Quick ideas
Guy’s dandelion pasta
'Determined to make the best of a pesky weed, I served this to a table of groaning teenagers. I expected a rebellion, but they asked for more. The creaminess of the sauce counterbalances the bitterness of the dandelion leaves – just adjust the balance between the two, depending on your audience.' (Guy Watson)
Ingredients
- 200g washed dandelion leaves (more if you love bitter flavours, less if you don't)
- 2-4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- olive oil
- 1 mild chilli, finely chopped
- 50-100ml double cream or crème fraîche
- 50g Parmesan, plus extra to serve (optional)
- 500g pasta (preferably linguine or spaghetti)
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Plunge the dandelion leaves in salted boiling water for 1 minute (maybe 2 minutes if you want the dish to be less bitter).
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Step 2
Drain and refresh under a cold tap, before squeezing out as much water as possible and roughly chopping.
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Step 3
While your pasta is cooking, gently fry the garlic and chilli in a good splash of olive oil.
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Step 4
At the first sign of the garlic colouring, add the dandelion and cook for about 3-5 minutes.
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Step 5
Season, add cream to taste (if you love the bitter flavour of dandelion/radicchio etc use less, add more if you don't) and cook for another minute.
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Step 6
Stir in the Parmesan just before tossing in the pasta. Add more Parmesan to taste at the table.
