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Anyone ever cook pasta w/ dandelion greens?

13 years ago

If you haven't you might enjoy this simple to make dish.

Dandelion is fresh on the market now. It's bitter. Cut dandelion into 1/2 pieces and cook in skillet w/ olive oil and butter and garlic. Add cooked pasta to skillet and heat for half a minute, adding grated parmesan cheese. You can also fix this dish w/ red sliced bell pepper to sweeten and add color, or with sliced black olives. Good!

RB

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Comments (12)

jimster
13 years ago
I make a dish called beans and greens, which is the same except for the addition of cooked cannellini beans. I use escarole for the greens but I'm sure I would enjoy it with dandelion. A bitter green is what I want.

Jim
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
13 years ago
Love dandelion greens, garnished with dandelion flowers.

In my experience, long cooking time makes it tough and bitter. The shorter the better.

dcarch
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Bob_B
Original Author
13 years ago
P.S.
I meant to say 1/2" pieces.
RB
ruthanna_gw
13 years ago
In PA Dutch cookery, dandelion greens have a tradition as a spring tonic and a welcome harbinger of all the other greens to come. Most often, they are served as a salad, either with a dressing of heavy cream or mayonnaise, cider vinegar, sugar and mustard or wilted by a sweet-sour hot bacon dressing.

Since custom dictates that the plants can only be picked and eaten before the flower buds appear, there is about a two week period when it seems as if every rural church and volunteer fire company is having a ham and dandelion fund raising dinner at the same time.

Bob, I'd definitely like to try them prepared they way you suggested when ours appear. Thank you for the idea.
jimster
13 years ago
In addition to Bob's question, does anyone raise dandelions in their garden?

Jim
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
13 years ago
Posted by jimster "In addition to Bob's question, does anyone raise dandelions in their garden?
Jim"

If I did, my neighbors would burn my house down. :-)

dcarch
hawk307
13 years ago
Hi guys:
Where have you been ???

bob_b :
I have not done that for years.

We would go out on the golf course and pick a large bag of young Dandelions and bring them home to my GM.

She would do as you said and we also ate them without pasta, with some bacon added.

Another dish is Dandelion omelet.

Some families in the neighborhood made Dandelion wine.
LOU
ruthanna_gw
13 years ago
Lou, my grandfather used to make dandelion wine. He'd pay us kids a nickle for a big a bag of blossoms when he was going to make it. It had oranges, lemons and raisins in it too but the liquid from the flowers was the most prominent ingredient.
hawk307
13 years ago
Ruthanna:

They would probably wat 5 bucks a bag ,now.
LOU
annie1992
13 years ago
Like ruthanna's area, here the dandelion green is the harbinger of spring, the first fresh green stuff available.

Grandma used to pick the young greens and wilt them, she called it "killed greens", by pouring a hot bacon grease based dressing over them.

I made dandelion wine with the blossoms once, got an extremely sticky and sweet concoction and never made it again, LOL.

I think dandelion greens wuld be good with some pasta as bob described, or in bean soup instead of kale.

Annie
happytime_ca
13 years ago
Growing up in an upstate New York Italian family, we ate dandelion greens all the time, mom would make us go out side to pick it, in our yard, or the neighbors. She cooked it in soup, with pasta, or just as a salad. I have not eaten it for quite a while, I guess it's time to go find some.
Bob_B
Original Author
13 years ago
More about greens and pasta:
Since a number of you seem to be interested in this dish, I should add that you can do the same thing with swiss chard, especially if you don't like bitterness. The chard is much sweeter. I remove the ribs from the chard, but some people like them.
RB

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