Lemon Pepper Greens and Linguine

For this evenings menu I wanted to utilize some of my garden goods, finds at the Farmer's Market and few pantry items.

It was a grand day at the market.  The soon to be opening Cheese Shop of Des Moines had a booth and it was great to see CJ of Gateway fame and his wife demonstrating a small sampling of the artisanal cheeses the store will carry.  Gateway is great, but CJ is the cheese king.  I got the Pleasant Ridge Reserve which is similar to Gruyere.  It is excellent and worked well with my pasta dish tonight.

Lemon Pepper Greens and Linguine

4 oz. brown rice linguine

2 tbsp. olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

one container mushrooms, cut in quarters

2 heads broccoli, cut into small heads

4 cups spinach

1/4 c. pine nuts

1/2 c. white wine

pepper

1 tsp. black truffle salt plus some to finish the dish

1 c. basil, minced

1/2 c. parsley, minced

1/2 lemon, juiced

1/4 c. finely grated Pleasant Ridge Reserve or Gruyere.

Heat a large stock pot of water to a rolling boil.  Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a saute pan on medium high heat.  Add the mushrooms and saute until they start to caramelize.  Add the garlic and cook for about one minute, or until it starts to get fragrant.  Add the pine nuts and spinach and saute until about half of the spinach is wilted.  Remove from heat.

As soon as the water comes to a boil, add the broccoli and cook for about three minutes.  Pull out broccoli and put it into the saute pan.  Allow the water to come back to a boil and add the pasta.  Put the saute pan back on medium high heat, cook off liquid from broccoli (minimal amount).  Add the white wine, pepper (lots!) and salt.  Cook, stirring every few minutes until wine is almost reduced.  Add lemon juice and herbs, stirring well.  Remove pasta from water with tongs and add to the saute pan, stir together and heat a few more minutes to allow starch to thicken the sauce a bit.

Serve with a few grinds of pepper and 1 tbsp. cheese.  We also enjoyed a simple side dish of La Mie Ciabatta, Hassevoort Farms tomatoes, and Williams Sonoma House Olive Oil and 25 year aged Balsamic Vinegar.

Enjoy!