Linguine with Greens, Tomatoes, Basil, and Fresh Cream

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I don’t think you can find this recipe anywhere else. It’s an invention
of a friend of mine, a chef from Umbria with whom I worked in Berlin.
He told me it was born of necessity: he had to prepare a pasta dish for
a large table of guests who had arrived just before the restaurant was
about to close for the night. Very apologetic and kind, the guests
asked if their favorite chef could prepare something special for them.
As often in the cucina, the unavoidable need of using leftovers—in this
case, bieta (chard) and tomato sauce—created a wonderful and unexpected
dish.

Ingredients:

(For four persons)

Ingredients:
1 lb of DeLallo Organic Linguine #7
2 lbs (approximately) of Swiss chard
1 lb of fresh pachino (oval shaped) or ciliegino tomatoes, or 1lb of canned
 DeLallo San Marzano tomatoes
A handful of fresh basil leaves
A little bit of scallion, shallots, or leeks
3 cloves of garlic
A bouquet of fresh basil (30 to 40 leaves)
3 to 4 oz of Parmigiano Reggiano
½ lb of crème fraiche (panna)
Delallo extra virgin olive oil
1 oz of butter
Salt and hot pepper (or regular black pepper)

Directions:

In a large pot, bring a gallon of water to boil, add a handful of coarse salt. Because the white central part of the chard (bieta) take longer to cook than the green, after washing the bieta, cut out the white stems, and cut them in half-inch pieces. Boil these pieces first, cooking them in the same pot where you’ll cook your linguine. Just two minutes or so later, add in the green parts, which should be cut in large slices.

After another two minutes or so, drain all the bieta (chard) with care—removing the leaves from the boiling water with a sieve or strainer—dip them right away in a large bowl with ice and water. This is the method preferred in good restaurants because it preserves the chard’s nice green color. When the ice is dissolved, drain the bieta very well this time, being sure to eliminate all the liquid—using both your hands to firmly squeeze out the water from the boiled vegetables (verdura), or use one of those great salad spinners. Either way, just make sure the excess water is eliminated so that you will be able to sauté the chard properly.

Wash the pachini or ciliegini tomatoes and cut them in halves or quarters into a bowl. (Of course, if you’re using Italian canned peeled tomatoes, you’ll skip this step.) Next, finely chop a couple of shallots and one glove of garlic and brown them all slightly in a small but high pot with one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Add the tomatoes (at high flame to start, and then reduce); simmer for 20 minutes or so, uncovered.

Crush the tomatoes a bit with a potato masher, or give them a couple of shots with a hand-held blender. In a very large skillet—big enough to easily contain a pound of cooked pasta—add two tablespoons of olive oil and the remaining chopped garlic. Add the boiled bieta—spreading it out now in the pan—salt and pepper, and sauté for few minutes. Add the cooked tomatoes, and then, a few minutes before draining the pasta, add the crème fraiche and the basil (whole or cut in julienne). Leave some basil aside for garnishing.

Cook the linguine very al dente, then drain and toss it into the sauce; sauté for just a minute or so on a medium-high flame. Turn off the flame, add the butter, half of the parmesan and grind in some black pepper. Toss it, and serve it in a large bowl. Sprinkle the rest of the parmesan on top together with the basil and serve at once.

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