Green pasta with pepper salsa
Enviously delicious.
”I’m a bit late to the party with this one”, says recipe creator and chef Kali Jago (@kalijago), “but the rich savouriness of a sauce made predominantly with cavolo nero and olive oil is so appealing to me that I had to make my own.”
For an extra “Kali twist” this pasta dish is elevated with a red pepper salsa, and made with half beans and half pasta, adding nutrition and texture.
You can up the flavour and fibre further by opting for a spelt pasta, and we love Northern Pasta Co. for this dish.
Here's the method:
Serves 4
- Peel and chop 1 butternut squash into cubes. Wash and chop 4 carrots and 4 beetroot in similar sized pieces as the butternut.
- Cut 2 red onions into wedges and 3 leeks into nice chunks.
- Finely chop 1 handful of oregano and 1 handful of thyme. Add It to a bowl along with 2 grated garlic cloves, 50ml citizens of soil olive oil, 50ml of maple syrup, 1 tbsp of salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
- Mix the marinade over the veg and bake at 200oC until soft and slightly charred, about 30 minutes.
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Then add 2 cups of pecans and add then back the oven. Cook for another 10 minutes, until the pecans are toasted.
- Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil.
- Once it’s rolling, add the cavolo nero, parsley, and garlic.
- Cover with a lid and blanch for 2 minutes, or until the water is boiling again.
- While you’re blanching, prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with ice and water.
- Use tongs to transfer the cavolo nero, parsley, and garlic into a colander, then plunge them into the ice bath.
- Reserve the boiling water for cooking the pasta.
- Cook the pasta according to the package instructions. I usually cook it for a couple of minutes less than suggested so the pasta holds a firmer bite, especially when mixed with the sauce.
- When draining the pasta, reserve some cooking water. Drizzle the pasta with olive oil to prevent sticking.
- While the pasta cooks, blend the cavolo nero, parsley, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and salt into a smooth green sauce.
- For the red pepper salsa, finely dice the roasted peppers.
- Heat a large frying pan, add the olive oil and garlic, and cook for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Stir in the ginger, peppers, chipotle flakes, and salt.
- Cook over low-medium heat for 10 minutes. Transfer the salsa into a bowl, scraping out as much as possible with a spatula, and set aside.
- Use the same pan to finish the pasta. Add the green sauce, cooked pasta, and butterbeans to the pan. Loosen the mixture with a splash of reserved pasta water, warm everything through, and remove from the heat.
- To serve, divide the pasta into bowls or onto a serving platter. Spoon the red pepper salsa on top and enjoy.
Top tip
If cooking butterbeans from dried, you will need 200g fried to make 400g cooked.
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