Pasta With Kale Pesto and Roasted Butternut Squash
- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1½pounds butternut squash
- ½cup extra virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
- ¾teaspoon kosher salt, more for squash
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1small bunch (about ½ pound) lacinato kale, center ribs removed
- 8ounces pasta (penne rigate works well)
- ⅓cup toasted pine nuts
- 2large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- Freshly squeezed lemon juice, to taste
- Grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
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Preparation
- Step 1
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Use a vegetable peeler to peel squash, then halve it lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Dice squash flesh into 1-inch pieces, place on a baking sheet, and toss with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Spread pieces into an even layer, making sure there is space between them. Roast, stirring squash pieces once or twice, until golden brown and tender, about 30 minutes.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; have ready a bowl of ice water. Drop kale into boiling water and cook for 45 seconds. Use tongs or slotted spoon to transfer kale to ice water. Bring water in pot back to a boil, adding more if necessary so there is enough to cook pasta.
- Step 3
Drain kale well, then wrap tightly in a dry kitchen towel and squeeze thoroughly to remove any excess moisture. Roughly chop leaves. When water in pot comes back to a boil, cook pasta according to package directions.
- Step 4
In a food processor, pulse together kale, nuts, garlic, salt and lemon zest until mixture is smooth and salt has dissolved. With motor running, slowly drizzle in the oil until fully incorporated. Taste and add more salt dissolved in a little lemon juice, if necessary.
- Step 5
Drain pasta, reserving a little cooking water. Toss pasta with kale pesto and some pasta cooking water if necessary to help it coat pasta. Add cheese, lemon juice and salt to taste. Serve topped with squash and more cheese.
Private Notes
Comments
Time saving/work saving tip: place the kale in the colander you will use for the pasta, and boil 3-4 cups of water in electric (or not electric) kettle, then pour over the kale; remove quickly to towel. Toast the nuts in the pasta pot before adding the pasta water, all while the squash roasts in the oven (on a parchment-lined baking sheet). Easy cleanup and less juggling. I've used the pour-over method for many recipes to just wilt greens and it is just fine.
NYT, you literally just told us not to cook with pine nuts: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/19/opinion/making-pesto-hold-the-pine-nut...
Just made with walnuts. Flavor is an excellent fit with the recipe.
This recipe is as delicious as it is hearty. I cannot stress the step where you cook the kale before blitzing the pesto ingredients together enough. I made that mistake the first time and it was a MUCH better dish when I remembered that step my second time around.
made enough pesto for the full pound of pasta box, pretty much, used full cup of pasta water- loved the TJ’s rosemary marcona almonds as a pine nut sub, holy cow
I had some young Red Russian kale in the garden, so used that. It's spring, so I used carrots instead of squash, along with some extra zucchini, and stemed those instead of baking. Saved time. Luckily, its lemon season here, too, and yesterday evening I was gifted a dozen lemons. I had no pine nuts, so I threw in some cashews. And it was the end of the bag so I didn't need to add salt. Pre-chopped garlic from the fridge... Yeah, lots of shortcuts but it was still delicious!
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