Penne with Kale and White Wine Sauce

Happy Monday!  I sincerely hope you had a lovely and productive weekend.

I did not.  I played.

It was ok though, I feel confident in my decision to eat and drink excessively in front of the television for 2 full days.

I ate too much.

If you ate too much, too, this is a great quick, easy, light pasta dish - perfect for a hectic Monday night!

You'll love it, promise. 

Here's what you need!

• cooked short pasta - whole wheat penne is great with this if you have any around!  Make enough for 4-6 servings
• 1 teaspoon anchovy paste (or not, if you don't have it.  don't freak out)
• 4 cloves garlic
• salt, crushed red pepper, olive oil
• 4 cups greens - kale, chard, whatever!
• parmesan cheese, for serving (or....goat cheese gouda!  That's what I had here)
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 cup pasta water (reserve right before you drain the pasta)

Look at this lovely kale!  It's from my grandfather's garden and it sat in the fridge for a leeetle bit longer than it should have.  Not my fault, though - he gave me a lot!

The yellow parts were still delicious, though.

So, very first (while the pasta is cooking), we're going to boil the kale for just one minute to get it started and cook out any bitter flavor.  I used the same pot I was going to use for the sauce - just an inch or two of water with a teaspoon of salt is great.

Cut the kale into large strips, and remove any woody stems.

Then, drop the kale into the boiling water for 60 seconds - it'll cook quickly!

Yum.  Now, drain the kale and set it aside, and we're on to the sauce!

For this sauce, I like to thinly slice the garlic.  You don't have to though!  You can cook your garlic however you'd like to, I won't be offended.

Pretty, huh?  In a pan over medium heat, add the garlic and anchovy paste with a drizzle of olive and as much crushed red pepper as you'd like.

Stir this around for 2-3 minutes until the anchovy paste melts and the garlic has softened but isn't brown - just a light golden.

Then, stir in the wine!

Let the wine bubble and reduce for a minute, then add in some starchy pasta water if you'd like a little bit more liquid.

So....this is kind of it.  Stir in the pasta, kale, and a lot of parmesan cheese - as much as you'd like!

Deeeeelicious!  Taste the pasta and add more cheese, salt, or pasta water. Then serve it in big pasta bowls!

Now, I like to top this with more crushed red pepper and, as previously mentioned, the sharpest cheese I've got in my fridge - goat cheese gouda this time!

And that, my friends, is a super duper fast vegetarian pasta (add grilled chicken if you'd like!) that you can make in MINUTES - by the time you cook the pasta the sauce will be done!

Perfect for a Monday.  Enjoy!