Winter Greens Pasta

1 pound spaghetti noodles
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
5 to 6 large garlic cloves, minced
5 to 6 anchovy fillets
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 heads of escarole, leaves separated from the core, chopped
1 pound spinach, leaves coarsely chopped
freshly grated nutmeg
3 tablespoons drained capers
zest and juice of 1 lemon
3 cups arugula leaves

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat to cook the pasta. Once the water is boiling, season with salt, add the pasta, and cook. Heads up: you'll need to reserve about 1 cup of pasta cooking water before draining the pasta.
Once the pasta water is almost to a boil, start the greens. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, anchovies, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring every now and then, until the anchovies have completely melted, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the escarole and spinach. Season the wilted greens with black pepper and nutmeg.
When the pasta is drained, add the reserved cup of pasta water, the capers, lemon zest and juice, arugula, and the drained pasta to the pot you used to cook the pasta. Add the wilted greens. Toss over medium-high heat for 1 minute to combine.

NOTE: I couldn't find escarole or arugula leaves, so I only used spinach. And, I completely forgot the nutmeg, but it was still good. P.S. I love pasta.


FRENCH ONION-GRUYERE CUPS

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing

One 7.5-ounce can refrigerated biscuits

1 1/2 pounds onions, thinly sliced (about 8 cups)

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 packed cup grated gruyère cheese (about 4 ounces)

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

Preheat oven to 400°. Invert a muffin pan and lightly grease the back side of ten muffin cups with olive oil. Pat a biscuit flat, place over a greased muffin cup and stretch the dough to cover the cup. Repeat with the remaining nine biscuits. Bake until golden-brown, 7 minutes. Let cool slightly, then remove the biscuit cups from the pan and invert onto a baking sheet to cool completely.

Meanwhile, heat a medium cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add the 2 tablespoons olive oil, the onions and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cook, stirring every 3 minutes or so, until the onions are softened and browned, about 15 minutes. Divide the onion mixture among the biscuit cups.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour until smooth. Pouring slowly, whisk in the heavy cream and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in half of the cheese; season with salt and pepper. Spoon the cheese sauce over the onions; sprinkle the thyme and remaining cheese on top and bake until the cheese is melted and the biscuit edges are golden, 5 to 7 minutes.

NOTE: When I baked the biscuits, they didn't actually stay in the form of a little bowl like they were supposed to, so I put them in little dishes and then piled the onions and cheese sauce on top. I used swiss cheese instead of gruyère because there was no gruyère at Pick 'n' Save, [we did find it at Trader Joe's today, but it was really expensive]. These were really good though.