Hidden Kale Pasta

Kale, otherwise known as nature’s super food, is one of the most nutritious (and delicious) greens you can eat. It rates a perfect score of 1,000 on Whole Foods Andi Score for nutrient dense foods. Not only is it a good source of dietary fiber, protein and iron, it’s also a great source of vitamin k, vitamin c, potassium and calcium. Vegan diets could greatly benefit from the consumption of dark leafy greens such as kale, collards, mustard greens and broccoli in order to take in an adequate amount of calcium since they don’t eat dairy products.

So what’s the problem you might ask? It’s green! I am very lucky in the sense that little E will eat most foods, especially fruits and vegetables but a lot of kids cry and scream at the sight of a green vegetable in front of them. What’s my solution? Make it into pasta! Kids love pasta, and may even welcome the fun colors on their plate! Here’s my recipe for homemade Kale pasta:

Makes one pound of pasta:

1 cup of whole wheat flour

¾ cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup ground flax seed or wheat germ

3 eggs

2 cups of lightly packed kale, stems removed and roughly chopped

Bring a small amount of water to a boil in a medium sized pot. Throw in the kale and cook until wilted. Drain the kale, rinse under cold water, place kale in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze all the excess liquid out. Place the kale and 3 eggs into the blender and pulse until incorporated. (There will still be tiny pieces of kale, it won’t be completely smooth) Add in the flours and flax seed and pulse until the pasta turns into a ball. If it feels sticky add a little more flour until your dough ball is smooth, but don’t over pulse!

Flatten out the dough and run through your pasta maker at the thickest setting a few times until smooth. Then gradually adjust the setting, thinner and thinner until you reach your desired thickness. Finally, cut the pasta into whichever shape you like. (I did pappardelle, but feel free to do spaghetti, angel hair or linguini. Or even more fun, keep the pasta in sheets, fill with a mixture of ricotta, egg, nutmeg, salt, pepper and parmesan and make tortellini or ravioli!)

Your fresh pasta, will cook in boiling salted water in about 3-4 minutes depending on how thick you cut your pasta. I served mine with a sauce of olive oil, oregano, red pepper flake, garlic, fresh diced tomato and basil. Enjoy!

You can also substitute the kale for spinach or Swiss chard.