Ragazzi, this is a tale of a recipe which , like cats, has nine lives. Or more. Annalena made it for one purpose, had much more than she needed, and turned it into something else. And she can see it being used for a lot of things. Read on, if her intro has intrigued you. And read on anyway, because even if the opening hasn't, the rest just might.
You all know green sauceS: "salsa verde," pesto, and others, such as Annalena's beet green and ricotta spaghetti sauce. To Annalena, the last two (pesto and salsa verde), are really sauces that are "of the season." While Annalena freezes basil pesto, she would never make it until the very height of summer. And for her salsa verde (one with tomatillos, and hot peppers), she would also make vats of it, and freeze it. She does have tomatillos frozen for "one last batch" before the summer gets here, but generally, these are sauces of their time. There are other green sauces, however, which are essentially purees of fresh herbs, and olive oil and garlic. This sauce very much fits into that category.
The sauce was given as a recipe for clams with spaghetti and the sauce. And truth to be told, it is DAMN good that way. Annalena will discuss this later on; however, the sauce will stand on its own for other things, as Annalena will also show you.
Ok, enough talk, let's get to "work," if you can call this work. Your ingredients are pretty simple. You will need a medium sized shallot, diced fine. If you happen to be lucky enough to fine the preminced type that Annalena uses, you can use these. You want about a quarter of a cup. You also want a half cup of dry white wine or, as Annalena has pointed out, you can "sour" verjus with vinegar , and use that. But don't leave out the wine/wine substitute. Also, two cups of flat leave parsley leaves. This is about two bunches. Annalena would love to tell you that you can use the stems, but truth to be told, you can't. They are too stringy for this recipe.
Next, several cups of spinach, be it baby or full sized. If you use full sized spinach (which, this time of year, is coming from the green house), use the ones with tender stems. Or if you don't have tender stems, pull the leaf from those tough guys. The original recipe called for just one cup of this. Annalena used about six. This is a matter of taste: your sauce WILL taste more of spinach, the more you add. It is up to you.
Next, a combination of cloves of garlic and/or stems of green garlic, adding up to three. You can use three cloves of garlic, three stems of green garlic, or combinations. Annalena was lucky enough to have some green garlic from her farm box, so she used one of these, together with two garlic cloves. You may think that with all the spinach she used, the garlic wasn't enough. It was. This is Annalenas recipe, and she'll do as she damn well pleases.
Put a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a big pan, and add the shallots. Cook them for about two minutes. Next, add the parsley leaves (we didn't forget about the wine... that will come in later), and wilt them. It will take all of about a minute. Next, add the spinach, in big handfuls, and wait until one bunch wilts, before you add the next. Keep on doing this until you use all the spinach. Finalmente, add your garlic, and stir this around for a couple of minutes.
We're going to puree this in a blender, and here's where you have to be a bit creative. If you are going to use this for clams or some other meat product, add clam juice (for clams), or chicken stock (for anything), and keep on pureeing until you have a smooth, light green sauce. Taste it, and adjust it for seasoning . It will need salt and pepper, and perhaps hot pepper. If you are planning to use this for some vegetarian application, vegetable stock or water will do.
You will have a lot of sauce here , and Annalena suggests you save half of it for what follows. Keep the other half in the blender, add a cup of ricotta, and puree that. Green sauce for pasta, at your service. Or, a green sauce for baked potatoes.
Now, that other half. Well, Annalena used it with clams, to make pasta with clams and green sauce, but it's good with the clams alone. And to do that... Wash somewhere between a dozen and 18 clams, and then put them into a pan big enough to hold them all in one layer. Add the wine, put a cover on the lid, and leave it there for at least five minutes.
After five minutes, the clams should at least be beginning to open. As the clams open, put them into a large bowl, and put the cover back on the pan, and check every minute or so. After ten minutes, it's going to be as good as it's gonna get, and if any of your clams haven't opened, dump them. Check though. Someitmes, the claims have opened, just a bit. If you can get a knife blade into them, they're good. They'll open with just a little pressure, but protect your hands, because clam shells are hot, and you need to press the knife in to force them open.
When they're all opened, return them to the pot, add the sauce you reserved , and put it aside while you cook about 12 ounces of pasta. When the pasta is just a bit firmer then you want it to be, drain it, throw it into the pan with the clams and the green sauce, and heat it gently, turning it with your tongs. The pasta will finish cooking, and you'll have a pretty damn substantial plate of pasta. Depending on how many of you there are, there can be 9, or 6, or fewer clams per person (6 is a standard portion).
That wasn't too had, was it? If you are so inclined, just use the green sauce as is, and you have a vegan dish. Use it to poach chicken if you like, or over pork. The cheese based sauce, as Annalena noted, is good for starch.
One recipe, multitudes of applications. Now you see why it's a must have.
Next time around, ragazzi, we are going to roll up our sleeves and work, and make a magnificent dish that screams INVITE PEOPLE OVER
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