Gigli all'Erbazzone

Swiss Chard - This is a great recipe to get excited about those tops of beets, Turnips and radishes that so often end up in compost. They are delicious and nutritious. We suggest using them in addition to the swiss chard (or using a mix, our favorite pastas are ones that use what you have!). Pre-blanched frozen greens like spinach or kale work in a pinch too. 

Let’s Talk Ricotta Cheese - Most ricotta on the American market is not very traditional. Nowadays, ricotta is made from whole milk (hence why on most packages you see it labeled “whole milk ricotta”) but traditionally it is made from the whey after farmers make cheeses like parmigiano reggiano or other cow milk cheese. Traditional ricotta tends to be firmer and “dryer” than what we get here in the USA. We always recommend using a local product and there are some great handmade whole milk ricottas out there. To achieve the ideal texture we like to hang our ricotta overnight in the fridge in cheesecloth. This allows the excess moisture to drip out (save it, it's delicious in your next bread or pancake recipe) and leaves you with a more flavorful and thicker ricotta. 

Make it Vegetarian- Simply omit the pancetta, we like to add an extra clove of garlic and some extra black pepper when making this vegetarian. 

Make it Gluten Free - We love our GF Radiatori or GF Creste di Gallo pasta. (please note that 1 box of our GF pasta contains 12 oz of pasta versus our egg noodle pasta is 13.7 oz, if you have big eaters in your family we would recommend grabbing 2 boxes and taking out 1 handful of the second and save the rest for another day!)