A Family That Eats Together: Whole Wheat Penne with Kale Pesto

Marin Mommies presents this week's guest recipe from Nicole Cibellis, Marin mom and author of the blog A Family that Eats Together, where she shares meal plans and recipes that will please foodies and children alike. Nicole is also the creator of the new Little Froglet line of children's activewear. Here's Nicole's meal plan for this week.

My son has been averse to kale so in my attempt to convince him of how good it is, I introduced it as a pesto. After one bowl, he was asking for seconds. The saltiness of the parmesan cheese with the toasted almonds and caramelized onions makes this leafy green nutty and sweet in this savory pesto.

Servings: 6–8
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 pound whole wheat penne pasta
• 5 cups chopped kale
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese + extra for garnish
• ¼ cup sliced almonds + extra for garnish
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt
• freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Boil a stockpot full of water and add 4 tablespoons of salt.
2. While you are waiting for the water to boil, add nuts to a large dry sauté pan and toast over low heat. Be careful to not burn them. Add them to a food processor.
3. In the same pan, add 2 tablespoons of oil. Sauté the onions and garlic over medium-low heat until they are caramelized. Approximately 10 minutes. Remove and add to the food processor.
4. When the water is at a full boil, add the kale and cook for 5 minutes. Drain the kale, leaving the water in the pot. Add the kale to the food processor. Bring the water back to a full boil and cook the pasta per the package instructions.
5. Puree the kale, nuts, onion, garlic and cheese until they are well mixed. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. While the food processor is on puree, slowing add the oil until the pesto is firm but not running with oil. You may have to adjust the amount of oil used to accomplish this.
6. Mix the pesto with the pasta in a large bowl. Garnish with extra almonds and cheese.