Rhubarb & Rutabaga Pasta

Rutabaga & Rhubarb Another Way: This time as a pasta.

Not long ago, I introduced my faithful readers to the idea of using rhubarb as a main course rather than regulating it to its standard place at the end of the buffet. I find cooked rhubarb to be a vegetable with distinctive flavor but with a texture that makes it truly versatile. When cooked, rhubarb breaks down immediately into a stringy pulp – if that sounds unappetizing, fear not: there are many ways to make this pulp your pal. I’ve already given you a soup, and a slaw – so with this recipe, I’m hoping to make it to third base.

With half of my rutabaga left over from the night before, I decided to try to take it in a completely new direction – while I’d first paired the sweet rutabaga with another sweet root and savory millet, on this evening, I was going to create a pasta with a “rhubarb sauce” – I love to pair rhubarb with roots, as its tart & tangy flavor responds well to a sugary partner (hence the classic rhubarb pie). I imagined the pulpy rhubarb wrapping around my fusilli pasta to create an irresistible tangle of something that would come to resemble a sauce.

So I began, predictably, by setting my fusilli noodles on the stove to boil – I dropped the raw pasta into a pot of boiling water along with a teaspoon of salt and boiled for about ten minutes to achieve an al dente finish.

In the meantime….

To support the rhubarb sauce, I decided to create first a base of minced ginger and dill. I combined a tablespoon of ginger and a tablespoon of dill in a skillet along with a lot of olive oil (well, relatively speaking: this time, a full two tablespoons). I allowed the oil to warm up and fully infuse with the ginger and dill – about two minutes.

I roughly chopped three cups of rhubarb and added it to the skillet, along with four medium-sized carrots cut into bite-sized pieces and likewise, the rutabaga (the remaining one cup from the previous evening). I turned the heat down to medium and put the lid on so that the steam would build up and soften the rhubarb, stirring every couple of minutes to further encourage the process. It should take no more than ten minutes for the vegetables to be fork-tender, and for the entire mixture to resemble something that would readily cling to the little twisted fusilli noodles.

I served ours in deep bowls – a generous scoop of pasta covered in an even more generous scoop of vegetables – and we added a drizzle of olive oil and salt & pepper to taste.

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The Nitty-Gritty:

Ingredients (for two servings):

 

one tablespoon minced ginger

one tablespoon fresh dill

two tablespoons olive oil

fhree cups chopped rhubarb

four medium-sized carrots

one cup chopped rutabaga

fusilli pasta for two

salt & pepper, olive oil

Procedure:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil with a teaspoon of salt; add fusilli pasta for two and boil until al dente (about ten minutes).

2. Mince ginger and combine with dill and olive oil in a skillet. Heat on medium-high for two minutes, until fragrant.

3. Chop rhubarb, carrots, and rutabaga into bite-sized pieces. Add to skillet and cover, stirring frequently to encourage the rhubarb to form a pulp. Heat on medium for up to ten minutes, until pulpy texture has been achieved and vegetables are fork-tender.

4. Serve pasta and vegetables in bowls with olive oil, salt & pepper to taste.