Caesar Spaghetti

This pasta plays off the flavors in Caesar salad. We all loved it--although I had to make it because Bart refuses to cook with anchovies. He loves the dishes I make with anchovies--he just prefers to imagine that the anchovies aren't there--which isn't too hard to do since you can't see the anchovies at all when the dish is completed.

Caesar Spaghetti

Ingredients

Salt
1 pound spaghetti or whole wheat/grain spaghetti
1/4 cup EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil, plus some for drizzling
6-8 anchovy filets, drained
4 large cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, eyeball the amount
2 medium heads of escarole, washed and dried (I used fresh baby spinach instead)
1 lemon
Lots of coarse black pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg, about 1/4 teaspoon, or to your taste
2 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Preparation

Place a large pot of water over high heat to boil for pasta. Once boiling, salt water and cook pasta to just shy of al dente, according to package directions or about 6-7 minutes. Heads up: you need to reserve some starchy cooking water just before draining, about 1 cup. Pasta will continue to cook as you toss it with the greens.

While the pasta is cooking, place a large skillet over medium-high heat with the EVOO. Add anchovies to the pan and cook until they've melted into the oil, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low and add garlic, stir 1 minute then add in Worcestershire. Shred the escarole and add several handfuls at a time, wilting greens into garlic oil. Dress greens with lots of pepper and a little nutmeg then squeeze the juice of 1 lemon over the pan. Add starchy cooking water to eggs and beat together to temper them. Turn off pan heat and toss drained pasta with greens and eggs and half of the cheese to coat evenly; toss vigorously 1 minute. Dress pasta with an extra drizzle of EVOO (if desired) and serve; pass remaining cheese at table.

Recipe source: Rachael Ray