This is my way of serving collard greens, sans gag factor.

REMEMBER - I cannot take a decent picture to save my life. And my recipe writing skills leave a lot to be desired.

With that said:

Collard Greens "Ragu"

1 lb. Sweet Italian Sausage
About 4 large Collard Green Leaves (Taken off 'rib', washed, and rough chopped)
About 1/2 sweet onion, minced
4 (or 40, whatever) cloves garlic, mashed
1 Pint Grape Tomatoes
Fennel Seed
About 5 or 6 Large Basil leaves, Chiffonade. (Or torn, whatever)
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
8 oz. Fresh (or dried) Fettucini Pasta. (Or your preferred pasta)

In a saute' pan, add the grape tomatoes and give them a good dose of salt and fresh cracked pepper. Cook them on a medium heat until they start to soften and split. Mash them a bit to help them along. Then add the fresh basil and pour some fennel seed into the palm of your hand. I would say this is about - oh - 2 Teaspons. Rub the fennel seed to release the oils and add to the pan. Then add the garlic. Add a good splash - a big one - of olive oil and continue cooking until the tomatoes are fairly broken down and sauce like.

They will look like this:

At this point, set a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. And don't forget - when the water boils - add salt to the water!

Ok.

In a larger pan, brown off the sausage until no longer pink. Remove to a bowl and reserve the rendered pork fat in the pan. (If your sausage is really lean and you are left with little fat, add a splash of olive oil.) Pork fat is brilliant stuff. Let's be honest, a dirty gym sock cooked in pork fat would be a nice meal.

Anyway.

Add onion and greens to the pork fat and saute' until the greens are somewhat wilted, but still have a "bite". Add in the tomatoes and cook on a medium low. Taste for seasonings and here's a little tip: If the greens still have an edge too bitter for your taste, toss in a good pinch of sugar. At this point add the sausage back in and add in a good ladle or two of pasta water to give it all body, since by this time your pasta should be cooking and nearly done.

When pasta is al dente, don't drain - just take directly from pasta water and add to your "ragu" in the pan. Give it a good toss and plate right away, topping with a generous grating of a good cheese. I use whatever I have on hand, this particular time it was Romano.

Now, I am sure some of you are thinking, "Ok - your using Collard Greens for their nutritional value but you're cooking them in pork fat and serving them in sausage. How nutritious can that be?"

Let's just say I like to have my cake and eat it, too.

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Sounds Good! I make a similiar recipe with broccoli rabe, but collards are certainly cheaper. If you figure 8 servings (a serving of pasta is generally considered to be 2oz) the pork fat is negligable; even if you only get 4 servings it's only 4 oz of sausage per person. Pork fat (lard) actually has less saturated fat and cholesterol than butter. I think people's strong reaction against pork fat has more to do with issues concerning class than health; it seems so white trash. But a little bit of pork fat makes those healthy greens taste so good! And nothing is really healthy unless you actually eat it.

Posted by: PaulaKupcake at April 12, 2005 05:23 PM

YUM! My family is going to LOVE this recipe! Thanks!

Posted by: Ranta Lot at April 13, 2005 04:27 PM

I'm a newcomer to your journal. I'm a greens hating native southerner, which makes something of a cultural heretic. This recipe might be my redemption.

Posted by: Cynthia at April 17, 2005 11:01 AM