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When trying to ease back into a work week after the holidays, the last thing you want is a complicated dinner. So this month, we’re sharing quick five-ingredient dinners, starting with this with this hearty kale, caramelized onions and goat cheese pasta from Amy Chaplin’s At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen. Here’s how to make it…
Fettuccini With Kale, Caramelized Onions and Goat Cheese
From At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen
For this pasta, I use my own marinated goat cheese (recipe included below) with great results, but it also works really well with goat cheese right from the grocery store. I owe credit for this recipe to Melinda Dimitriades, a talented Australian food purveyor and chef, who arrived at my sister’s tiny New York City apartment many years ago with a tub of her famous cheese. She made us a pasta dish that we all swooned over. We have been making variations of it ever since, and this one with kale has become a cold-weather favorite.
Recipe: Fettuccini With Kale, Caramelized Onions and Goat Cheese
Serves 4-6
You’ll need:
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 medium to large red onions, thinly sliced
Sea salt and ground black pepper
3/4 lb whole wheat fettuccini
10 cups sliced Lacinato kale (from about 1 1/2 bunches)
8 oz goat cheese, divided
Warm olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add onions. Sauté for 10 minutes or until beginning to brown. Add 1 teaspoon salt, lower heat slightly, and continue cooking for 15 to 20 minutes more or until onions are soft and caramelized.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a large pinch of salt. When onions are caramelized, add fettuccini to boiling water and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, or per package instructions, until al dente. Drain pasta and return to pot.
While pasta cooks, stir kale into onions, cover skillet, and cook for 6 to 8 minutes or until tender, stirring once or twice. Add onion and kale mixture, three quarters of the goat cheese, and lots of black pepper to pasta; toss well. Drizzle in more oil and season to taste. Divide among bowls and top with a crumble of remaining goat cheese; serve immediately.
If you want to make marinated goat cheese, you’ll need:
8 oz fresh goat cheese log, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
8 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 tsp whole peppercorns
3 garlic cloves, halved lengthwise
4 bay leaves
Lay goat cheese in a single layer on the bottom of a dry, wide-mouth, jar. Pour in enough olive oil to cover cheese. Add a couple sprigs of thyme, a few peppercorns, 2 pieces garlic, and a bay leaf. Continue layering the remaining cheese, oil, and seasonings until you have used up all ingredients. Lightly press the last layer of cheese down to make sure it’s completely submerged in oil. Seal jar and place in the fridge to marinate for one week. Cheese will keep for at least two months.
Bring to room temperature before serving.
The oil is luscious drizzled over toast or pasta, with or without the cheese, or you can use it in salad dressings. Keep any leftover oil in the fridge until ready to use. Note: The cheese will spoil if it isn’t covered by oil at all times. If you remove a few pieces, make sure the remaining cheese is covered, adding more oil in as needed, before closing the lid.
Thank you, Amy! Your cookbook is beautiful.
P.S. More easy recipes, including delicious Boursin pasta and rotini with blue cheese and spinach.
(Recipe excerpted from At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen by Amy Chaplin. Photographs by Johnny Miller. Reprinted by arrangement with Roost Books, an imprint of Shambhala Publications Inc., Boulder, CO. This series is edited by Stella Blackmon.)
