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Green pasta with pepper salsa

Green pasta with pepper salsa

Ingredients

One bunch/ 250g of cavolo nero, washed
20g parsley, including stalks
140g extra virgin olive oil
30g lemon juice (juice 1 lemon)
3 large garlic cloves
22g nutritional yeast
½ tsp salt
200g dried pasta
400g cooked butterbeans, drained
400g drained flame-roasted peppers
60g olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
15g ginger (about 2 cm), grated
½ tsp chipotle flakes
½ tsp salt
Extra olive oil to finish

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

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 dried to make 400g cooked.

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