Spaghetti with Lemon Cavolo Nero Pesto

Monday, March 23, 2015
It's always a little disheartening cooking for one. Am I right? Not because I don't enjoy dining alone, I really do. It's actually one of my favourite past times. However, it's always hard shopping for a meal for one person. I always end up at the check out till with a basket that could feed a small sorority or something and then when I'm cooking I always end up with left over ingredients or too much food. As much as I want to call myself a recipe developer, one that has enough discipline to test out a recipe, take one bite and leave the rest for my starving loved ones, I eat everything that is placed in front of me, even if I am the culprit that did the placing. 

Tangent aside, every once in a while, I make the right amount of food for one human and figure out how not to waste the rest of it. In this case, I had a bunch of Cavolo Nero leftover from making a salad for one (sad). So what do we do when we have a salad for lunch?  We reward our good behaviour, counteract the healthy day we've been attempting to complete and essentially pretty much blitz up said salad to douse a bowl of spaghetti with. Of Course. (Inspiration courtesy of Jamie Oliver).

Listen, there's no such thing as a (calorie) free lunch, okay? At least not on weekends. Give yourself a break, boil some pasta and sprinkle it with love/ this actually pretty nutrient packed sauce. 

I'm glad we had this talk. 

















 Spaghetti with

 Lemon Cavolo Nero Pesto

Serves 2-3

YOU WILL NEED: 
100G CAVOLO NERO
2 CLOVES GARLIC, PEELED AND SMASHED
2 INCH CUBE PARMESAN CHEESE 
2 INCH LEMON PEEL
1/4 CUP LEMON JUICE
1/4 CUP + 1 TBSP OLIVE OIL
1/2 CUP RESERVED PASTA COOKING WATER
1 TSP BUTTER
250G UNCOOKED SPAGHETTI OR PASTA OF YOUR CHOICE(I USED GLUTEN FREE)
1/4 CUP PINE NUTS, TOASTED AND CHOPPED 
GRATED PARMESAN
SALT AND PEPPER
WEDGE OF LEMON

Bring a large pot of salted water (big enough for the pasta) to boil.

Wash and trim the cavolo nero by cutting either side of the stems and discarding them and remove any blemishes.

Cook the cavolo nero in the boiling water for 3-4 minutes and remove with a slotted spoon (keeping the boiling water in the pot) and leaving the greens to steam dry for 5 minutes.

In a small pan, heat the tablespoon of olive oil and the garlic. Cook on a low heat until the garlic is softened and slightly golden but not burnt. (2-4 minutes).

Cook your pasta as instructed on packaging. (I always cook pasta 1 or 2 minutes less than instructed so it's a little al dente).

In a food processor, blend together the cavolo nero, sautéed garlic, parmesan and lemon peel. You may need to scrape down the sides of the blender once or twice with a spatula. When blended add the olive oil and lemon juice and blend until smooth.

Before you drain your pasta, save 1/2 cup of cooking water.

Drain your pasta and add a 1/4 cup of the cooking water to the pesto and blend again until smooth.

Season with salt and pepper.

Mix the pasta with the pesto. You might want to add a little more of the cooking water to the pasta and toss it over a low flame, this helps to loosen it a little.

Serve with a wedge of lemon,  and sprinkle with the toasted and chopped pine nuts, some grated parmesan and a little extra season of sea salt and black pepper.

Enjoy!