Recipes From the Root Cellar_ 270 Fresh Ways to Enjoy Winter Vegetables - Andrea Chesman [97]
3 Cook the pasta in the boiling water until just al dente. Reserve about 1 cup of the cooking water, and then drain.
4 Return the pasta to the pot. Add the garlic and goat cheese. Pour in half the reserved cooking water and toss to form a creamy sauce. Add more cooking water if the mixture seems dry. Add the cabbage mixture and toss to mix. Season generously with salt and pepper. Serve at once.
Pasta with Kale and Chickpeas
Serves 6
In no time at all you can have dinner on the table — a hearty one-dish vegetarian pasta meal. This dish is outstanding in flavor, nutrition, and ease of preparation. Other greens and other beans can be substituted for the ones recommended here.
1 pound orecchiette or medium shells
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, minced
8 ounces kale, cut into thin ribbons (about 6 cups lightly packed; remove and discard tough stems)
1 tablespoon dry white wine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ricotta cheese
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1½ cups cooked chickpeas, or 1 (15-ounce) can, rinsed and drained
1 Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta in the boiling water until just al dente. Reserve about ½ cup of the cooking water, and then drain. Return the pasta to the pot and keep warm.
2 Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, shallot, and kale, and sauté until the kale is completely wilted, about 3 minutes. Stir in the wine, cover, and steam until the kale is tender, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
3 Add the ricotta and Parmesan to the pasta in the pot. Pour in half the reserved cooking water and toss to form a creamy sauce. Add more water if the mixture seems dry. Add the chickpeas and the kale mixture and toss to combine. Season generously with salt and pepper. Serve at once.
Kale-Ricotta Cannelloni
Serves 4 or 5
When it comes to baked filled pasta, I don’t think I will ever bother with dried manicotti or shells again. Using egg roll wrappers (of all things!) is so much easier than using dried pasta, which must be cooked before it is filled, is hard to handle, and loses its shape. Egg roll wrappers are made simply of flour, water, and eggs, just as fresh pasta is, and they make the assembly easy and the presentation lovely.
6 cups chopped kale (remove and discard tough stems)
3 garlic cloves
1 shallot
1 (15-ounce) container part-skim ricotta cheese
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper
10 egg roll wrappers (each 6 inches square)
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
3 cups well-seasoned tomato sauce, or 2 (15-ounce) cans
1 Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the kale and blanch until wilted and bright green, about 3 minutes. Drain and plunge into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain again, squeezing out the excess liquid.
2 Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly oil a large roasting pan or casserole (if necessary, use one 9- by 13-inch pan and one 9-inch square pan).
3 To make the filling, finely chop the garlic and shallot in a food processor. Add the kale, ricotta, Parmesan, eggs, and nutmeg, and season with salt and pepper. Pulse until very finely chopped.
4 To assemble the dish, mound a scant ½ cup of the filling evenly along one side of each egg roll wrapper. Roll each wrapper to enclose the filling. Set the rolled cannelloni, seam down and slightly apart, in the prepared roasting pan. Cover the cannelloni with the mozzarella cheese. Spoon the sauce over and around the cannelloni.
5 Bake, uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes, until the sauce bubbles, the cannelloni are hot in the center, and the wrappers are tender. Serve hot.
Kitchen Note: Obviously, if you can find sheets of fresh pasta, use those instead of egg roll wrappers. Fresh pasta