+39

Last night we had a cousins dinner at +39 Pizzeria on Little Bourke Street.  The service was slow but when the food arrived the authenticity of the pizza dough kept our table quiet while we devoured our meals!  I had a simple pasta dish with prawns and chillis (although not enough of the latter), which reminded me of one of my favourite Rick Stein pasta dishes.  Don't be scared of the anchovies if you are not a major fan of chunks of salty fishiness - the recipe calls for them to be melted through the hot oil, resulting in a dilution of the flavour throughout the dish.  And by the way orecchiette translates to "little ears" : )

Orecchiette with Cavalo Nero

Serves 4

500g cavalo nero, silver beet or spinach
500g dried orecchiette pasta
6 tablespoons oilve oil
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon crushed dried chillies
6 anchovy fillets in olive oil
Freshly grated parmesan or pecorino cheese
Salt and pepper

1) Bring 4.5 litres of water to the boil in a large saucepan with 8 teaspoons of salt.  Trim any stalks from the green leaves and cut into lengths.  Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook for 12 minutes.  Four minutes before the pasta is cooked, add the greens and cook until they are tender and the pasta is al dente.

2) Meanwhile, put the oil, garlic and chilli flakes into a large deep frying pan and place over a medium heat.  As soon as the garlic begins to sizzle, leave it to cook for a few seconds then stir in the anchovy fillets, breaking them up with a wooden spoon, until they have melted into the oil.  Remove from the heat.

3) Drain the pasta and greens and just before all the water has drained off them add to the frying pan and toss well (sometimes I keep a little of the drained water in case I need to add more to the pan).  Place over a high heat and shake around for a few seconds until the cooking liquid still clinging to the pasta and leaves has amalgamated with the oil to create a sauce.

4) Divide between warmed bowls and serve sprinkled with cheese.  If you do add salt and pepper, I would use a light touch as it already contains saltiness from the anchovies and heat from the chillies.