Mid to End of June - Kohlrabi, Kale Pesto, Garlic Scapes & Quick Collard Greens

Way back when, an instructor on the cuisine of Naples and Campania told me the natives were once called 'mangiafoglie' or leaf eaters for their heavily green diet, and that's what we've become lately, which is fine by me.  I was hoping the farm would dictate our meals, and it basically has.  I wasn't sure initially if the one big bag of produce we get each Friday would take us through until the next, but thus far it has lasted in the fridge until called upon, stretching until it's time for the next week's haul.

This time of Spring into Summer it's mostly about the greens; some tropicana lettuce, a huge head of it with curly ends, collards, spinach, frisee and then some purple kohlrabi bulbs and broccoli to round it out.  Continuing on in the vein that high quality things should be prepared simply, we haven't changed them much for eating purposes.

Kohlrabi was totally new to me; it comes in green and purple varieties, sweet and crunchy, good raw or cooked so that it browns and gets firm but tender like a rutabaga.  Alls you got to do is take a bulb of it, peel off the tougher outer skin, clip off the root and stalk ends, cut into 1 inch cubes or sticks and saute over medium heat in 2 tablespoons of olive oil for 10 minutes or so, tossing only occasionally so that it gets nicely browned and its sweetness punctuated.

 If you want, add 1 lb. of spinach and wilt it quickly in the pan with the kohlrabi.  Another option is to garnish with toasted homemade breadcrumbs to add some texture.  Take 3-4 slices of crusty bread like baguette or ciabatta and grind them up in a food processor to the level of coarseness you desire.  Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan, and when hot at the breadcrumbs and some seasoning such as fresh or dried herbs, chopped nuts, garlic, grated cheese.  Toss frequently to coat all the bread in the oil and to toast it evenly, about 5 minutes, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve atop the vegetables.  

We ate that as a side with some chicken thighs that we simply seasoned and roasted in the oven and topped with refreshing kale pesto.  For the chicken, 2 lbs. or so of boneless skinless thighs, just generous salt and pepper, then baked for 30 minutes at 425 F (or grill, but we ran out of propane and it was too late to go get a new tank).

For the pesto, take a bunch of curly or toscano or other type of kale, or a mixture, removing just the lower part of the stalk, and place in a food processor with the juice of 1/2 a lemon, its zest, 1/2 cup grated cheese like parmigiano reggiano, a few pinches of salt and pepper.  Nuts are optional; I forgot to add them and I didn't really miss them.  I usually don't stock pine nuts either, and I find some lightly toasted almonds work really well as an alternative.  Begin processing this while adding a steady stream of good olive oil until you reach the desired consistency (I like mine pretty loose so it coats things well).  Season to taste with more salt and pepper if needed.   The pesto is really good on a lot of things, like leftover noodles from the recipe below.

Garlic scapes are tender shoots that emanate from certain types of garlic bulb, but unlike a lot of buds, they'll never turn into flowers.  The curly scapes have a much milder garlic flavor than the pungent cloves, and are usually in markets for a very brief stint this time each year.  I wanted to use them in a way so as to keep them the main attraction rather than the base of something bigger, and I thought fresh pasta would be a good medium.

I took 1 bunch of the garlic scapes and cut off the grassy top above the bud, then cut them into 3 inch or so segments.  Into a pan they went with 2 tablespoons each of butter and olive oil on medium heat.  In 5 minutes they were tender but still had a snap, and were surprisingly sweet.  Meanwhile, I conjured up a recipe of fresh pasta, which I'm sure you can find on this site somewhere.  I chose to make 4 servings worth of fresh egg pasta tagliolini this time, which are thin linguine like noodles, using my Kitchen Aid pasta attachment.

I buy into the school of thought that pasta, especially fresh, has to remain the main attraction, so don't overburden it with too much sauce.  I really just wanted the relatively delicate garlic flavor and maybe an herb to come through.  I was picking off the tops of the dill plant I have at home and figured it could work.  The noodles cooked in about 2 minutes, after which I tossed them into the pan with the garlic scape sauce, adding salty pasta water to coat everything nicely, more olive oil and a handful of the fresh dill, torn roughly.  I garnished with a good amount of black pepper and parmigiano reggiano, though pecorino romano would work well too.  

I am always surprised how good collard greens can be, even with the most basic cooking.  I particularly like how they're thick and even after an hour of braising maintain their integrity.  On a weeknight I didn't want to take the time to make a ham hock broth first and then boil the greens beyond that, so I tried a quicker bacon broth.  I used 1/4 lb. of smoked uncured bacon roughly chopped, which I rendered in a dutch oven on medium low heat until it was slightly browned.  Then I added about 1 liter of hot, not warm, water, a good pinch of hot pepper flakes and the collards, about 8 big leaves worth, with their tough spines removed.  I simmered them on the lowest setting on the stove, covered, for 1 hour.  Afterward I doused about 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in and seasoned with salt to taste.  I didn't get around to eating them that night, but found that they were really good reheated the next day.