Lazy Day Pasta with Garlic Kale Sauce

If you have kale or cavolo nero that’s on the turn, this pasta sauce really makes the most of your leftover veg – and it’s packed full of goodness, too.

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 large bunch of kale, any variety, roughly chopped (cavolo nero is also great)
• 1 large shallot or white onion, finely chopped
• 6 cloves of garlic: 4 crushed or finely chopped, 2 thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 4 tablespoons white wine
• 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
• 1 lemon, juiced, plus a dash of zest
• salt and pepper
• approximately 340g dried pasta of choice (penne, macaroni, rigatoni, cannelloni, fusilli, etc)
• 200g mushrooms, sliced thin

Method

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil. Add your chopped kale and cook for five to seven minutes, until wilted and cooked through. You can also steam it. Once cooked, drain and blanch in cold water briefly to stop the cooking process.

Read: Kale, Macadamia and Tomato Salad

Transfer the kale to a blender and add your chopped shallot or onion, the four crushed or finely chopped cloves of garlic, the olive oil, nutritional yeast, mustard, white wine, chilli flakes, lemon juice and zest. Season with salt and pepper and blend until you have a relatively smooth but thick sauce mixture. You can add water to loosen if necessary. Season to taste, then pop to one side while you make the rest of the dish.

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and add your desired pasta. Cook until al dente, about 10–12 minutes. Drain, then put back into the pot and cover. While your pasta is cooking, heat up about one tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan. Once hot, add the two sliced cloves of garlic and sauté until golden and fragrant. Make sure you stir frequently to prevent them burning. Add your sliced mushrooms to the garlic and sweat until soft. You can add a dash more olive oil or water to the pan if it is a little dry. Season with salt and pepper.

The mushrooms will sweat and wilt very quickly. Go ahead, pour in your kale sauce and heat up over a low heat, again stirring frequently. Heat until cooked through. Pour the sauce over the pasta in the pot and stir well. You can do this over a low heat if your pasta has cooled too much. Season with extra salt and pepper, chilli flakes and olive oil to taste.

Read: Garlic, Goats’ Cheese and Thyme Pasta

Dish up accordingly and enjoy!

The Whole Vegetable: Sustainable Recipes For A Healthier Planet by Sophie Gordon is published by Michael Joseph. Available now.

What is you go-to pasta dish? What’s your favourite quick meal to whip up midweek? Let us know in the comments section below. 

– With PA