Recipe of the week: Farro pasta with nettles and sausage

“If you’ve never tried nettles, imagine the best spinach you ever had, only deeper, greener, and sweeter,” said David Tanis in The New York Times. Because of the leaves’ prickly hairs, they can be tricky to handle, but they’re not cactus-prickly. Just wear gloves or use tongs when rinsing the leaves or transferring them to a pan. “When the nettles are briefly cooked, their prickle disappears.”

Farro pasta with nettles and sausage

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced small
• salt
• 1 lb hot Italian fennel sausage, casings removed
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 lb farro pasta (or another dried pasta)
• 1 lb rinsed nettle leaves
• ricotta salata cheese for grating

Fill a pot with water for pasta and bring to a boil. In a deep skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high. Add onion and a little salt, and let onion begin to soften. Add sausage, breaking into pieces with a wooden spoon, and cook, stirring, until onions are lightly browned and sausage is done, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste and stir well to coat. Turn off heat.

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Salt pasta water and begin cooking pasta. When pasta is nearly ready, reheat sausage mixture over high heat. Add nettles to pan along with ¼ cup pasta water and stir until wilted, about 2 minutes. Check seasoning.

Drain pasta when al dente and mix with skillet ingredients in a large warmed bowl. Top with grated ricotta salata. Serves 4 to 6.