Smoked Kale Pasta

    This is a family favorite. The sweet caramelized tomatoes go well with the biting taste of the kale and the smokey flavor from the mozzarella and paprika round it out. Not all smoked paprika's are the same. If you can get your hands on El Rey, please do! It is the only one I will use. If I know I am going to have a busy day, I will do the roasted tomatoes a few days ahead. The rest of the dish is easy to finish off. Really having roasted tomatoes on-hand, is a yummy idea!!

 

Smoked Kale Pasta

Oven roasted tomatoes and onions*

Sauteed Kale**

Smoked mozzarella, cubed

1 tsp. of each salt, pepper and smoked paprika

Cooked pasta, one pound or so.

Toss all together, taste and add more spices if needed. If pasta seems a little dry, add a bit more olive oil. To gild the lily serve with some fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

 

*Oven roasted tomatoes and onions

Roast tomatoes 2 hours before cooking the pasta or several days before.

12 or so small tomatoes or 20 cherry tomato cut in half, length wise

1 small onion peeled and thinly sliced

Preheat oven 300˚F (if in a rush you can roast at 400˚F for 1/2 hour but the tomatoes will not caramelize much)

In a wide, shallow baking pan with sides (like a jelly roll) add veggies and toss in a bit of olive oil. Spread out so everything so the veggies have room. Make sure tomatoes are sitting cut side up. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and sugar over the top. Roast anywhere from 1 hour to 1 1/2 hour depending on how crispy you like your veggies. Scrap veggies and juices into a bowl.

**Sauteed Kale

Use kale that is either baby kale or striped of its stem. You want the kale to cook fast. You can do the kale while the pasta is cooking

Heat large frying pan over medium/high heat. Add a nice gloop of olive oil, as much kale that can fit in the pan or you want to eat and a generous sprinkling of salt. Saute kale for 2-3 minutes until it has wilted. Add to mozzarella and tomatoes.

Comments

[Linda Poteet]

I'm roasting the tomatoes now! Having this for dinner tonight. I only tried one store and couldn't find smoked mozzarella so I'm using smoked gouda, hope it's good!

[Children of Eve]

Wow, this looks amazing. You can't get more savory than this. Thanks!

[Theresa]

Looks great! I so wish I liked kale...LOL Do you feel that spinach would work well for this recipe? :)

[Ann]

Mmm a yummy sounding recipe Clarice!

[Tracy]

Sounds delicious!

[Bev]

Looks yummy! It's kind of cool here today, so the thought of the roasted tomatoes and potatoes warms me right up! Going onto my shopping list now!

[Lorrie]

Sounds delicious, Clarice. I love roasted tomatoes. In fact, in the summer, when my garden is bursting with them, I roast panfuls of them and put them into glass jars to store in the freezer. Now I pull them out to use for soups, or with recipes such as yours.

Have a wonderful day.