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PASTA WITH KALE, LENTILS AND CARAMELIZED ONIONS

The perfect combination of pasta, caramelized onions, smokey lacinato kale and earthy green lentils. A touch of heat, and creaminess from grated parmesan, and dinner is done!
Course Main Course
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup green or brown lentils (Turkish or French)
  • 2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock (or water)
  • olive oil
  • 2 medium onions , small dice (you should get around 2 cups)
  • 1 bunch of lacinato (Tuscan) kale, centre ribs removed
  • 3/4 lb of small pasta: tubular , penne, rigatoni, even macaroni if that's all you have on hand)
  • 1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes (or to taste)
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

  1. Place the lentils and water in a small pot and bring to a rolling simmer. Drop to a low simmer and cook, uncovered, adding more stock or water as needed to keep the lentils just covered. Cook for about 20 minutes, till tender but not mushy. Remove from heat and season with salt.

  2. While the lentils are simmering, heat 3 tbsp of olive in in a 12 inch heavy skillet or pot over medium high heat. Saute the onions with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper stirring them through. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are golden brown and softened. Keep and eye on them and stir more regularly as they get close to being done. This should take around 40 minutes. Then increase the heat to medium and keep cooking till golden brown, about another 5 or so minutes.

  3. Stir in the lentils and any liquid and simmer, scraping up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Season with more salt and pepper, to taste.
  4. While the onions are cooking away, chop the kale into medium sized pieces.
  5. Start cooking the pasta in a 6-8 cup pot of well salted water, according to package directions.
  6. About 7 minutes before the pasta is finished cooking (most pasta takes around 8-9 minutes, test by biting into a piece, it should be just tender, but not enjoyable yet) add the kale to the pot. Stir and boil, until the kale is just tender and the pasta is al dente.
  7. Reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water.
  8. Drain the pasta and kale through a colander.
  9. Add the pasta and kale to the onion and lentil mixture in the pan. Add about 1/3 of the pasta water- just enough to keep pasta moist. Cook everything for 1 minute over medium high heat. Add more water if needed, only about 1 tbsp at a time though.
  10. Add the hot pepper flakes and season with more salt and pepper if needed.
  11. Drizzle with olive oil.
  12. When serving, drizzle with 2-3 tbsp of grated parmesan cheese.

Recipe Notes

This is a great recipe to prep for: Remove the ribs from the kale, chop and store in a plastic bag overnight.

Cook lentil and onion mixture in advance and store in a container.

Then all you'll need to do is grate the cheese, reheat the onions and lentils over low in a large skillet, cook the pasta, add the kale and then toss it all together as per above.