Italian Farfalle and Spinach Recipe

Today I concocted a quick recipe for this delicious side dish to accompany the fish or meat course of your next Northern Italian meal:

Farfalle With Spinach and Artichokes in White Clam Sauce

Ingredients
1 lb (dry) Farfalle (bowtie pasta)
4C Fresh spinach leaves coarsely chopped
8 Marinated artichoke hearts, quartered
1/2C Butter beans or canelloni, precooked
1/4C Raisins
1/4C Anchovy-stuffed green olives, lightly chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
Dry basil and oregano, to taste
1/2C White clam sauce
3T Olive oil

Preparation
Boil Farfalle until al dente, drain, lightly toss with about half of the olive oil, cover and set aside. While Farfalle are cooking prepare the sauce, as follows:

In a large pan on a low-medium flame, saute garlic, artichokes, and raisins in the rest of the olive oil. Stir in the basil and oregano and let cook for a moment. Add the beans and clam sauce (don’t skimp on the clam bits!) Cook at a slow boil until half of the liquid is reduced. Salt to taste. Add the spinach and minced olives; lightly toss them in the mixture until spinach is just wilted and bright green. Adjust salt if necessary.

With your best eye for panache or style, layer the spinach and sauce mixture over the Farfalle; lightly toss if desired. Sprinkle with (red) hot pepper flakes for pizazz and color.

Serves 4-6. Buon Appetito!, as the late Romeo Salta inscribed in my copy of his book Pleasures of Italian Cooking. Its a good cookbook. Froogle it! You pick the wine.

Technorati: Italian cooking, farfalle, spinach, artichoke, clam sauce, recipes