This is the one for the depths of winter, when you want something that feels like it's actually doing you good. A whole pot of cavolo nero and spinach gets blitzed into a silky, vivid green sauce, and it all happens in one pot in about 15 minutes. It's vegan as written, though a spoonful of ricotta or a snowfall of parmesan at the end never hurt anyone. Simple, nourishing and seriously green.
Serves: 4 Time: About 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 400g Monty & Sons Short Rigatoni
- 250g cavolo nero
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic, peeled
- 200g spinach
- 100ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1 unwaxed lemon
- Salt
- Ricotta, parmesan or pecorino, to serve (optional)
Method
- Cook the greens. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and salt it well, generously enough that it tastes seasoned. Drop in the cavolo nero and the whole garlic cloves and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the spinach, which only needs a moment to wilt, keeping the water at the boil.
- Drain and cool. Lift the greens and garlic out into a colander, keeping the pot of water on the heat. Run the greens under the cold tap to lock in that bright green colour, then leave to drain.
- Cook the pasta. Drop the rigatoni into the same pot of greens water and cook until just al dente.
- Blitz the sauce. While the pasta cooks, put the drained greens and garlic into a high-speed blender. Pour in the olive oil, grate in the zest of the lemon and blitz to a very smooth puree, adding a splash of the pasta cooking water if it needs loosening. Taste and adjust the salt.
- Bring it together. Before draining the pasta, scoop out a full mug of the starchy cooking water. Tip the drained rigatoni back into the hot pot and add several big, generous dollops of the green sauce. Add a good splash of the reserved pasta water and mix hard, beating it around the pot until the sauce turns glossy and coats every piece in a deep green blanket.
- Serve. Straight into warm bowls with a squeeze of lemon juice, a spoonful of ricotta or a grating of parmesan or pecorino if you like, and a final drizzle of olive oil.
Notes
- The bronze-die surface of our Short Rigatoni is made for a sauce like this. All those ridges and that rough texture hold onto the puree so every bite is properly coated.
- The sauce is brilliant beyond pasta too. Try it stirred through white beans on toast, dolloped into a risotto at the end, or loosened with a little more oil as a salad dressing.
- No cavolo nero? Curly kale works fine, just strip out the tougher stalks first.
