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You are here: Home / Recipes / Pasta / Easy Lemon-Garlic Kale Pasta

June 7, 2012 By Kelli Wallace Leave a Comment

Easy Lemon-Garlic Kale Pasta


(Recipe can be found on the Cilantropist blog here.)

Step by Step Instructions:

This oh-so-good pasta comes together in no time with the following ingredients: Pine Nuts (optional), 8 ounces of your favorite pasta (I chose Campanelle because of its fun shapes), Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, 2 Lemons, Minced Garlic, Freshly Ground Pepper and Kosher Salt, and one bunch of Kale.


Begin by cleaning the kale under running water really well. Then pat each leaf dry with a paper towel. Also at this time, I started to heat some water in a large pot for the pasta.


Then remove the stems from the kale as you can see above. The stems are very tough, so you don’t want to eat them. Slice the kale into ribbons and measure out 3 packed cups. For me that was slightly less than one bunch of kale.


Then I sliced one lemon into to fairly then slices by cutting it in half lengthwise, and then slicing thinly as you can see above. I removed any seeds and separated the lemon into two piles, since I would need them for 2 parts of the recipe.


I heated 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat and sauteed 1/4 teaspoon of minced garlic for a minute or two. You can always mince your own, but I’m kind of loving pre-minced garlic, just to save me a step.


Then the kale gets added to the pan for 5-8 minutes or until it’s tender. Be sure to stir it occasionally so the kale and garlic don’t burn.


I weighed out 8 ounces of the capanelle pasta – isn’t it cute?!


Then I cooked the pasta according to the package’s directions.


At this point, the kale was tender, so I put it in a bowl until I was ready for it.


To begin making the infused oil, I heated 1/4 cup of the olive oil in the pan I sauteed the kale in over medium heat.


To the heated oil, I added 1 teaspoon of minced garlic and half of the lemon slices. Cook the ingredients for about 10 minutes, and stir occasionally.


While the pasta cooked and the oil infused, I zested one lemon.


When the pasta finished cooking, I drained it. Then the infused oil was done.


Then I strained the oil through a fine mesh strainer to remove the lemon slices and garlic.


Now it’s time to put the dish together! Add the infused olive oil to the cooked pasta.


Then juice one lemon into the pasta and add the lemon zest.


Then add the cooked kale and garlic mixture to the pasta along with some salt and pepper for seasoning.


Stir it up and taste it to see if more salt or pepper is needed. I topped my pasta with some toasted pine nuts, which gave a nice crunch to the pasta. Then serve it up! It was such a pretty dish but I had no problem diving in and enjoying! You could easily serve this as a side dish if you’d like, but I made it my dinner. I got about 3 servings out of the pasta, and I’m so bummed that there isn’t any left. Hope you enjoy it as much I did!

Ingredients:
1/4 tsp + 1 tsp minced garlic
3 cups packed kale, sliced into ribbons
1/2 box pasta of your choice (8 oz)
1/4 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, sliced in half lengthwise, then sliced into thin wedges
Zest and juice of one additional lemon
Extra olive oil for sauteing kale
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup pine nuts (optional)

Preparation Instructions:
1. Cook the kale: Add 1 tbsp olive oil to a large skillet and heat over medium heat.  Add 1/4 tsp minced garlic and sautee for just a few minutes.  Then add kale and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally for about 5-8 minutes, or until kale is just softened.  (If you have cooked spinach before, the kale will not get as soft or ‘wilted’ as cooked spinach.  It is a thicker, more fibrous leaf so it will still keep some of its crunch or bite even when cooked.)  Use tongs or a spatula to transfer the cooked kale to a plate or bowl and set aside.

2. Boil the pasta: Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the pasta.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer until pasta is al dente, about 10-14 minutes.

3. Heat and infuse the oil: While pasta is boiling, add 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil to the same skillet you cooked the kale in.  Heat the oil over low-med
ium heat, and then add 1 tsp minced garlic and one half of the sliced lemons.  Continue to heat and cook the oil, lemon, and garlic, for about 10 minutes.  Then strain the oil through a fine mesh sieve.

4. Toss pasta together: Drain the cooked pasta.  Return the pasta to the pot, toss together with the infused lemon-garlic oil, add remaining one half of the sliced lemons, lemon zest and lemon juice.  Toss together, add salt and pepper to taste, and top with pine nuts if you like. Serve immediately.

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Filed Under: Pasta Tagged With: Kale, Lemon, Pasta, Pine Nuts

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Hi and welcome! I'm Kelli, a Midwestern girl at heart who loves to cook and travel (of course). This blog chronicles my journey to rediscover my passions and share them with all of you. From cooking & baking to travel & inspiration, I have tons of interests that I can't wait to share with you! Learn More…

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