Farfalle with Greens and Buckwheat Crunch
This recipe offers a different spin on classic Polish kasha varnishkes, a Rosh Hashanah favorite. It doesn’t break with tradition entirely. It relies on the old Italian trick of saving some of the water used for cooking the pasta and adding it to the sauce. The water retains some of the starch from the pasta and makes everything silky.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes or 2 teaspoons fresh jalapeno or pepperoncino minced
- 1/2 cup kasha
- 1 13- ounce box farfalle or other small pasta shape
- 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1 to 2 lemons
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest about 1 lemon
- 3 tablespoons capers rinsed
- 4 cups fresh tender greens such as arugula and spinach, loosely packed
- 1 cup pasta cooking liquid reserved
- sea salt to and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the minced garlic and dried pepper flakes or fresh minced chile and stir for a minute or two until vegetables become softened and fragrant. Pour in the kasha and give a stir for a minute or two until toasty-smelling, glossy and fragrant. Add a pinch of sea salt. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water.
- Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the pasta pot over medium-high heat. Add the cooked pasta, lemon juice and zest and capers. Add greens by the handful and pour in 3/4 cups of the pasta cooking liquid. Mix together lightly, letting the heat from the pasta and pasta water wilt — not boil — the greens. Pour in the remaining pasta water, season with sea salt and fresh pepper and give a final mix.
- Sprinkle the toasted kasha on the pasta and serve.