Kale Rigatoni Pasta (inspired by Manteca)
(that you've probably never tried)
Welcome to sub snack’s hard launch.
Every week I’ll be sharing some food-related favourites and moving swiftlyyy on to a recipe. LFG:
Snack of the week:
Pickled garlic. Sometimes stuffed into an olive, sometimes solo by the fistful.
Cookbook of the week:
The Italian Pantry by Theo Randall - as seen in our latest Cookbook Club ✨
Kitchen piece of the week:
My brand new chrome SMEG kettle which I am obsessed with. You can set the temp yourself AND it maintains that temp for 20 mins.
Moving onto the good stuff…
Kale Rigatoni (inspired by Manteca)
I think about the kale rigatoni from London’s Manteca restaurant A LOT. Seeing as I live on the opposite side of the city, I had to learn to make it myself.
After some failed investigative journalism, I set out recipe testing. Despite failing multiple times (it was giving store bought pesto, gasp) - I feel like I have I have almostttt perfected THE kale rigatoni.
Don’t let the fact that this is green turn you off it, this ain’t no healthy shit. This is a rich, addictive pasta that you’ll want a second mound of. It’s really hard to put into words just how good this is but it’s so simple and so easy that you’re just gonna have to try it for yourselves.
Serves two.
Ingredients:
200g kale (I used a mix of curly and cavolo nero)
200g rigatoni
1 large garlic clove, crushed
60g EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
40g cold, salted butter
1/2 a lemon
Parm or pecorino
Chilli flakes
How to:
Pop two pots of well-salted water on to boil. One for kale, one for pasta.
Strip the kale from its stalks & give it a good wash - you’ll only need the leaves.
Add all of your olive oil to a small pan and add the crushed garlic cloves. Heat on low for about 5 minutes (until garlic is soft) - then remove the garlic (save it & use for something else) and set the olive aside to cool.
Blanch your kale for 2-3 mins in one pot of the salted boiling water, remove & put in ice water.
Once your oil and kale are cool, blend together with a pinch of salt until very, very, very smooth. You want a smooth paste-like consistency, vibrant green, no very visible bits (check out my TikTok for what it should look like).
Cook the pasta until al dente.
Meanwhile, add half of your butter to a large pan and add your kale sauce - heat on low and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add your al dente pasta, the rest of your cold butter, some pasta water, and the juice of your half lemon. If you want it extra lemon-y, go off.
Mix really well and plate it topped with a drizzle of EVOO, some flaky sea salt, a scrunch of black pepper, your grated cheese of choice, and a nice pinch of chilli flakes.
Bon appetit, enjoy, LMK if you try it, ok, bye.
HUGE thank you to my wonderful writer friend Michelle for her creative genius and help naming this newsletter. I owe you a huge bowl of green pasta <3
Yummmm
Oh my goodness I need to try this asap!!