Orecchiette with Italian Sausage, Swiss Chard and a Maple Glaze

What is that saying?  "The best laid plans of mice and men"?  We were supposed to be in Florida working for the next couple of days, but the weather has been so bad, with storms and tornado's nearby, that we decided to delay those plans till mid-week or at the least, sunnier skies.  But, the silver lining is that we were able to do some early errands (albeit rainy ones), and cleaning of the house, and now we get to make some dinner. :)  Ironically enough, it was a good delay; Mamie has the ears of a bat- almost sonar-like, and she told Poppy she heard some scruffling around in the attic.  So Poppy set some traps, and sure enough, they caught ma and pa field mouse seemingly before they carried out their best laid plans of a cozy life in our attic. Poppy sent them on their way with a tiny baguette and a bottle of wine he got on his last airplane flight.  But we digress.

We are trying a recipe Mamie found when searching for a way to use her home-grown swiss chard.  We had a box of fresh orecchiette (little ears) pasta, so this recipe seems to fit the bill.  It was found at Food52.

Since we started with putting some bread in the oven, we had some time for little pick-us-ups.  We opened up a jar of Mamie's pear chutney, and combined it with some cream cheese and crackers.  Also a bit of cheese.  We have found that we love the Irish cheese you can find at Sam's called Kerrygold Dubliner. MMMM!  Slivered thin and nibbled with a glass of red, it is delicious.  Mamie even put a little in the bread tonight.

First, out to the garden to pick some fresh swiss chard...

Verdict: Pasta was very tasty; but Poppy and Mamie concurred that some freshly chopped roma tomatoes would have brought this dish to a new level.  Although it was quite tasty, it needed the acidic fresh taste of a ripe, fresh tomato.  We will try this again this summer!  The bread could have been a meal in itself!  Sooooo goood!  Here is the recipe as we made it tonight, without our future adaptations...oh, and as for Mr. and Mrs. Mouse....we bid them,

"Con te partiro"!  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl9WMIPzd6w

http://food52.com/recipes/16825-orecchiette-with-italian-sausage-swiss-chard-and-a-maple-glaze

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