Recipe Contest - Pasta Farfalle con Spinaci

I posted this before on a2k under the topic Comfort Pastas. I'll try to organize the recipe a little more coherently this time.

FARFALLE CON SPINACI

Ingredients, for two people:

* 1/2 lb of good pasta. Best for the dish is Farfalle by Da Cecco.
I have used fusilli (wrong), and chopped up fettucine (fine) and broken spaghetti (fine). Small rigatoni or orecchietti would work. Just don't pick the hunkiest pasta possible and if you don't buy italian, at least get american made from semolina.

*Have at hand a good bunch of spinach, from grocer or yard; wash 3x, cut off lower stems, perhaps chop up and use some of the rest of the stems.

* two tablespoons butter, and one of olive oil, and two garlic cloves, chopped.

* 3 or 4 tablespoons of some decent ricotta. I like the fresh ricotta in a pan from an italian market, or the whole milk ricotta from Polly-O. My view is that you don't use that much, go ahead, get the whole milk.

* a few tablespoons of grated parmigiano reggiano

* fresh lemon, halved, seeded, more slices if desired.

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Boil a nice vat of water, and when bubbling happily, add your pasta, stir, and watch.

In a big fry pan, perhaps teflon, saute' the garlic in the butter and oil and add the spinach, cook until spinach wilts and shut off.

Take pasta out and strain when it is al dente texture...and toss into the spinach mixture. Take two fat tablespoons...oh, up to a half cup, of the ricotta and mix in with pasta with low flame....

serve portions into prepared microwave-heated bowls, sprinkle with parmigiano, and squeeze lemon half over each dish.... (or serve parmigiano and lemons on the side).

Serve to people ready to eat. No dawdling allowed.


This, for me, is a dish that is sort of primal, I love it beyond reason.