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Step 1: Find some kale.
Here's a nice, full mature head of kale. Notice the new growth from the center of the plant. It'll taste great! Off to the left are some seed pods from a second year kale plant.
Unless you have kale growing in your own garden, find some fresh at the farmer's market or supermarket. It's a cool season crop most likely found in spring and fall.
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Step 2: Assemble your ingredients:
* Fresh Kale; several large leaves per main dish serving
* Pasta; any bite-sized shape; about 1/4 lb per main dish serving
* Garlic, one clove
* Olive Oil, 2 teaspoons
* Tomato Sauce; preferably home-made; about 3/4 cup per main dish serving
* Salt
* Philadelphia cream cheese; 1/2" slice per main dish serving |
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Step 3: Boil water! And prepare the kale.
In a medium saucepan, bring some salted water to a boil for the pasta.
Meanwhile, thoroughly wash, then trim and chop your kale. Don't dry it — keep any water that sticks to the kale. Remove any tough stems and coarse-chop the leaves into bite-sized pieces.
Variation: You may substitute broccoli raab for the kale in this recipe. To offset any bitterness, blanch broccoli raab in a separate pan of boiling water for 1-2 minutes. Then discard the water and continue with the next step. Kale does not require blanching. |
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Step 4: Put the pasta on; heat some olive oil and garlic.
About this time, your pasta water should be boiling. Add pasta to the water, reduce heat, and set a countdown timer according to the package directions. The illustrated variety takes 8 minutes.
In a medium to large frying pan or dutch oven, heat a couple teaspoons of olive oil. Chop one clove of garlic and add it to the oil. When it just starts to sizzle, add in your kale. |
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Step 5: Cook the kale.
Cover the pan with the kale in it. The water that stuck to your kale will probably be enough to add a little steam to the pot. If your kale was dry, add a couple teaspoons of water when you put the kale into the frying pan.
After 3 minutes, your kale should be bright green and wilted, like this!
Stir to coat the kale with olive oil, then add the tomato sauce. Stir again. Re-cover the frying pan. |
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Step 6: Mix it all up.
In just a moment or two, your pasta is going to be done. When the timer goes off, drain the pasta and add it to the pan. Mix everything together well.
Place the cream cheese on top. Turn off the heat and put the lid back on the pan for just a minute or so to let the cheese soften. You can use that minute to get a serving dish out of the cupboard.
Mix everything one last time, stirring the cream cheese into the pasta, kale and tomato mixture. |
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Step 7. Enjoy your Kale and Pasta with Creamy Tomato Sauce!
Place your creation into the serving dish. Top, if you like, with some fresh-ground pepper and a little grated parmesan or asiago cheese.
The quantity illustrated on this page is good for one hearty main dish serving or two side dish servings. |
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Green Folk Say |
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| Kelvin Kale: Hi there Roberta. Nice to be sharing a page with you. So... Do you think they like me better? *Grin* You know. They DID pick me for the recipe. |
Roberta Broccoli Raab: No worries, my muscular friend. They like me well enough, too. It's just I'm ... well ... more delicate to grow. That makes ME a specialty!
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| Still hungry? Return to Kelvin Kale's page or check out more Veggies. |
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