One Pot Kale Pasta

So here's something I made up. Not that I haven't had a tonne of inspiration from Pinterest or every other food blog, but I can put my name on this one. Last night I had absolutely no idea what to have for dinner. I was craving vegetables. Something warming and filling that wouldn't take an age to prepare or cook.
Now I know Kale has featured before on this blog but I can still honestly say I love the stuff in all of its leafy glory, and I always have some in the fridge just in case. With that in mind I wanted to know what to do with it that I hadn't done before and how to fit it around the other ingredients in my fridge and cupboard. The end result was something rather splendid and I can't wait to share it with you all. A hearty bowl of kale, pasta and peppers in a tasty broth; nourishing, clean food that's good for the soul.

Now I used a cheeky ingredient in this and you can TOTALLY leave it out. For Christmas, Ben gave me a haul of foodie treats, and included an Italian import of butter infused with truffles. I didn't know if I'd like it but I thought I would add it to the dish to see how it goes and it was a wonderful addition to the overall flavour. I put a little in a saucepan with some olive oil to ensure it didn't burn and cooked down the slices of red onion until they had sweated into pink, gooey ribbons. The butter added some depth to the dish, but it is completely optional and you don't have to use any butter at all.

If you are not sure what to do on a cold wintery night, and have had enough of the usual slow-cooked stew, this is a great alternative.

Ingredients (Serves 2):

• 100g of Kale (Washed. I used green and red)
• Half a red pepper, diced
• Half a red onion, sliced
• 1 Spring onion, sliced
• 2 large cloves of garlic, crushed/chopped
• 1 and a half mugs of pasta (any short shape of your choice)
• 3 mugs of vegetable stock
• Dash of olive oil
• tsp of truffle infused butter (optional)
• Finely grated cheese (cheddar or parmesan)
• Herbs and Spices: Pinch of salt, black pepper, chilli flakes and nutmeg

Method:

1. In a pan, sweat the red onions down on a medium heat for 5 - 6 minutes. 
2. Add the spring onion, peppers and crushed garlic to the pan and cook for a further 5 minutes. 
3. Whack in the herbs and spices to the pan and cook them out for a minute.
4. Stir-fry the Kale until it wilts down. Add a splash of stock to create some steam to help with this process. 
5. Once the Kale has wilted (after about 3 minutes), add the stock to the pan, followed by the pasta. Turn the heat up a notch and put a lid on it. Give the pasta and veg a stir once in a while to make sure that the cooking is even. 
6. After about 10 minutes, the pasta should have cooked to the perfect al-dente consistency and the broth should have taken on the flavours from the veg and seasoning. 
7. Serve the pasta, veg and broth into bowls and sprinkle on a little (OR A LOT) of grated cheese. 
8. Eat immediately. Don't hang about. Just do it. 

BON APETITE.