WEEK 14: YOUR BEST WAY TO COOK GREENS

Linguine with Bread Crumbs and Kale

Photography by Sarah Shatz

    BY HOTPLATE GOURMET | SERVES 2 TO 3

A&M: Hotplate Gourmet made her ambitions very clear—this linguine dish is to be a respectable weeknight dinner, something easy but good. She said, “This is a perfect leftover meal. You can use whatever greens you have lying around, and one-or two-day-old bread makes the best bread crumbs.” Well, it’s more than just that—we think it’s terrific. Like an old Italian nonna, Hotplate Gourmet has you use the pasta water to help cook the kale and has you add bread crumbs to the kale to fortify the pasta. You sauté the bread crumbs in oil, then add garlic and kale, and not too much of either. The garlic gently scents the kale and the greens add substance and sweetness, without making you feel like you’re eating kale for the sake of eating kale. You pull the dish together with some fresh olive oil and grated Parmesan and you have a wonderful fall dinner.

    Salt and freshly ground black pepper

    2 slices day-old bread, cubed

    ½ cup olive oil

    2 garlic cloves, minced

    ½ large bunch kale, ribs and stems removed, leaves chopped

    ½ pound linguine

    ¼ cup grated Parmesan

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Process the bread in a food processor until it’s about the consistency of coarse cornmeal.
2. Heat ¼ cup of the oil in a frying pan over medium heat and add the bread crumbs. Once the bread crumbs are slightly toasted and golden brown, add the garlic and continue to stir until well toasted. Remove the bread crumbs from the pan; keep the pan on the stove.
3. Add the chopped kale to the frying pan with a little bit of the pasta water and sauté until wilted, about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, when the pasta water boils, add the pasta to the pot and cook until al dente. Drain.
4. Toss the kale mixture with the drained pasta and add salt and pepper to taste. Add the rest of the oil as needed. Mix in the Parmesan and bread crumbs and serve.

    TIPS AND TECHNIQUES

    JenMach: “I added anchovies to the garlic and oil, a little lemon zest at the end, and topped each dish with a poached egg. Totally fast (and cheap) way to dress it up for guests.”

    ABOUT THE COOK

    Erin Culbreth works in publishing in New York City and, on her blog Hotplate Confidential (www.hotplateconfidential.com), she writes about cooking meals for two with nothing but a hotplate, a toaster oven, and a mini-fridge.

        Her favorite recipe from a cookbook: “Ina Garten’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies from Barefoot Contessa Parties. They are so delicious, and the recipe is absolutely foolproof!”

    WHAT THE COMMUNITY SAID

    SarahS: “I’ve made this two nights in a row … it’s really delicious.”

        pierino: “The bread crumb thing is very southern Italy; they call it “mollica” and add it to pastas, especially ones that have bitter ingredients such as rapini or other dark greens.”

        Michelle_SF: “Pasta with kale is a standby of mine—but I never thought of adding bread crumbs! Now we’re talkin’! (I usually add walnuts.)”

    BEHIND THE SCENES

    This was our first week open to the public. We knew we were onto something when we got written up in GOOP, DailyCandy, the New York Times, and TechCrunch!