Eight ingredients, plus pantry staples. That’s all it takes to make an entire meal from scratch. Add in a good bottle of wine for less than $20, and you've got a feast for family or friends.
Even as an adult, sometimes it’s hard to get enough greens into your diet. Just as desperate parents hide blended carrots in mac and cheese or shredded zucchini in chocolate chip muffins, sometimes we have to play tricks on ourselves. Enter this luxuriously textured yet healthy kale pesto-like pasta sauce, which uses creamy cannellini beans as a protein-packed base. This could almost be nicknamed “a green juice pasta,” as it’s a similarly sneaky way to get veggies in, but instead of pineapple or apple juice as the Trojan horse, this has parmesan cheese and goes nicely with a glass of Verdicchio.
I’ll be the first to call it out: This pasta sauce is like a pesto to the extent that it incorporates parmesan, olive oil and garlic and is bright green. That’s about where the similarities end: In place of pine nuts are creamy white beans; fragrant basil is tossed out for earthy, peppery kale. Plus, I’d argue that this recipe is more verdant. Yet this combination of plant protein, cheese and leafy greens comes together into a creamy sauce that’s strikingly similar to the Genovese classic. It’s just that this kale version uses more wallet-friendly, heartier ingredients at their peak during the colder months—resulting in a big bowl of green when spring seems eons away.
Many of our “8 & $20” recipes are simple and streamlined, but this one goes beyond that: no chopping, just one pot, a blender and a baking sheet. It’s a lazy day, “healthy-ish” kind of meal. The only step that needs extra care is that you need to remove the stems from the kale; even when blanched and blended, stems turn out stringy and would ruin the sauce’s texture.
Adding more texture is an easy way to add more interest to a dish—think crispy, crunchy elements on top of creaminess. A favorite trick of mine is showering the plate with seasoned and toasted breadcrumbs, but what about upping the protein content with some crispy beans? Baked at high heat for 15 minutes until their skin is crackly, white beans make an excellent topper (and then none of the can goes to waste).
Kale is a surprisingly wine-friendly veggie, especially in the form of pasta sauce. For a classic match, we chose a Verdicchio from central Italy’s Marche region, which borders the Adriatic. Garofoli’s Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore Macrina 2022 (88, $16) is light in body, but is steadied by a base of stoniness and salinity, making it a great food-friendly white to keep in the fridge all year long.
Kale and White Bean Pasta with Crispy Beans
Pair with a light-bodied, minerally Italian white wine, like the Garofoli Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore Macrina 2022 (88 points, $16).
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes
Approximate food costs: $12
Ingredients
- 1 can of cannellini beans (or great northern beans)
- 1/3 cup, plus 1 tablespoon, olive oil
- 4 cups of densely packed kale (Tuscan, curly, etc.), stems removed
- 1 pound (16 ounces) short, tube pasta (rigatoni, paccheri, calamatra, fusilli corti, etc.)
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated (plus more to serve)
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- Salt and black pepper to taste
1. Preheat the oven to 450℉. Strain the can of white beans into a sieve and quickly rinse under cold water until all of the liquid from the can is removed. Place half of the beans on a baking sheet and spread out. Add the remaining beans into a blender or food processor and set aside. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the beans on the baking sheet, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, tossing half-way through.
2. In the meantime, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Dividing the kale into two batches, submerge it in the water. Blanch for 2 to 3 minutes, until the kale has become dark green in color but isn’t completely wilted. Using tongs, immediately transfer kale to the blender or food processor with the remaining beans and repeat with the second batch of kale.
3. Add the dried pasta to the water in which the kale was just blanched. Cook to al dente, according to package instructions. Meanwhile, add the 1/3 cup olive oil, parmesan cheese, garlic, lemon juice and zest, plus black pepper to taste, to the food processor or blender. When the pasta is about halfway done, remove 1/3 cup of the salted pasta water and add to the kale mixture. Blend until smooth, adding more pasta water if necessary. Once done, taste and add salt, if desired. Note: Typically at this point, the beans are ready to be taken out of the oven.
4. Once the pasta is cooked, drain completely and return to the pot. Add the kale and white bean sauce to the pasta and stir to coat. Plate the pasta, scattering the crispy beans on top and finishing with parmesan cheese. Serves 4.
