protein 27.1629956781441 g
- Saturated Fat 9.99228589181929 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (281g)
- Sodium 318.743794505494 mg
- Sugar 68.5637613620267 g
- Trans Fat 2.64796489847375 g
- Calories 644 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat the oven to 350°.
- Toast walnut pieces on baking sheet for about 7 minutes, until lightly browned. Set aside.
- Increase oven temperature to 450°. On baking sheet, toss cherry tomatoes with 1 tsp of olive oil, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Roast tomatoes for about 10 minutes, until browned in spots.
- Cook the fusilli according to directions. Meanwhile, saute the garlic and onions with the remaining olive oil in a large skillet, about 2 minutes until golden. Stir in the roasted tomatoes and add crushed red pepper to taste. Add the chopped beet greens (if the greens are overwhelming the size of the skillet, add the greens a little at a time -- they shrink down quickly) and cook mixture until the greens are just barely wilted.
- Drain the fusilli, reserving some of the cooking water (about 1/2 cup). Add the pasta and the sliced goat cheese to the skillet and cook over moderate to low heat, tossing to coat the pasta and adding cooking water as needed to thin sauce to desired consistency.
- Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with the toasted walnuts and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Serve immediately.
Managing two distinct oven temperatures within a short prep window requires careful staggering. Toasting walnuts at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for seven minutes happens first, before the oven climbs to 450 degrees Fahrenheit to blister the cherry tomatoes on a baking sheet until they brown in spots. This dual-heat requirement means timing the vegetable roasting alongside the pasta boiling prevents dishes from cooling down before assembly.
Standard kitchen skillets often lack the volume required for large amounts of raw greens. Five bunches of beet greens will initially tower over the pan, but introducing them gradually allows the water content to evaporate quickly until the leaves wilt down completely. Retaining half a cup of starchy pasta water before draining the fusilli provides the necessary emulsion base to melt the soft goat cheese smoothly without breaking the sauce.
Originally popularized in professional Italian-American kitchens, this variation leans heavily on produce weight rather than expensive proteins. Swapping standard greens for Swiss chard or spinach yields a similar volume if beet greens are unavailable at the market.
