Kitchen Garden Journal

Last week the New York Times printed a recipe in their food section for a spring vegetable-inspired version of puttanesca. While the recipe sounded pretty good to me, the fresh, seasonal ingredients seemed an insult to the character of puttanesca. 

Puttanesca, named for the Neapolitan prostitutes who supposedly made pasta this way, is traditionally spaghetti with a sauce of tomatoes, chilies, anchovies, capers and olives. Its beauty lies in the fact that it can be made from what you already have in the pantry. Apparently, the prostitutes worked at night and slept too late to get to the market before the produce stalls had been packed up. But that didn’t stop their creativity in the kitchen.

So why put all those fresh flavors of spring in there, straight from the farmers’ market? 

Why not put them into a carbonara? After all, carbonara (named for charcoal makers who work in the winter and early spring in the forests) is an egg emulsion. And egg emulsions are classically employed to dress up springtime delicacies. 

Asparagus and hollandaise anyone? How about some spinach on those Eggs Benedict? So why not spring garlic (or spinach or asparagus, for that matter) in your carbonara? I love spring garlic with eggs! 

And it seems to me that if those Apennine wood cutters found a way to keep some pigs and chickens around, they most certainly would have planted themselves a little patch of garlic, too. 

A quick perusal of the internet turned up this recipe for a garlic scape-based carbonara from the very nice Italian cooking blog Sarah’s Cucina Bella:

Garlic Scape Carbonara

• 1/2 lb campanella pasta, or shape of your choosing
• 4 slices bacon (about 3 1/4 ounces), chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped garlic scapes (or spring garlic)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Romano cheese

Set a pot of water to boiling on the stove and cook the campanella pasta (or desired shape).

While it’s cooking, cook the bacon over medium heat until browned. Remove the bacon pieces with a slotted spoon and add the garlic scapes. Cook until soft (2-3 minutes). Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon. (Drain both the bacon and the garlic scapes on a paper towel).

Whisk together the eggs, salt and red pepper flakes.

When the pasta is done, quickly remove it from the stove and set a different burner to low heat. Drain the pasta and add it back to the pot, on the burner set to low. Stir in the garlic scapes and bacon. Add the egg mixture and stir feverishly for 3-4 minutes until sauce is thick and creamy. Don’t let it overcook or it will be gloppy. Sprinkle the romano cheese in, a little at a time, and stir to combine. Don’t add it all at once or it won’t mix throughout the pasta as well (since it will clump).

Serve immediately.

Comment (0)

• Pastry Shell (makes two tart shells)
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Combine flour and salt in the Cuisinart bowl fitted with a blade. Pulse to combine and start adding cubes of butter, pulsing, until the lumps are pea-sized. Mix cream and yolk together and pour the mixture into the bowl while processing, just until the dough starts to come together. Turn the dough out onto a piece of saran wrap and form into a disc. Divide in half and chill for an hour before rolling out and fitting into a 9-10" tart pan.

Filling (quantity for 1 tart)
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp salt
dash of pepper
dash of nutmeg
1 bunch asparagus
4 oz. goat chevre, crumbled

Trim any tough ends from the asparagus and toss with ample olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast the spears on a cookie sheet at 450 for 15-20 minutes until blistering but still slightly firm. Chop into bite size pieces and allow to cool.

Turn oven down to 375. Roll out pastry dough and fit into the tart pan. Prick the bottom with the tines of a fork, fit with foil and fill with pie weights (dry beans, pennies, marbles, etc.) Bake for 8 minutes until pastry is set, remove foil and weights and continue baking 7 minutes until the shell is dried out and very lightly browned. Remove from the oven and cool before filling.

Combine eggs, cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg with a fork or whisk, being careful not to incorporate too much air. Stir in asparagus and chevre. Pour filling into cooled shells and bake for 30 minutes, or until the filling is set and lightly browned. Cool before serving. 

Comment (0)