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Angel Hair Pasta with Black Garlic and Kale Pesto

This simple and delicious, cold-season pasta recipe is perfect for the last days of fall, and well into winter.

Steaming the greens first makes this pesto more season-appropriate, as cooked food is easier to digest and more warming to the body. It also reduces the bitterness that turns many people off leafy greens in the first place! If you’re in the southern hemisphere right now and feeling the heat, feel free to leave this raw.

I love serving this with Biodynamic® angel hair pasta, but feel free to use any vehicle for this delicious sauce! Wonderful on toast, roasted vegetables, or folded into a grain salad, the possibilities are endless. Feel free to make a double batch and freeze some for the future.

This simple dish highlights Biodynamic® pasta, fermented black garlic puree, and olive oil. The delicate and flavourful angel hair pasta is made from wheat grown on Demeter Certified Biodynamic® farms in Italy. Biodynamic farming practices are conscious, creative, and holistic. Certified Biodynamic® products require regenerative, soil-first farming practices and production methods that preserve the integrity of the natural product. Biodynamic agriculture goes above and beyond most organic standards and focuses on year-after-year improvement in soil quality, limits inputs brought onto the farm and works to support all the living creatures in and around the farm: from the worms to the bees to larger farm animals and the people who engage with the farm, too.

I hope this comforting dish gives you the cozy feeling you’re looking for these days!

Angel Hair Pasta with Black Garlic and Kale Pesto

Ingredients

  • ½ cup / 65g raw sunflower seeds
  • 11 ½ oz / 325g de-stemmed black / dino / lacinato kale sub with any kale you like
  • 3 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp. flaky salt
  • 1 Tbsp. black garlic puree or more to taste
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 2-3 Tbsp. lemon juice to taste
  • 3 Tbsp. olive oil
  • ½ oz / 15g flat-leaf parsley leaves and tender stems about 1 bunch
  • 3-6 Tbsp. filtered water as needed
  • angel hair pasta as much as desired

Directions

  • In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast sunflower seeds, stirring often, until golden and fragrant. Remove from heat and set aside.
  • Set up a steamer basket in a large skillet or pot with a lid, bring water to the boil. Place the prepared kale inside, put the lid on and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 1-2 minutes – no more – you’re looking for vibrant, tender leaves that still retain a little structure. Remove from heat and let cool (you can also shock the leaves in an ice bath, but it’s an extra step that I skip to save time – up to you!).
  • Place sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast, and salt in a food processor. Pulse a few times to blend the seeds and combine the ingredients. Add the steamed kale, black garlic puree, lemon zest and juice, olive oil, and parsley. Blend on high until fully incorporated, then add water a tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached (thick and chunky with less water, loose and creamy with more water). Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.
  • Cook the angel hair pasta in generously salted water according to the package directions. Drain, add desired amount of pesto and serve immediately with extra olive oil, and freshly cracked black pepper. Say thank you and enjoy.
  • Store leftovers in an airtight glass container in the fridge for up to one week. Pesto freezes well.

Notes

Makes 500ml / 2 heaping cups
If you’d like to try the Biodynamic ingredients in this post or other health-promoting products, head to Solspring and use code ‘MNRSHIP’ for free shipping!
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