INGREDIENTS
Serves 2-3
For the kale sauce:
- 400g kale (cavolo nero, green curly kale or Russian kale)
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 100ml olive oil
For the pasta:
- 400g rigatoni
- 40g butter
- Kale sauce
- 1 lemon
- Pinch of chilli flakes
- Black pepper to taste
- Grated parmesan
METHOD
Wash the kale and pick the leaves from the stalks, keeping the stalks to one side.
Put a large pot of water on to boil and season generously with salt.
Put the garlic in a small pan with the olive oil and heat very gently until the garlic begins to soften. Carefully pick out the garlic and discard (or mash up and fold in to mayonnaise for another use!)
Blanch the kale stalks for 2 minutes then add all the leaves and blanch until soft, around 1-2 minutes.
Drain kale and blend with the garlic oil into a smooth paste. This sauce can be made a day ahead.
Cook the pasta to your liking, when ready, drain the pasta reserving some of the pasta water.
In a pan, heat the butter, add the kale sauce and toss the pasta in this sauce adding a little pasta water if necessary. Add a squeeze of lemon and taste, adjusting the seasoning and lemon until it tastes good to you.
When the pasta is sauced and divided among the plates, sprinkle with dried chilli flakes, a few cracks of black pepper and grate some parmesan over each plate to finish.
