Deep Green Pasta
This one-pot dish is delicious and made in minutes. This sauce is equally delicious dolloped into a risotto at the end of cooking, slathered on toast with eggs, or even stirred into a salad dressing.
SERVES
4
PEOPLE
PREP TIME
10
MINUTES
COOKING TIME
30
MINUTES
Ingredients
250g cavolo nero (destalked weight), chopped coarsely
2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled
200g spinach
400g rigatoni (penne may also be used)
100ml olive oil
1 unwashed lemon
Ricotta, Parmesan or pecorino, for serving (optional)
Method
Get a large pan of water on to a rolling boil and season well with salt, enough that you can actually taste it. Add the cavolo nero along with the garlic cloves and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Then add the spinach, and when it has wilted (1 minute approx.), keeping the pot of water at a rolling boil, lift the greens and garlic into a colander. Run the greens under a cold tap and allow them to drain (press out the excess water). Put the pasta into the pan of water.
When the greens are drained, transfer to a high-speed blender, pour in the olive oil, grate in the zest of the lemon, and blitz into a very smooth purée, adding a splash of the cooking water to loosen it if need be (75ml approx.).
Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.
Cook the pasta until al dente, then take a mug and collect a full cup of the starchy water before straining the pasta.
Pour the pasta back into the hot pan and add a few big dollops of the sauce. Be generous.
Add a good splash of the pasta water (100ml approx.) and mix well, beating it around the pan to form a thick sauce that envelops the pasta in a deep green blanket.
Serve immediately, with a squeeze of lemon, some ricotta, Parmesan or some pecorino, if you like, and a generous drizzle of olive oil.
