Superkalefragelisticexputtanescadocious

Continuing the theme of seasonal cooking, kale is abundant right now and the stores need to shift it. Do your part! Eat your greens!

Kale puttanesca

Ingredients:
1 small onion, chopped
4 or 5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp red chili flakes
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2 Tbsp capers, drained
4 or 5 cups kale, stems removed, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp black or Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
1/2 box whole wheat thin pasta like spaghetti or spaghettini
parmesan, shaved

Directions:
Set pasta to boil with a little salt, drain when al dente.
Meanwhile fry the onion, garlic, tomatoes, chili flakes, s&p in olive oil over medium heat until onions are very translucent and tomatoes are gooey. Add balsamic, tomato paste, capers., and 1/2 cup water. Give it a stir, then add kale on top of other ingredients, cover and let the kale wilt for about 5 minutes. Add olives and stir to mix.
Dump drained pasta and some parmesan shavings into kale pot and toss to mix. Serve topped with more parmesan shavings.

Holy cats this stuff is good! I took a kale puttanesca recipe that called for anchovies and replaced the fish with a few other ingredients to sub-in for anchovy characteristics. Extra capers for the saltiness of anchovies, balsamic vinegar for a bit of tang, and because anchovies tend to break down and go mushy with any heat, I used a bit of tomato paste for the gush. It worked out really well. I might need to buy more kale this weekend and attempt a replication. Next time I'll leave out the chili flakes. The heat was nice but I think almost overpowered the other flavours. Instead, I'll sub in 1/4 tsp of nutmeg. Yeah, nutmeg.

The dish really went well with a celebratory bottle of vino, Marquis Philips 2004 Shiraz. Celebratory, you ask? Well, that will be revealed in time. It's Rocco's news, not mine, and we'll hold onto it for now until everything is finalised. Don't worry, it's all good. In any case, a strong red goes really nicely with the puttanesca! So do lap cats, and a cozy Friday night in.

Have a fantastic long weekend!