parmesan kale pasta

I saw this recipe a few months back in Bon Apetit and it only briefly grabbed my attention. It wasn't until I saw it AGAIN on Mehan's Kitchen that I thought, "I have to make this immediately!" Maybe I was just craving greens or maybe Bon Apetit needs to hire Mehan to do their food photography... either way, I am glad I tried the recipe out. I loved Mehan's idea for adding sausage to the recipe but I opted out this time because my diet this past week has been particularly meat heavy. Next time, though, sausage it is! Also, I forgot to buy a yellow onion at the store and although they taste quite different, I used half of the red onion that was in my fridge. It was still delicious and it added a splash of color!

The recipe turned out pretty tasty, it reminded me a little of the lemon parsley pasta I made a while back but with more greens. I will be making this again because I really enjoyed the flavors but next time I will make two changes. 1) I will be using bowtie pasta because I find it really hard to stir chunks of stuff (like kale) into thin spaghetti. The spaghetti tends to clump together and all of the other ingredients migrate to the outside of the bowl. 2) I will definitely use two bunches of kale because I would like the kale to pasta ratio to be a bit more even. Then, maybe then, this dish will be perfect.




Total Recipe cost: $3.69
Servings Per Recipe: 6
Cost per serving: $0.62
Prep time: 5 min. Cook time: 25 min. Total: 30 min.

INGREDIENTS		COST
1 bunch	fresh kale	$0.99
8 oz.	thin spaghetti or bowtie pasta	$0.50
1/2	onion	$0.21
4 cloves	garlic	$0.09
2 Tbsp	olive oil	$0.21
1 medium	lemon	$0.33
3 oz.	shredded parmesan	$1.31
to taste	salt and pepper	$0.05
TOTAL		$3.69

STEP 1: Finely chop the onion and garlic. Heat 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a large pot over medium/high heat. Add the garlic and onion and saute until soft.

STEP 2: Wash the kale and remove the leafy green bits from the stem (some say cut it off but I just grabbed and pulled!). Rip or cut the kale into pieces about 2x2 inches. Add the kale and 1/2 cup of water to the pot with the onion and garlic. Stir it a bit, add a lid and turn the heat down to medium/low.

STEP 3: While the kale cooks down, cook your pasta according to the directions on the package (boil for 5-7 minutes). Drain the pasta and set aside.

STEP 4: When the kale has reduced in size by 1/2, changed to a dark green color and is tender (taste some, about 15 minutes of cooking), add the pasta, juice from the lemon, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. Stir it all together and serve!

Step By Step Photos


Cook the onions and garlic in olive oil until soft.


Add the kale and 1/2 cup of water. Turn down the heat to medium/low, add a lid and let simmer for about 15 minutes. Cook the pasta as the kale simmers.


Once the kale is tender, add the pasta, lemon juice, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. Stir to combine and serve!