Kale Peperoncino Pasta
I made this kale peperoncino pasta for lunch and meal prep. Peperoncino pasta, as I only recently learnt, is aglio olio (pasta with lots of garlic and olive oil), with the emphasis on the “peperoncino” aka the the chilli peppers. In simpler terms to me, it is spicy aglio olio. I love my pasta hot, as spicy food greatly improves my mood :p As for recipe inspiration, I bought kale as I saw a buy-one-get-one-free sale for chopped kale at NTUC Finest. I seldom buy chopped greens as they are expensive, but I could not say no to a good sale and the fact that the chopped kale was already washed & ready to cook!
More Kale Recipes:
- Kale Chicken Noodle Soup
- Creamy Portobello Mushroom & Kale Pasta
- One-Pan Kale & Eggs
- Kale, Banana & Strawberry Smoothie
- Creamy Mushroom & Kale
Delicious Pasta Recipes:
INGREDIENTS
Pictured key ingredients:
- Chopped curly kale. Use mostly kale leaves (90%) with a random bits of short stem for better taste and crunch. Wash and spin dry in a salad spinner, if not using chopped and washed kale.
- Local chilli peppers – For me, the local chilli is chilli padi and it is really hot. Depending on your region, it can be Mexican jalapeño (hot!), Chinese screw pepper (medium heat), Indian ghost pepper (insanely hot) or Japanese shishito (mostly not hot). Alternatively, you can use chilli flakes or cut dried chilli.
- Sun-dried tomato salt blend. I added this in my aglio olio for the extra oomph and unami depth. I bought this from iHerb (affiliate link) and it contained very mild heat. You can use any favourite brand of herbed salt blend or you may also omit it, seasoning the pasta with more salt the authentic Italian way.
Other ingredients (not pictured):
- lots of olive oil
- lots of garlic (chopped or thinly sliced)
- angel hair pasta (or spaghetti)
- fine sea salt
- freshly cracked black pepper
- grated parmesan cheese (fresh or bottled)
STEP-BY-STEP PHOTOS
How to Cook Kale Peperoncino Pasta:
- Heat olive oil in a pan, fry garlic until they turn evenly golden.
- Add kale, 2 tbsp water and cover for 1 minute to steam and soften the kale.
- Fry the kale until they are nicely wilted. Add a bit more olive oil and add chilli padi.
- Add sun-dried tomato salt blend (or your own favourite natural herbed salt blend) and fry briefly until the kale is delicious.
- Bring a heavily salted pot of water to boil. Add angel hair and cook for 1 minute.
- Immediately transfer the angel hair to the pan. Mix the pasta with a few spoons of pasta cooking water until the noodles & flavours are well combined.
Last but not least:
Plate the pasta, garnish with freshly cracked pepper, grated parmesan cheese and serve!
Kale Peperoncino Pasta Recipe
In this recipe, heat and spice is the key! Use your local chilli peppers (chilli padi/bird’s eye, jalapeño, screw pepper etc) OR substitute with dried chilli flakes/dried cut chilli. This recipe takes even less time if you buy ready-to-cook chopped kale, or prepare the kale (chop, wash and spin dry) the night before.
Check out the ingredients and step-by-step photos on the previous page.
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp + 1 tbsp olive oil divided
- 1 tbsp chopped or thinly sliced garlic
- 120g chopped kale washed and spun dry
- 2 local hot chillis (chilli padi, jalapeño etc) partially deseeded & thinly sliced; to taste
- 1 tsp sun-dried tomato salt blend (or any favourite natural salt blend) optional; to taste
- 100g angel hair
- a small pot of water
- 1 tbsp sea salt to cook the pasta
Garnish Suggestions
- 1 lug (2 tbsp) extra-virgin olive oil
- freshly cracked black pepper
- fresh or bottled grated parmesan cheese
Directions:
- Cook garlic. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan. Add garlic and fry until they just turn golden. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
- Cook kale. Add kale, 1 tbsp water and cover the pan for a minute. Add sun-dried tomato salt blend (or favourite salt blend) and pan fry until the kale is deliciously cooked.
- Cook angel hair. In the next stove, bring water and salt to boil, add angel hair and cook for 1 minute.
- Make pasta. Make a well in the middle the pan of a kale. Add the remaining olive oil and chilli. Fry the cut chilli for a few seconds and add the cooked pasta to the chilli oil. Mix the pasta well with everything in the pan, adding 1-2 tbsp pasta cooking water to bind the flavours. Season to taste with salt only if needed.
- To serve, plate the pasta. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and garnish with grated cheese and black pepper.
Noob Cooking Tips
- I added the cut chilli later as the cooking fumes and the resultant pasta can be choking hot if added at the beginning.
- Pan-frying the kale (compared to blanching the kale in boiling water) retained the full flavour of the kale in the pasta.
- For meal prep, freeze the pasta in freezer-friendly ready-to-serve microwaveable container. To serve microwave the frozen pasta (open a small vent for ventilation) at 850W for 4 minutes.