Anselm's Favorite Supper

When I made this meal tonight I didn't expect the boys to like it very much. In fact, I didn't think I would like it very much. You see, I've never been a big fan of turnips. But we received them from our farm yesterday, and I figured I should do something with them. So I made the recipe you see below and boy! it was G-O-O-D Good! Anselm even said it was his favorite supper ever.

I let the boys do all the chopping and showed Anselm how to use the flat of his knife to peel and crush garlic "like a real chef". In case you are wondering, yes it is a little scary to put an 8 inch chefs knife into the hand of a two year old, but they have to learn sometime, don't they?

The recipe I was using (from In Praise of Sardines called for red pepper flakes but I didn't have any. So I used a little fresh ground black pepper. Also, it called for grated Pecorino Romano. I didn't have any of that either. So I used a mixture of Parmeggiano-Reggianno and a generic Romano. Anselm really liked the fact that orecchiette means little ears.

6 oz orecchiette
1 bunch baby turnips
2 cloves garlic
3 tbs mixed grated Romano and Parmeggiano Reggiano
a little salt
a little black pepper.
3 tbs olive oil

Bring a large pot of water to boil.
Once it begins to boil add 1 Tbs salt per quart of water.
Cut the greens off the turnips leave 1/4 inch still attached to the turnips.
Scrub turnips to remove dirt.
Rinse the greens.
Cut the roots of the turnips and quarter the turnips.
Cut the stms off the leaves. Cut stems into 1 inch long pieces. Do not cut up the leaves.
put turnips into boiling water. Cook until tender. Remove turnips from water and set them aside. (I use tongs for this.) Next cook the stems. Then cook the leaves. Each time removing from the water and setting aside.
Now put the orecchiette to the water. It will take about 10 minutes to cook.
(I drank a very nice bottle of Peroni and helped the boys peel and mince the garlic while the pasta was cooking.)
While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a saute pan and add the pepper and garlic. When the garlic begins to turn golden add the turnips and greens and sautee until they are hot again. Now ad the orecchiette to the pan. stir it up good. splash a little raw oil on it. Splash a little of the pasta water on it. (you didn't dump it out did you?) divide onto three plates (Mom is at her office so there were only three eaters tonight.) top with the grated cheese. Enjoy.