Erica De Mane

Recipe below: Orecchiette with Swiss Chard, Fennel Sausage, and Lemon

It has been the summer of rain. Many of my herbs have got waterlogged and root rot. My basil, one of my most loved plants, turned yellow and drooped and then just wilted altogether. And I planted a lot of basil—Genoa basil, sweet basil, Thai basil, whose taste drives me crazy, opal basil, cinnamon basil. All those plants just tanked. This caused me much anxiety. I kept replanting, and finally I just gave up and bought basil from farmers’ markets (although I certainly couldn’t find all the beautiful varieties that I wanted growing in my little garden). How are they keeping their basil healthy? When I asked at Migliorelli farms, she just said, yeah, it’s been a strange year. Professional farmers have their ways, and I guess we’re not allowed to know about them. Dying and dead basil remains a summer torment.

I’ve become so alarmed at not having basil that whenever I see it at a farm stand I buy it, not knowing exactly what I’ll use it for and worried I might waste some of the huge bunch I’m forced to purchase. I’ve been throwing it into dishes where in the past I wouldn’t have thought would work, for instance, in this pasta where the main ingredient is Swiss chard. Swiss chard and basil seem an odd couple, the chard being strong, slightly bitter, and even a little metallic. I often don’t use any herb with chard, and almost never with broccoli rabe, another green that I find is complete in itself.  But this time, with my chard, I threw in a big handful of basil at the end, because I had bought so much, and, you know. . . . And something good came of it. The two tastes melded into one, the basil tamping down the bitter chard and introducing a sweetness that seemed to be born of the mix, not a characteristic of either of these ingredients itself. Live and learn about herbs.

Orecchiette with Swiss Chard, Fennel Sausage, and Lemon

(Serves 2)

1 large bunch Swiss chard, stemmed and lightly chopped
Salt
½ pound orecchiette
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 sweet Italian sausages with fennel seeds, the casings removed, the meat chopped
2 summer garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 red peperoncino, sliced into thin rounds
A big splash of dry white wine
A big splash of chicken broth
The grated zest from 1 large lemon
A handful of basil leaves, lightly chopped
A chunk of pecorino Toscano cheese

Set up a large pot of pasta cooking water. Add salt, and bring it to a boil. Add the Swiss chard, and blanch it for about a minute. Using a large strainer spoon, scoop the chard out of the water and into a colander. Run cold water over it to bring up its green color. Squeeze as much water out of it as you can, and give it another quick chop.

Bring the water back to a boil, and drop in the orecchiette.

In a large sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the sausage, and sauté until it’s lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and peperoncino, and sauté another minute to release their flavors. Season with a little salt.

Add the chard, and sauté for a minute. Add the splash of wine, and let it bubble for a minute. Add the chicken broth and the lemon zest, and simmer for a minute, just to blend all the flavors. Turn off the heat.

When the orecchiette is al dente, drain it, saving a little of the cooking water, and add the orecchiette to the sauté pan, tossing everything around to blend well.

Pour the pasta into a serving bowl. Add the basil and a heaping tablespoon of pecorino, and toss gently, adding a little pasta cooking water if you need it to loosen the sauce. Serve right away, with extra pecorino brought to the table.