New food – Agretti aka Roscano.

So, I have been seeing a vegetable unknown to me called Roscano here in our markets in Umbria. It looked a lot like chives with its roots but with the texture almost like a rosemary leaf. Finally, curious I grabbed a bunch and looked on-line for recipes. Here is what it looks like. (photo from wikipedia I forgot to take one before I used it!)

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…and from the food network.

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Also, during my exploration on-line I find that there are food fights going on in England over this stuff. Who knew what I was missing?!

As for my preparation. You can just saute it in butter or oil with lemon and garlic as a side dish. Or you can make a pasta, which is what I did. It was a little tedious to clean but then you just blanch it in boiling water for a couple of minutes and add it to your pasta sauce. My sauce also had fresh fava beans, lemon, garlic and toasted walnuts. I liked it. The Agretti was grassy and unlike anything I’ve had before. I would do it again. I hope the season is not over yet!

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