Orecchiette With Caramelized Turnips, Tuscan Kale, And Cracked Pepper Recipe

This pasta dish from tracey medeiros's vermont farm table cookbook introduced a new element to my standard kale recipe mix: caramelized turnips. At first, i was turned off by the idea of pairing bitter greens with a bitter root vegetable, but then i remembered how turnips mellow and sweeten once cooked. Add in some serious maillard action to the turnips, and i realized this was a really clever way to make use of a new england staple crop.