Fennel, Kale and Tomato Pasta

This rustic pasta combines simple fresh ingredients for a complex but light Italian dinner!

The key ingredients are whole wheat pasta, crispy (optional) spicy Italian sausage, fennel seeds, fresh tomatoes, purple potatoes, kale, shallots, garlic, and red wine.

The fun part about this pasta, if you have time to do it, is to pan fry the thin sliced purple potatoes to make them into a crispy, salty, garnish!

Ingredients:

4 servings whole wheat pasta

3 cups worth of halved Roma tomatoes

Italian spicy sausage

4 tbs olive oil (divided)

1.5 cups shredded kale

1 shallot, chopped into strips

1/4 cup thin sliced purple potatoes

1/2 cup red wine

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1tsp lemon juice (optional)

2 tbs butter

4 tbs olive oil (divided)

1 tbs fennel seeds

Salt & pepper

Parmesan for garnish (optional)

The key to a great pasta is to use the right type of pasta. I recommend whole wheat noodles for this recipe, however, not all whole wheat noodles are made the same. If you make your own noodles, you’ll be golden, if not, it might take you a few turns to find the type of whole wheat noodles that make this dish sing to you.

Boil noodles in 6 cups of salted and oiled water until al dente or to your liking. About 2-3 minutes before the cooking process is complete, add the kale to the boiling pasta water. Drain both when finished and drizzle with a bit of olive oil and mix. Reserve about 1/2 cup of pasta water, which later you will add to the sauce.

For the sausage…

Heat a pan to medium/high heat. I like my sausage to have a crispy texture, so that it stays crispy and not mooshy once incorporated into the pasta. Cooking the sausage over a higher heat will ensure it stays nice and crispy even after it’s tossed with the pasta. Once sausage is golden and browned, remove and drain off grease by placing on a paper towel.

If you’re a meat eater, adding this sausage is a real highlight to this dish. I love the way to tastes along with the kale and fennel!

The potatoes…

These purple potatoes make a beautiful addition with their color to the medley of colors playing in this pasta. Thinly slice the potatoes. Heat a pan (I reuse the pan I cooked the sausage in and just reserve the oil in the pan so that it can be reused with the potatoes) to high heat. Drop in about 2 tbs olive oil. Spread out the sliced potatoes so that each one (for the most part) is laying flat, and not grouped on top of each other. Fry the potatoes slices on medium/high heat. These crunchy potato crisps add an amazing garnish to the top of the pasta. They’re like a pleasant, unexpected flavor and texture treat in this pasta!

Once the potatoes begin to brown just a bit on the edges, remove them and place on a paper towel to drain. While they are drying and draining, sprinkle a pinch of salt on top.

(You can choose to just add the potatoes to cook with the other ingredients, but this will wilt them, and take away the delicious surprising crunch and flavor they would add otherwise.)

For the sauce…

Heat a large pan over medium/high heat. Add the remaining olive oil when hot, and shallots. Cook shallots until just transparent, about 3 minutes. Add butter, tomatoes, fennel seeds, and red wine, and lemon juice, in that order. Saute the tomatoes until juices begin to release, about 5-7 minutes. Add about 1/4 cup of remaining pasta water and stir. If sauce looks too thick, keep adding pasta water until desired consistency is reached. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add tomato sauce to pasta and kale and stir. The sauce will thicken as it mixes with the pasta. Lastly, add the sausage and garnish with the fried potatoes and Parmesan.