Orecchiette with Kale, Bacon, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

 

If you read my last post, you will be happy to know that I’m still going strong with my New Year’s resolutions. Aside from one trip to Buffalo Wild Wings to celebrate a friend’s birthday, we have made healthy meals and exercised almost everyday this week.

The recipe that I am sharing with you today is so tasty and has so many different flavors! It only takes about 20 minutes to make! Boiling the noodles takes the longest.

I have a funny story about this recipe, too. The first time I made it I was so excited to try it and it was delicious except for some reason the kale turned all slimy and shriveled. It didn’t taste bad it just looked really bad in the picture. I felt like I needed to make it one more time and not cook it as long, so I went chop up the bunch of kale that I had bought and for the first time I saw the name of what I had bought on a little sticker: Curly Mustard!

I had bought Curly Mustard and used it instead of kale! I looked up curly mustard online and found out that it has a spicy, mustard taste. I rinsed off a big leaf and popped in my mouth, and sure enough, it was spicy and tasted like hot mustard! I couldn’t believe I didn’t notice it’s flavor in the pasta dish before. I couldn’t believe that I didn’t know what kale looked like enough to grab the right bundle of greens.

I went back to the store and bought a bag of prewashed, pre chopped Kale, and let me tell you, that is the way to go! It makes the recipe that much easier!

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. uncooked orecchiette pasta
• 5 cups bagged prewashed kale
• 1/2 TBSP. olive oil
• 1/4 C bagged bacon crumbles, two pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1/4 C. oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
• 1/4-1/2 crushed red pepper flakes
• 3 large garlic cloves, pressed or minced
• 1 large roasted red pepper from the jar, roughly chopped
• 4 oz. sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 3/8 tsp. salt
• 1 TBSP. fresh lemon juice
• Parmesan cheese, grated,  to taste, or an Italian cheese blend

Directions:

1. Boil a pot of water to cook the pasta. While the water is boiling, chop the red pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and anything else that needs to be chopped.

2. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook for 8 minutes or until almost tender. Add Kale and cook for 2 more minutes. Drain in colander, reserving 1/2 C. of the pasta water.

3. While the pasta is boiling, heat the olive oil in a skillet. Once it is hot, add the garlic, tomatoes, roasted red pepper, bacon, mushrooms, crushed red pepper flakes, pepper, and salt.  Over medium heat, stir until mushrooms and garlic are start to brown, slightly. I used the 1/2 tsp. of crushed red pepper flakes, and it was pretty spicy. Use 1/4 tsp. if you have a low tolerance for spicy, hot foods.

4. Add pasta and kale to the mixture. Add the reserved 1/2 C. of water and toss to combine. Mix half the cheese through the mixture. Drizzle evenly with the lemon juice and toss once more time. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese and more bacon if desired, on top. Serve hot.

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light Magazine December 2010 page 38.