This week’s Torah portion explains, in detail, the purification process for someone who has become ritually impure. It includes: “…and the kohen shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering's and place it on the cartilage of the right ear of the person being cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.” (Leviticus 14: 25)

This was one of the more challenging Torah portions for me to find inspiration and create a recipe. The recipe is based on the sentence about the role of the right ear, hand and foot in the purification process. The dish includes orecchiette (which means ears) pasta. I had the great fortune to find an enormous radish at the farmers market in the shape of a foot! And, there were also lovely spinach leaves that were long and spiny, like the fingers on a hand.

Ingredients

  • 8 oz. orecchiette pasta
  • 1 cup finely sliced radishes cut into pieces about the size of the pasta
  • 3 large bunches of spinach leaves, washed
  • 2 tsp. chopped walnuts
  • 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste (using lemon salt is a great addition)

Directions

  1. Bring water to a boil. Add orecchiette pasta and cook until al dente. Remove from heat.
  2. Heat 1/2 tbsp. olive oil over medium heat. Add thinly sliced radishes and cook for about 5 minutes. Add spinach and continue to cook until spinach is wilted. Add walnuts. Cook for another 1-3 minutes, stirring well so that the walnuts don’t burn.
  3. Remove from heat. Add extra olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Toss with pasta and serve.