Caramelized Bacon
This incredibly simple recipe always gets rave reviews from our guests!
Ingredients:
1½ cups packed brown sugar
1 pound bacon
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 375°. Place sugar in a shallow pan. Add strips of bacon to pan and coat completely with sugar, shaking off excess to even coat.
2. Transfer bacon to a broiler pan or rack set over baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake bacon until dark golden brown, turning once, about 10-15 minutes per side. Using tongs, transfer to rack to cool. Serve warm.
The Italian Spring Recipes
This week’s lineup combines a bevy of fresh spring produce—from verdant greens to vibrant red radishes—with the soulful flavors of Italy, also including smoky, nitrate-free bacon, fresh bucatini pasta, and silky duck eggs that are all begging to star in pasta carbonara for supper (see the enclosed recipe suggestions for that one!). Also including fun Italian-style pantry provisions such as pillowy focaccia bread, farmstead Caciotta cheese and soft amaretti cookies with chocolate, as well as spring daffodils, this box will transport you abroad, all without leaving your very own kitchen. Mangia!
Here are a few recipe ideas for the week:
Duck Egg Carbonara Pasta with Bacon
Creamy and indulgent, simple and satisfying, this classic-style carbonara dish gets an added boost from this week’s silky duck eggs.
Roasted Radishes with Brown Butter & Lemon
The sweet, nutty brown butter here lends a beautiful finishing touch.
Italian Parsley-Caper Vinaigrette
This adaptation of the pungent vinaigrette from Joshua McFadden’s Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables is magical drizzled over roasted vegetables or spring greens!
Sweet Onion Confit
This buttery-sweet topping is wonderful in sandwiches or even atop crackers.
Arugula Pesto
Stash this bright, zippy pesto in your freezer to add to the likes of pastas, soups or even roasted vegetables.
Duck Egg Carbonara with Bacon
Creamy and indulgent, simple and satisfying, this classic-style carbonara dish gets an added boost from this week’s silky duck eggs.
Ingredients:
6 ounces thick-cut bacon, about 4-6 slices
1 pound bucatini
4 duck egg yolks, plus 1 duck egg
½ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
Method:
1. Cut the bacon into ½ inch pieces. Cook slowly on low heat in a medium skillet until the fat has rendered and the bacon is crisp, but not crumbling. Drain the bacon from the fat and reserve the drippings to use later. Let the bacon cool.
2. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of well-salted boiling water. While pasta is boiling, whisk together the egg and egg yolks in a large mixing bowl. Add a pinch of salt, a couple twists of fresh ground black pepper, and the bacon.
3. When the pasta has finished cooking, drain and reserve about ½ cup of the cooking water. Transfer the pasta right away to the bowl of egg mixture. Use a pair of tongs to mix the pasta noodles in with the sauce, turning and scraping the sides of the bowl often. Add 2 tablespoons of the reserved pasta water and 2 tablespoons of the reserved bacon fat and continue to mix.
4. Gradually add in the grated parmesan cheese, mixing well before adding more, until you have used the entire ½ cup amount. Continue adding pasta water as needed until the sauce is creamy and emulsified, just a tablespoon at a time. (If you add too much water, the sauce will become thin and start to pool at the bottom of the bowl. Adding a little bit at a time will help you achieve that perfect luscious sauce without accidentally overdoing it.) Serve while hot. Garnish with a final grating of cheese and twist of black pepper.
Braised Asian Greens
These tender greens are a great side dish.
Ingredients:
1 pound braising greens, such as this week’s Asian mix, or your other favorite green such as Collard greens, Swiss chard or kale
½ cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
Pinch red pepper flakes
Sea salt
Method:
1. Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Cook garlic, stirring often, until golden, about 3 minutes. Stir in red pepper flakes, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the greens and 1 teaspoon salt.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add water, and steam, covered, until greens are just tender and water evaporates, about 10 minutes. If greens are ready but there is still water in the pan, raise heat to medium-high, and cook, uncovered, until completely evaporated.
