(Nearly) Passed the Pasta

Getting to know my new commute, I've discovered a few wonderful surprises along the way:

• It's actually not that far to walk from South Station to Park St. (especially in this nice early-fall weather).
• There's a whole world of artisan ($$$) home decor stores in what otherwise seems to be a pretty abandoned area between my office and the T.
• The route from work to home is bookended by two locations for my favorite bakery, Flour.
• There's a twice-weekly farmers market right next to South Station!
• On Tuesdays, there's a fabulous fresh pasta stand (Valicenti Organico) at the Dewey Square farmers market.
• Valicenti Organico accepts credit cards.

One of my favorite things about my apartment in Virginia was the Tuesday farmers market right at my doorstep. I had no idea there would be such a convenient market on my commute here as well...as I walked around the tents, I found delicious homemade granola, gorgeous leafy chard, bone-in, thick-cut pork chops, and Valicenti Organico  fresh pasta from New Hampshire. Valicenti uses their home-grown organic ingredients as much as possible, creating inventive, seasonal ravioli combinations (roasted pear, prosciutto, gorgonzola; grilled corn with fennel, peppers, and dry Jack; brandied lobster, to name a few) and tasty specialty pastas. I tried a gluten-free spaghetti that had all the satisfying bite of an al dente semolina noodle. After two previous weeks' failed attempts, I was finally able to get my hands on an obviously popular duck confit-ginger-shiitake ravioli. I took it home and sauteed some mushrooms with lots of garlic, shallots, chard, and brown-butter -- the perfect fall bite.

*

Duck Confit-Ginger-Shiitake Ravioli with Brown Butter

Serves 3

1 pack of duck confit-ginger-shiitake ravioli (20 per pack)

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium shallot, minced

8 oz cremini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

2-3 green onions, sliced

medium bunch Swiss chard, roughly chopped

1 c frozen green peas

6 T butter

salt and pepper, to taste

Melt 2 T butter in a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and shallots until golden, then add mushroom slices and brown (don't crowd them!). Season with salt and pepper. When mushrooms are browned, add chard and wilt. Salt chard to taste. Toss peas until defrosted. Remove vegetables from pan.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook ravioli according to package instructions.

When ravioli is nearly cooked, melt remaining 4 T of butter in the empty saute pan and watch carefully - let brown gently until foamy, then turn off heat and toss vegetables, ravioli, and green onions together. Serve immediately. Check cholesterol.