Pasta Improviso

One of the great things about Italian cooking is it's ultimate flexibility. Following a few basic principles, you can make a meal out of just about anything.

It's Thursday night and I don't feel like going out to eat so I'm taking stock of what I have to work with... a few mushrooms, a leek and a bag of field greens…so it's looking like a salad. Then I see the orecchiette (little ears) pasta in the cupboard and it hits me: why not make a simple sauce of sauteed leeks, mushrooms and field greens?

What’s on hand:
1 Leek
1 bag of field greens
8 mushrooms
1 clove of garlic
¼ cup of olive oil
2 tbsp. of butter
1.5 cups orecchiette pasta
Some white wine (always on hand at our house)
Parmigiano-Reggiano (or equivalent)
Salt and pepper

Put 4 quarts of salted water in a large pot on the stove on high heat. You want to have your water boiling before you start the sauce.

Next, chop the leek fine, then slice the mushrooms as if using them in an omelet. Peel the garlic. Heat the olive oil and 2 tbsp. of butter in a sauté pan and add the leeks. Cook for 2-3 minutes; then add the mushrooms. Crush the garlic with the flat part of a knife to open it up (this makes it easy to remove later) and add with the mushrooms. Note that as the mushrooms and the greens cook they provide additional liquid

for the sauce.

After 3-4 minutes, remove the garlic, add the greens and continue to cook until the greens are wilted and soft. Add a sprinkling of salt and several grindings of pepper. Remove from heat and let rest a few minutes. Add the pasta to the water and cook according to instructions. When about halfway done, place the sauce on low heat and add 2-3 tbsp. of white wine.

When the pasta is done, drain and immediately toss with the sauce. Add a few grindings of pepper, a generous amount of Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano, then correct for salt. Serve at once.