Pasta With Kale Pesto and Roasted Butternut Squash
- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:2 to 3 servings
- 1½pounds butternut squash
- ½cup extra virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
- Âľteaspoon kosher salt, more for squash
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1small bunch (about ½ pound) lacinato kale, center ribs removed
- 8ounces pasta (penne rigate works well)
- â…“cup toasted pine nuts
- 2large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- Freshly squeezed lemon juice, to taste
- Grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Use a vegetable peeler to peel squash, then halve it lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Dice squash flesh into 1-inch pieces, place on a baking sheet, and toss with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Spread pieces into an even layer, making sure there is space between them. Roast, stirring squash pieces once or twice, until golden brown and tender, about 30 minutes.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; have ready a bowl of ice water. Drop kale into boiling water and cook for 45 seconds. Use tongs or slotted spoon to transfer kale to ice water. Bring water in pot back to a boil, adding more if necessary so there is enough to cook pasta.
- Step 3
Drain kale well, then wrap tightly in a dry kitchen towel and squeeze thoroughly to remove any excess moisture. Roughly chop leaves. When water in pot comes back to a boil, cook pasta according to package directions.
- Step 4
In a food processor, pulse together kale, nuts, garlic, salt and lemon zest until mixture is smooth and salt has dissolved. With motor running, slowly drizzle in the oil until fully incorporated. Taste and add more salt dissolved in a little lemon juice, if necessary.
- Step 5
Drain pasta, reserving a little cooking water. Toss pasta with kale pesto and some pasta cooking water if necessary to help it coat pasta. Add cheese, lemon juice and salt to taste. Serve topped with squash and more cheese.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Carol
Time saving/work saving tip: place the kale in the colander you will use for the pasta, and boil 3-4 cups of water in electric (or not electric) kettle, then pour over the kale; remove quickly to towel. Toast the nuts in the pasta pot before adding the pasta water, all while the squash roasts in the oven (on a parchment-lined baking sheet). Easy cleanup and less juggling. I've used the pour-over method for many recipes to just wilt greens and it is just fine.
Amos
NYT, you literally just told us not to cook with pine nuts: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/19/opinion/making-pesto-hold-the-pine-nut...
nlee
Just made with walnuts. Flavor is an excellent fit with the recipe.
SM
Finding that some of the pine nuts we get here are not only expensive but (Chinese import?) have a bad long-term effect on the taste buds. I've been substituting walnuts in basil pesto. Is there any reason that wouldn't be equally good in kale pesto?
ruthblue
The flavor is perfect in this dish, but I would recommend making the pesto ahead of time. Given that the squash takes only 30 minutes or so to cook, by the time the pesto is made and the water comes back to a boil and the pasta is cooked, the squash has gotten cold. First make the pesto, then bake the squash while waiting for the water to return to a boil. Or, easier still, make the pesto ahead of time.
Jnel
This is the very best way to have kale and butternut squash! It is a family favorite. I like to add lightly sautéed red-onion and red bell pepper for added flavor and color. This is such a wonderful dish! Enjoy!
Jane
I have fixed this twice now and love the combination of flavors and colors. I have used fresh lacinato kale and curly leaf kale for the pesto and they each work well. I feel the recipe is not clear in directions on the amount of oil to use for roasting the squash and then the amount to use for making the pesto. I used 1/2 cup of oil for each part of the recipe, but now think that less (maybe 1/4 cup) should be used for the squash. Next time I will add a pinch of red pepper.
KW
Agree with Joan, steer clear of chinese pine nuts. If others are n/a, then - try pistachios. Or roasted sunflower seeds. Or roasted pumpkin seeds -- actually, you could roast the seeds of the butternut squash and use them!
Caroline
Totally delicious. I would say the pesto needs 1/4 cup of oil at most. Definitely makes enough pesto for 16 ounces of pasta. Might cook butternut squash a touch longer next time, but I was in a hurry. only a 1/2 tsp of salt necessary.
SonomaSMB
When I make traditional basil pesto, I use pine nuts.
But my favorite pestos are spinach with walnuts and arugula with pumpkin seeds.
Pumpkin seeds are perfect with the kale and squash in this pasta. Give it a try!
Mary
I, too, avoid Chinese pine nuts. They're infamous for leaving a residual 'metal taste' for days if not weeks.
If you have a Trader Joe's nearby, they're a reliable source of non-Chinese pine nuts (many groceries do not identify, or even know, the source of their pine nuts).
Bridget
My boyfriend and I loved this! Next time will double pesto as it's rather a lot of effort (blanching kale, zesting lemon, dragging out and then cleaning food processor, etc) so worth making more as long as you're at it! We had a slight quibble with 'easy' rating - no advanced cooking techniques but it's a lot of prep, steps, and clean up. Not something I'd whip up on a weekday after work, but a real delight and totally worth it if you've got a bit of time!
Carol
I put the kale into a colander and poured boiling water over it: much easier and neater, and little risk of overcooking.
Lisa
This is really delicious and comforting. I did not blanch the kale, but instead used 2 cups of packed baby kale, 1/2 cup of basil leaves plus 1/3 cup of grated parmesan for the pesto, which turned out great.
JimM
Mar16. With sweet potato instead of squash. Added a small amount of basil to the pesto. Lemon peel added a nice flavor to the pesto.
Not so easy or quick. I guess the "one-pot" meal was meant to mean the pasta cooks in the kale water. But there's also clean up for: roasting pan, processor and toasting pan.
Diane
This was a great recipe. I used sweet potatoes instead of squash as that is what I had. The 2 cloves garlic I used were very large. Lemon made this sing.
c.mere
So delicious! I added some basil to the pesto and it worked well, more subtle than a traditional pesto. Next time I would make double the pesto for a very saucy dish; it was a bit scant and I didn’t add all the pasta that was cooked. And next time try 1/2 pasta 1/2 cauliflower. We added toasted pepitas on top and the texture was a great addition.
Kathy
This was a fail for us (and I was so looking forward to it!). The kale pesto completely overpowered the beautiful butternut squash. Those who said this makes enough pesto for a pound of pasta are correct - and the recipe should make that clear. I would also back off on the garlic if I made this again, but I don't think I will repeat this.
Elaine From Maine
Made as directed. All I did was double the garlic, and followed another commenters advice by pouring boiling water over the kale to wilt it, instead of immersing it in the pasta pot of boiling water. Whole family LOVED it. A caveat: it's "easy", but time consuming.
Kimmie
This was good! I didn't have butternut, so I used acorn squash, and I didn't have kale so I used broccoli leaves from our garden. This was not only better than expected, but delicious. Definitely adding to the rotation.
Dace
Made this today, it was delicious! Added some cooked chicken to increase the protein, and a little bit of grated Parmesan to the pesto. Will definitely be making this one again!
Jim K
Great recipe, directions about oil not clear. Use just enough oil to coat squash and half cup for making pesto. Add some red pepper flakes to pesto as well.
Christina
I made the pesto a head of time and use walnuts, otherwise I followed the recipe as written. The pesto was really tasty. I used about 1/2 cup of the pasta water to loosen the pesto up when I added the pasta. Overall a tasty, healthy dish, but it wasn’t amazing. Definitely don’t forget the lemon juice.
Katherine
Really delicious and fast for the complexity (confession, I had pre-cut squash on hand from my local farm) - made as directed except with whole wheat penne and half pecans half pine nuts because it’s what I had.
DSK
I followed the recipe to the letter, substituting walnuts for pine nuts because I am allergic to pine nuts. I don’t get it. This was not good. It was very bitter and pungent, overly sharp. The only thing I can think of is if my 2 cloves of garlic were too large, as they were really quite big. My large clove or garlic might be three times the size of your large clove of garlic. Consider updating the recipe with garlic in grams.
Sheryl Reich
Huzzah! This was a great quick pre-theater meal. I made it exactly as written, though I used a little pasta water to thin out the pesto a little. The combination of tastes is just right.
Elizabeth R
I added diced zucchini to the roasting butternut squash, and some garbanzos. Yummy!
Made 11/1
I just made this with toasted pecans because that’s the only nut I had in the house — delicious!
Maureen
Love all the pesto ideas from this crop of cooks! I wanted to share a second dairy-free option to replace parmesan; almond meal + salt adds creamy texture. When making pesto, I also macerate a garlic clove with salt in my mortar/pestle to gentle the flavor before tossing it in.
Sandi Cochran
I have made kale pesto for years. I make it using pecans. It is fabulous.
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