Rotini

Radish, Radish Oil, Chickpeas

This is one of the pasta shapes with a contentious name. Most pasta companies and grocery aisles will have this labeled as fusilli, but it’s actually rotini. Fusilli is a hand made pasta where a strand is twisted around a rod, while rotini is extruded from a pasta machine to make a perfect spiral. It’s got no real origin and no real popularity in Italy - it’s the summer pasta salad pasta. But what’s great about rotini is that you can elevate it, because they really are one of the best pastas for holding onto the flavors of an oil-based sauce.

This recipe was conceptualized because of an abundance of radishes coming from our garden this spring. Once roasted these peppery tubers actually gain a lot more umami, and create a whole new flavor profile. To really put this over the top with radish flavor is the use of the greens in an oil and wilted. Some cooked down chickpeas bring balance to the dish by adding some natural creaminess to each bite. If you want to be healthy-ish and eat pasta, this is one way to do it.

Servings: 4 - Time: 40 mins. - Difficulty: 1.5 - Itsa Easy (ish)

Ingredients & Mise en Place

16 oz. rotini (fusilli)
18-20 radishes with greens - leaves removed and reserved - tubers cut into ¾ inch pieces
15.5 oz can of chickpeas - rinsed and roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic - diced small
1 small yellow onion - diced small
pecorino romano
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
pepper

Directions

Radish Oil
This can be done ahead of time and stays shelf stable for about a week. So use it on other things too.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. While that comes up to temperature get a bowl of cold water and ice ready. Blanch half of the radish leaves in the boiling water for about 1 minute and then transfer those greens to the cold water to stop the cooking. Reserve the water to cook your pasta in.

In a food processor or blender add the blanched radish leaves and about a cup of olive oil. Blend until smooth and green. This should be a viscous oil and not a pesto or paste, so add more olive oil as you see fit. Place the oil in a container that you can easily pour out of - like a squeeze bottle if you have one.

Pasta
Preheat your oven to 415° F. Toss the cut radish tubers in 1 tablespoon of radish oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread them out on a cookie sheet and place it on the middle rack of the oven for about 20 minutes. Start checking on them at about 15 minutes, you will want some char on them but not to be burnt.

Once the radishes are nearing completion, bring the pot of water you cooked the greens in to a boil and add a fair amount of salt. Cook until al dente - roughly 9 minutes for fusilli. Reserve 2 cups of pasta water.

In a deep sauté pan over medium heat add 1 tablespoon of radish oil. Once the oil has heated, add the garlic and onion, cooking until fragrant - about 1 minute. Add the chickpeas, 1 cup of the pasta water, salt and pepper (to taste) and cook for another 2 minutes. Next add the roasted radishes, the rest of the radish greens, and reduce heat.

Once the greens have wilted, add the pasta, another 1 cup of pasta water, some freshly grated cheese, and radish oil to completely coat each rotini. Finish with cheese, freshly grated pepper, and more radish oil to taste.