Powerhouse Kale Mix Pesto and Pasta Recipes

Powerhouse Kale Mix Pesto

This recipe comes from FarmAid's website, Homegrown.org. The link to the original page is above.

Ingredients:

One bunch fresh kale (local and organic if you can)

1/2 C. nuts - (note: I'm not a big fan of pine nuts, so I use a mix of roasted salted almonds and cashews. You should feel free to use pine nuts **shudder** or walnuts or hazelnuts or whatever nuts you've got in the cupboard.)

1/4-1/2 C. Extra virgin olive oil

4-6 cloves fresh garlic

Juice of 1/2 lemon (optional)

1/2 C. ground Parmesan cheese (you can leave the cheese out if you're making vegan pesto or if you're freezing for future use. Add cheese after thawing.)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Start with a pile of fresh, washed kale that has been stripped from the stems. Save the stems for soup or stir fry.

2. Peel and trim 4-6 cloves of garlic.

3. Chop: 3/4 C. of nuts in a food processor until it resembles, um... this: (NOTE: The original post shows nuts and garlic in a rough chop).

4. Add 1/4 C. of extra-virgin olive oil, garlic and cheese and lemon juice (if using) and process again until it all reaches a similar consistency - but not long enough to make a funky nut butter consistency.

5. Blanch: Toss kale into 2 quarts of salted water that has reached a rolling boil. Continue cooking until water returns to boiling and kale has softened a bit.

6. Refresh: Move the kale from the pot to a colander and rinse with cold water until greens are cool to the touch. Using your hands, squeeze the water from the kale and place into the food processor.

7. Process once more until it looks like pesto, adding more olive oil for consistency, and salt and pepper to taste.

8. Serve as a pasta accessory (natch) or as a sandwich condiment, zingy dip for vegetables, or any way you add an earthy, garlicy, nutty flavor to something. Enjoy!

NOTE: I like pine nuts. I used walnuts, though. Also, 4 to 6 cloves of garlic in this recipe was too much because my garlic cloves were HUGE. I used a whole bag of MA`O Farms powerhouse kale mix for this pesto.

Maltagliati in Powerhouse Kale Pesto-Cream Sauce with Toasted Pine Nuts and Parmiggiano Reggiano (my recipe)

Because the powerhouse kale pesto was so garlicky, I decided to cook it into a cream sauce to mellow out the zing.

Ingredients:

Leftover lasagne noodles (I used five long noodles)
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp powerhouse kale pesto
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup grated Parmiggiano Reggiano
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. When oven is ready, toast pine nuts in a single layer until they just start to turn golden brown. Be prepared to take them out quickly, because the point at which they start to turn color and the point at which they scorch are close in time. Set aside.

2. In a pot of boiling, salted water, cook the lasagne noodles according to the package directions. Have a bowl of water and ice ready to receive and cool the cooked lasagne noodles. Cut the lasagne noodles into haphazard shapes. This is my version of "maltagliati," or "poorly cut" pasta.

3. Over medium heat, pour heavy cream into a saute pan. Bring to a boil, then bring down to a simmer, stirring so that a skin doesn't form and so that the cream doesn't scald. When the cream has thickened, stir in the powerhouse kale pesto mix. Salt and pepper the sauce to taste.

4. Toss the pasta in the cream sauce. Top with the toasted pine nuts and the parmiggiano reggiano.

NOTE: Adding chunks of chicken would work in this recipe, too.