Friday, June 28, 2013

Grub It Up: Orechiette Pasta with Walnuts, Ricotta, Lemon & Kale



As we mentioned in our latest 12 in 12 post, mom recently subscribed to Armommy's monthly recipe subscription, "The Monthly Spread." The monthly charge is incredibly reasonable ($5), we've been loving every recipe we've made thus far, and the pretty graphic printables don't hurt either. This has been one of our favorites -- mom didn't even need to keep all the ingredients separate for us. We were willing to eat the kale to get the walnuts and cheese that came with it. Technically, the recipe calls for crispy fried onions, but mom figured it was probably a little overkill (although I'm sure it's delicious). Either way, it's a super yummy, super fast meal to throw together.

Ingredients
- 4 cups chopped kale
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2 tbs vegetable oil
- 3 tbs lemon zest (from 4-5 lemons) or 2 tbs zest and 2 tbs juice
- 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1 pound orecchiette pasta (mom used small shells because we were more likely to eat those)
- crispy fried onions for garnish, optional

Directions
Cook pasta aldente in salted water, drain and save some pasta water. In a large skillet, add oil and garlic. Over medium heat, cook garlic until lightly golden. Add kale and cook until wilted and most of the liquid has evaporated. Add lemon zest, juice and walnuts. Add ricotta cheese and cooked pasta to skillet. Toss gently to leave large chunks of cheese scattered throughout. If extra moisture is needed to incorporate, add some of starchy pasta water to skillet. Season with salt and pepper and optional crispy fried onions. Since mom skimped on the fried onions, she added a little grated parmesan cheese to ours.

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