This is the deliciousness that ensued. If I can get my husband to eat turnip greens and spaghetti squash, and ask for seconds and thirds, then it must be pretty good.
Ingredients
- 1-2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling (from our honeymoon in Italy)
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup Kettle potato chips (it called for bread crumbs, but we didn't have that, and to be honest I don't like potato chips, but Les does. So we have them and it worked really well in this recipe.)
- 2 ounces bacon (from GHF), cut into 1/4-inch pieces
- 1/2 onion + 1 shallot, thinly sliced (from Madison's - Findlay Market)
- Kosher salt
- 1/2 pound baby turnip greens (it said to cut center ribs and stems removed, but that just seems wasteful especially since baby turnip green stems are not really hard), leaves cut crosswise into 1/2-inch strips (about 6 cups from GHF)
- 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced (from our garden)
- 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 2 pounds red potatoes, cut into 2-inch chunks
- 1/2 large spaghetti squash
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons grated cheddar cheese
- Freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. Cut open the spaghetti squash and scoop out the seeds. place squash cut side down in a pan with sides and cover the bottom with water. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the stringy squash easily breaks apart. Scoop out all of stringy flesh and set aside.
- Meanwhile, brush a 9-inch-diameter springform pan or an 8x8x2-inch glass baking dish with 1 tablespoon oil. Crunch up the potato chips and the coat bottom.
- Place diced potatoes in a large pot and add water to cover by 1-inch. Add a generous pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover with lid slightly ajar, and gently simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain potatoes, reserving 1/2 cup cooking water.
- Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium to low heat. Cook until bacon begins to brown, about 5 minutes. If you cook it on too high of heat then it will shrivel up. Add onion and cook, stirring a few times, until onion is softened, about 3 minutes.
- Add turnip greens to onions and bacon stirring to wilt. Stir in garlic and red pepper flakes; season with salt and add 1/2 cup of the reserved potato water. Cook until the greens are tender. Stir in nutmeg.
- Drain potatoes and put into a large bowl. Stir in 1 tablespoon oil, 1/2 of the squash (you can probably add more, but I wanted to keep some for a different meal) and cheddar cheese; season with salt and pepper.
- Spoon 1/2 of potatoes into prepared dish, smoothing to cover bottom and 1-inch up sides of dish. Spread turnip green mixture over potatoes. Spoon remaining potatoes over and smooth top. (This can be assembled 1 day ahead. Cover tightly and chill.)
- Preheat oven to 350°. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons cheddar cheese on top and drizzle with oil. Bake, uncovered, until torta is heated through and top is golden, about 1 hour. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving. Cut into squares or wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.
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