Kohlrabi, can be green or purple. it is a root vegetable with dark green leaves that shoot out from the top. All parts of the kohlrabi can be eaten, both raw and cooked.
In Ragusa where my father’s family is from, they make a wet pasta dish. In the days when fresh pasta was made at home and when my elderly aunt was still alive she use to make a short pasta shape called causunnedda . The pasta shape is similar to casarecce.
The younger members of the family sometimes make this pasta on special occasions, but once the aunties died the younger members of the family may no longer spend the time to make fresh pasta.
In Sicily kohlrabi is sold in bunches and they always have numerous green leaves attached. I bought two kohlrabi recently and braised the bulbs and the few accompanying leaves, but I added curly kale to add the green component.
The “real” recipe is in a much earlier post: KOHLRABI with pasta (Causunnedda )
In this recipe I used chifferi rigati (shape) as the pasta.
I cannot call this a Sicilian traditional recipe, but it is Sicilan inspired. Under the circumstances, I may be forgiven for substituting kale or cavolo nero for the green kohlrabi leaves, however I also used a strong chicken stock instead of the fresh pork rind that my realatives in Ragusa use to make the stock that the vegetables are boiled in. Once the vegetables are boiled, the vegetables are drained and put aside and the stock is used to cook the pasta. Then it is all mixed together as a wet pasta dish. If there is too much liquid, some is removed.
Sicilian method of cooking pasta in the vegetable water
The drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil as the finishing touch is important: it makes this dish very fragrant and tasty. A sprinkle of pepper flakes also is common.
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