Berkeley Heights and the surrounding area has a LOT of Italian restaurants. So, I haven’t posted a lot of pasta or Italian inspired recipes because there’s so much to try at local restaurants. This one is very easy to do and is very good…and good for you. If you haven’t made ricotta from scratch, it’s quite easy and only involves a few ingredients and steps. It’s quite tasty and if you are like me, you won’t really ever buy ricotta again. All the ingredients except the pasta were either purchased fresh at the Summit Farmer’s market or obtained through Just Farmed. You can switch the types of greens and add or subtract other veggies as you like. I really like the added homemade breadcrumbs as it adds some body to the sauce and some crunch to the texture. If you don’t happen to have day old bread, don’t substitute breadcrumbs from the grocery store. They have the wrong consistency and will make the texture soggy rather than crunchy. If you don’t have the homemade breadcrumbs, I’d suggest foregoing the breadcrumbs and either just going with the rest of the ingredients as is or adding something like toasted pine nuts. Hope you enjoy the dish!  Recipe follows after the jump…

Ingredients:

For the Ricotta:

2 Cups heavy cream

6 Cups whole milk

Juice of 3-4 medium lemons

Sea Salt to taste

For the Rest of the Dish:

1 Box pasta of your choice

1 Bunch Swiss chard

1 Bunch Spring Onions

2-3 Thick pieces of day old crusty bread

4 Cloves of garlic

Extra virgin olive oil (around a cup or so total)

Sea Salt and Red Pepper Flakes to taste

Italian parsley for garnish/color

Instructions

Make the Ricotta:

• Take 2 cups of heavy cream and six cups of whole milk and combine. Place over medium heat and while stirring (to avoid scorching the dairy), bring to a boil.
• Juice 3-4 medium lemons and set aside.
• Once milk and cream mixture is at a boil, turn heat off and stir in lemon juice. Stir for a minute or so, to allow curds to form.
• Set cheesecloth in strainer and pour cheese into cheesecloth lined strainer. Allow to drain.
• Gather cheesecloth and scrape cheese into a dish. Season to taste with sea salt. Use immediately while warm or place in refrigerator for later use.

Make the Pasta:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Once there, place bread in oven. Cook for 5-10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Chop bread coarsely and place in food processor. Pulse until coarse breadcrumbs are formed.
• Once breadcrumbs are formed, place crumbs back in oven for five minutes more. Remove and set aside.

• Place large amount of water in large pot and set on high. Bring water to boil. Once water is boiling, take sauce pan and place on medium heat.
• Take Swiss chard and chop coarsely (you might want to remove the ribs of the chard as sometimes the ribs are tough. I kept mine with the ribs in tact).
• Add a bit of extra virgin olive oil to the pan. Place Swiss chard in pan and season with a bit of sea salt. Allow to cook a minute or two and add a touch of water for it to steam. Cook chard until nicely wilted (note that it will and should have a stronger texture than other leafy greens such as spinach even when wilted).
• Once cooked through, place chard in ice bath to stop the cooking (a big bowl full of ice and water). Wipe the pan clean with a paper towel and place back on medium heat.
• Add the roughly chopped spring onion and garlic to the pan. Add a couple tablespoons olive oil and a bit of sea salt. Add a touch of red pepper flake to the pan. Cook onion and garlic mixture for several minutes, until tender and translucent. Turn head down to low/simmer.
• Place a large amount of salt (a good handful) in the boiling water and add the pasta. Cook pasta to package directions, around 8 minutes or until it tastes al dente. (I usually taste the pasta as I go to test for doneness rather than rely on timers or package directions).
• Once pasta is done, place pasta directly from boiling water into the pan with the onion/garlic mixture. Add ½ cup of the pasta liquid. Add a couple more tablespoons of olive oil.
• Add the Swiss chard back into the pan and allow to heat through. At that point, the pasta water, pasta, and sauce components should be coming together. Remove from heat.
• Stir in a cup of ricotta (or whatever amount you care to add) and combine.
• Taste pasta and adjust seasoning by adding sea salt or more red pepper flakes as necessary to suit your taste.
• Place portions on plate. Add the breadcrumbs over the top of the pasta. Garnish with a few parsley leaves and another drizzle of olive oil.