Kale

Pasta with Yogurt and Spicy Creamed Kale

by:
September  2, 2016
4.8
4 Ratings
Pasta with Yogurt and Spicy Creamed Kale
Photo by James Ransom
  • Serves 4 to 6
Author Notes

This recipe is an amalgamation of two Genius Recipes: Diane Kochilas’ Pasta with Yogurt and Caramelized Onion and Trent Pierce’s Miso-Creamed Kale—leaving out some of each recipe’s ingredients so the two come together in one harmonious pasta dish that’s genius all on its own. We made this version with Tillamook Plain and Simple Greek Yogurt. —Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 large shallot, thinly sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 1 bunch lacinato (also called Tuscan) kale, stems removed, roughly chopped (about 4 to 6 cups packed)
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 cup dry vermouth
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 pound tagliatelle or other fresh pasta
  • 2 cups Greek yogurt
  • 1 cup coarsely grated kefalotyri or pecorino Romano
Directions
  1. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil, making sure to salt the water enough that you can taste it.
  2. Meanwhile, place 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. When melted, add the shallot and garlic. Cook over low heat without letting the garlic and shallots color, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the kale and continue to cook for a few more minutes until wilted. If it won't all fit in the pan, just add what's left after it's cooked down a bit.
  3. Once the kale is wilted and soft, increase the heat to medium high, add the vermouth and cook until it’s just evaporated, about 1 minute. Add the cream, stirring until completely incorporated. Reduce heat to medium and cook about 2 more minutes until the sauce reduces slightly and tightens up the around the kale. Add the red pepper flakes and season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.
  4. Add the pasta and cook until soft, not al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water. Combine the yogurt with 1/4 cup cooking water and mix well. Add more of the reserved pasta water as needed to get the sauce to your thickness. Drain the pasta and toss with the yogurt mixture.
  5. Serve the pasta immediately, with a generous amount of cheese and topped with the creamed spicy greens.
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4 Reviews

Hannahc
Hannahc November 30, 2020
Delicious, but I’ll make a few tweaks if I do it again:
- less yogurt- way too much sauce on the pasta
- double the kale - the mixture was delicious, but there wasn’t enough of it
- stir some of the cheese in with the yogurt mixture
- top with toasted nuts- I added some untoasted pine nuts after trying it, but next time I would try a stronger flavored nut like a toasted walnut. Would also add a little more texture.

 
Ashley R.
Ashley R. January 17, 2020
This was delicious! Made it for dinner last night. The only change I made was using a shorter noodle with lots of crevices to catch the sauce.
 
EL
EL September 27, 2016
The recipe as written above does not make sense. Am I cooking the pasta in a pot of boiling water (separate from the kale, onion, cream, vermouth mixture) or is it being cooked in the same pan (a la Martha Stewart)? I note that you start a large pot of water boiling at the beginning, but never add the pasta to that. Instead (in step 4) you state to add the pasta into what appears to be the kale mixture. Please clarify if possible.

Also, a common problem with cooking with yogurt is that it tends to curdle. How are you preventing that?
 
Noreen F.
Noreen F. September 23, 2016
Last spring I did a version of pasta primavera with yogurt and lightly roasted asparagus, spring onions, peas and baby carrots.