ORECCHIETTE WITH KALE PESTO, SAUSAGE & WHITE BEANS

Recipe from The Leek & The Carrot
Takes 30 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 cups dried orecchiette pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound bulk pork sausage
1-15 ounce can cannellini beans (white Navy beans)
2 stalks kale, stems removed and torn into pieces
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup water
3 tablespoons kale pesto (recipe below) or any other pesto
Shredded parmesan, optional
Toasted and chopped almonds, optional
 

Directions:

  1. Fill medium saucepan 3/4 full with water. Add salt and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add pasta. Cook according to package directions until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta water.

  2. Heat olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet. Add sausage to skillet. Break it up into quarter-size pieces so it’s almost like a bunch of little pork sausage meatballs. Some pieces will inevitably be smaller too. Don’t sweat it. Sausage broken into variable sizes is perfect. Cook until browned thoroughly. Drain grease. Add beans and cook for 2 minutes until warmed.

  3. Add kale, salt, red pepper, black pepper and water. Stir until kale is wilted and water is reduced to almost nothing. Add pesto and stir until well combined. Add pasta to sausage, kale and white beans. Stir in some of the pasta water to loosen mixture if needed. Once pasta is well coated with pesto, taste and adjust seasonings as desired.

  1. Serve warm with some finely shredded Parmesan and toasted almonds. Watch your worries melt away.

 
Kale Pesto
1 leek or onion, white and light green parts only, sliced
3 garlic cloves
1/2 cup toasted almonds
1-1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
5 leaves kale, torn off stems
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
10 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
 

  1. Combine leek or onion, garlic and almonds in a food processor. Puree until uniform and finely chopped. Add salt, pepper and kale. Begin food processor. Add lemon juice and olive oil while the food processor is still running. Kale should gradually incorporate into the mixture. It can take up to 5 minutes for all of it to be blended smoothly. Add red pepper flakes. Pulse to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.
     

Makes 1-1/2 cups of pesto.

Kale/CollardsBethanee WrightComment