Silly Names...

Following is one of my favorite recipes, based on a dish that Greg had at Taralucci e Vino on East 18th Street. This time around only one of the five ingredients is from the market, but it packs such a punch that the dish wouldn't exist without it.

Pasta with Grilled Raddiccio and Speck

three small heads of raddiccio - Northshire Farms
Egg Fettucine (can be any pasta really, but we like something heartier than plain old spaghetti)
.25 lbs of speck (smoked, cured northern Italian ham)
olive oil
locatelli romano

Put water on to boil for pasta. Heat a stovetop grill pan lightly brushed with olive oil until not quite smoking. Wash, dry and quarter the raddiccio, leaving core in bottom so the head retains it shape. Place the quarters on the grill pan cut side down. Once browned, turn to other cut side and leave until browned as well and leaves are fork tender. Remove from grill and allow to cool on a chopping board. Place slices of speck on the grill pan and cook on each side until desired firmness is achieved. I like mine quite crisp. Remove to cutting board as well.

Put pasta in to boil. In the meantime, core the raddiccio and cut into bitesize (1/2 to 1 inch) pieces and place in a large pasta bowl to catch the juices. Chop the speck and add to raddiccio. Shave curls of locatelli romano onto the herb/ham mixture. By now, the pasta should be finished. Drain, return to cooking pot, add the toppings (reserving about 1/4 cup) and toss until well mixed. If the pasta seems too dry, drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Odds are, the speck will have enough seasoning to flavor the entire dish, but if necessary add salt and pepper as needed. Return to pasta bowl for serving and garnish with reserved r/s and shavings of cheese.

It's a fantastic dish! The bitterness of the raddiccio is balanced by the richness of the ham and cheese. The peppery smokiness of the speck vs. regular prosciutto adds another level of flavor. Pair this with a red from the Alto Aldige region of Italy and you can't go wrong.

Like most dishes, this has infinite variations: The Taralucci e Vino version had tiny pieces of raddiccio and speck scattered throughout and included some heavy cream--the overall effect being more refined and the really strong flavors subdued. I prefer the more robust version with larger pieces and without the mellowing aspect of the cream so that each bite has a new and distinct flavor combination. I've also made this dish adding grilled onions, however in this instance, my speck was incredible so I felt another ingredient would only detract.