One of my dearest friends was in town this past weekend, and we had a small girls get together with other besties from our old neighborhood. Dinner needed to be easy, but delicious. I didn’t want to slave away in the kitchen and miss all the tea! It also needed to be vegetarian because one of us doesn’t eat meat. So I figured with the tomatoes, kale, onions, cheese and garlic I had in the fridge, why not whip up a creamy pasta. It’s easy, filling and most importantly – comes together in about 20 minutes with some minor prep beforehand. Think dicing onions and roasting the garlic and tomatoes. Since my girlfriend was my sous chef this time, it went even faster. Or perhaps it just seemed faster because of the Negronis she made us while we cooked. Either way – fun was had by all, and no one got stuck in the kitchen.

This dish is pretty simple. Dice up the veggies, shred the cheese, and mix it together with the pasta noodles. No searing, grilling, charring, etc. For the meat eaters in our group, I made my Spatchcock Chicken and everything was a hit. So much so that my hubby and little sous chefs ate it for lunch the next day. They didn’t even share. Rude. Also, because of the leftover chicken I was able to make two chicken pot pies, and some quesadillas. Perfect.

Recipe

• 1 lb pasta
• 2 cartons of cherry tomatoes – blistered
• 1 whole clove of garlic – roasted
• 3 cloves of garlic – minced
• 1 cup Fontina cheese – shredded
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese – grated
• 2 cups Kale – shredded
• 2 cups veggie broth (or chicken)
• 1 cup pasta water (reserve before you drain!)
• 2 tbs flour
• 1 onion diced
• 3 tbs fresh Thyme
• 3 tbs fresh Sage
• 3 tbs fresh Rosemary
• 3 tbs fresh Basil

Start by setting a pot of heavily salted water on your stove. When you cook the pasta when the sauce is almost done, stop just this side of al dente – you want the noodles to finish cooking in the sauce. Reserve 1-2 cups of pasta water too.

Sauté the onions in some olive oil until translucent, and then add in all your garlic. Stir to combine and cook until fragrant – about 60-90 seconds. Add two tablespoons of flour and cook for two more minutes. Slowly pour in your chicken broth and stir until everything is nice and cohesive. Toss in your herbs (chop them up first!) and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Once your sauce has reduced by about 1/3, add in your blistered tomatoes and the liquid (this is gold!) that’s accumulated on the sheet pan. Then begin to slowly mix in your Fontina cheese until its nice and melty.

Begin adding your noodles to the sauce – be generous with the pasta water if they’re coming straight in hot from the water! You want to have about 1/2 – 1 cup of pasta water to create a nice rich emulsion which will turn out a super velvety, creamy sauce. Add more water if needed and then drop in your shredded Kale.

Stir to incorporate everything and taste for salt and pepper. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese across the pasta, some more herbs and get ready to dig in! Side note – if you make it with the spatchcock chicken, you can drizzle pan sauce throughout the dish for a nice umami kick!

Apologies for the lack of photographic evidence – we were having so much fun I forgot!

Bon Appetit!