Lacinato Kale Sauce Pasta With Mushrooms And Shallots
- Preparation time: 25 minutes
- Pasta cooking time: 12 to 15 minutes
- Total time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
Olive Oil and Garlic:
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed flat and peeled
Mushrooms and Shallots:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 crimini mushrooms, chopped
- 2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Kale:
- 1 pound lacinato kale (2 bunches), thick ribs removed
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Rigatoni:
- 8-ounces dried rigatoni, (about 3½ cups)
Parmesan For Sauce:
- ¾ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Parmesan and Olive Oil For Garnish:
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, coarsely grated
- Drizzle of olive oil
Ingredients
(serves 4)
Section
Instructions
-
In a large skillet over medium heat, add olive oil and garlic and cook until the garlic begins to sizzle.
- Reduce heat to low and cook until garlic is soft and begins to turn golden in color, about 5 minutes.
- Remove the skillet from heat and set aside to cool.
- Prepare the lacinato kale by removing thick ribs and setting aside the leaves.
- Using a spatula scrape the cooled olive oil and garlic into a blender; set aside.
- Heat the skillet on medium and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
- Add mushrooms and shallots and sauté for 5 to 10 minutes or until soft and golden; remove from heat and set aside.
- Place a large pot of generously salted water over high heat and bring to a boil.
- Once water is boiling add kale leaves and cook until tender but not mushy, about 5 minutes.
- Using tongs carefully pull the hot, dripping kale leaves out of the boiling water and put directly into the blender. NOTE: Keep the water boiling as it will be used for cooking the pasta.
- Blend the kale and olive oil mixture adding a splash of hot water from the pot if needed to get the blender going.
- Blend into a fine, thick green puree.
- Add lemon juice, salt and black pepper to taste; blending to incorporate.
- With lid on to keep the sauce warm set the blender aside.
- Add rigatoni pasta to the pot of boiling water that was used for cooking the kale; cook the pasta as directed on package.
- Once pasta is ready, ladle out 1 cup of pasta water and set aside.
- Drain the pasta and add back to the dry pot.
- Stir in the kale puree, mushroom and shallots, ¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese, and a splash of the reserved pasta water to the pot of rigatoni until the sauce is creamy but thin enough to drop from a spoon.
- Serve in pasta bowls.
- Garnish each bowl with a few splashes of olive oil and top with shredded Parmesan cheese.
Recipe adapted from Joshua McFadden and Tejal Rao. "Kale-Sauce Pasta". The New York Times, January 4, 2018. http://www.nytimes.com.
Comments
Serves 4.This is a very rich, savory and colorful dish.
The day before you make this dish why not put together a sponge so that you can serve a fresh, warm loaf of French bread with your meal?
Another compliment to your meal could be Caesar salad with croutons or a bowl of crisp salad greens topped with Italian salad dressing and croutons.