Kale: What I Would Have Made If I Had Time to Cook

I made a pledge to the Beauties that I would move heaven and earth to post every month in 2012. However, every accountant's nemesis - BUSY SEASON - has raised its ugly head this month. I've been coming in early, staying late and working weekends. JJ, my wonderful husband, has been doing most (read - ALL) of the cooking and when I brought up the idea of making something with kale he wasn't all that enthused. (Of course, had the monthly ingredient been beef, venison, pork or pickles he would have been all over it.) I'm not complaining - if someone else is cooking I'm not fussy!

So this is what I would have made if I had time to cook this month. I found this recipe on epicurious. It looks pretty simple and fairly versatile - you could mix it up by using different types of sausage. Several of the reviews suggested adding garlic also - well of course, please, that goes without saying, just like salt and pepper! I hope to have time to cook this in the coming weeks :) If someone makes it let me know how it turns out!

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 lb hot turkey or pork sausage, casings discarded and sausage crumbled

1/2 lb kale, tough stems and center ribs discarded and leaves coarsely chopped

1/2 lb dried egg fettucini (or regular fettucini or whatever noodles you have on the shelf)

2/3 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup Pecorino Romano plus additional for serving (I would use waaayyyyyy more than this)

Preparation:

Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over moderately high heat. Cook the sausage, breaking up any lumps with a spoon, until browned, 5-7 minutes.

Meanwhile, blanch kale in a large pot of boiling salted water, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Remove with a large sieve and drain. Return cooking water in pot to a boil (love the recycling here), then cook pasta, uncovered, until al dente. Reserve 1 cup cooking water, then drain pasta.

While the pasta is cooking, add the kale to the sausage in the skillet and saute, stirring frequently, until just tender, about 5 minutes. Add broth, stirring and scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. Then add the pasta and 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking water, tossing until combined. Stir in the cheese and thin with additional cooking water if desired.

Serve immediately, with additional cheese on the side (or on top). Lot of additional cheese :)