Fusilli with cream of chicory

The italian pasta “Fusilli with cream of chicory” creates  a delicious and refined first course. For the preparation was used chicory from Treviso (Italian city, but you can use whatever you can find in your country) that has a sweeter taste and is more delicate than the common chicory. In this preparation, the chicory is cooked and then reduced to a  cream together with onions and bacon, which enhance the flavors without covering its aroma and flavor. The chicory is usually found fresh in the market during the winter months (between November and March) but is less expensive compared to its "cousin" of Treviso. The chicory is recognized by its elongated leaves that have white coasts collected in a non-compact bush that can grow up to 20 cm in length. Before you buy the chicory make sure that the leaves are intact and moist, this will ensure that its vitamin properties are intact. The red chicory, in fact, is rich in vitamin A and C, and abounds in minerals, is also useful for purifying the blood and to aid digestion.

 1. Ingredients: Fresh onions (or leeks) 100 g, 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, bacon wrapped and chopped 100 gr, Fresh cream 4 tablespoons, fusilli pasta 360 g, ground black pepper to taste, chicory 400 g, Salt to taste, 3 sprigs of fresh thyme, dry white wine 100 ml

2

Wash in cold water and slice the radishes at the base of the leaves. Cut the leaves into thin strips. Finely chopped slices of rolled bacon.

3

Place the bacon to simmer in three tablespoons of olive oil,

4

Then add the onions cut into thin slices

5

and chicory

6

then add the cream, salt, and pepper.

7

Whisk the mixture of chicory (except for a couple of heavy tablespoons that you need to save), and reduce everything to a cream that should be fairly thick.

8

Put the resulting cream in a large skillet, and add the thyme leaves. Meanwhile boil the past so as to be firm but not hard, and then mix it with the cream of chicory, mix well. 

9

 Place a serving of “fusilli with chicory cream” on the plate topping it with the chicory you saved earlier,  and finish with a few leaves of thyme. Add Parmesan cheese as desired.

Source: Giallo Zafferano