Shrimp Pasta with Kale, Tomatoes and Capers
can be DF, GF, V
This recipe is adapted and recreated from a recipe I remember from years ago that I found on the internet? When Moonie was a baby? Who knows, but I don’t make it infrequently during the spring and summer months. Skip the shrimp if it’s not your thing- you can always add roasted chickpeas, grilled chicken or tofu. During the summer months I use Roma tomatoes from the garden that I chop and drain over a colander, after I have salted them, to collect the juice.
Serves 2-4
Less than 30 min
Shrimp Pasta with Kale, Tomatoes and Capers
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
olive oil
8 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced1
a few generous glugs of dry white wine or stock
salt
red pepper flakes
small handful of chopped fresh herbs of your choice, I used basil and oregano, sometimes I do dill and oregano
1 bunch kale or greens of your choice, I generally gravitate towards lacinato kale. Thick stems removed, the rest of the greens chopped
8 oz your favorite pasta
1 lb shelled and deveined shrimp, raw
1 lemon
a couple Tbsp capers
a couple Tbsp chopped Kalamata olives if you’re into them
feta
Put a colander inside a big bowl and dump the tomatoes, pressing down with your hand to get out as much liquid as possible. Reserve the liquid.
Grab your favorite large pan or dutch oven (preferred) and heat a few Tbsp olive oil, add the garlic and a few shakes of red pepper flakes if you like. Set the stovetop to medium. Keep an eye on things- as soon as the oil starts shimmering and before it’s popping, add the tomatoes (not the juice yet.)
Bump the heat up to medium and cook tomato mixture for about 10 minutes or until it starts to look like it’s drying out. Deglaze the pot with a few generous glugs of white wine or stock, scraping off any bits that have collected.
Add the tomato juice, fresh herbs, and a couple generous pinches of salt and a few grinds of pepper and let it go for another five minutes or so or until the mixture begins to thicken.
Get another pot that will fit your pasta. Salt the water well (it should taste like the sea) and cook the pasta just barely to al dente.
Reserve a cup of the pasta water, drain the pasta, set aside.
Add the kale, another couple pinches of salt, juice from half a lemon, stir it well and throw on a lid so the kale can wilt.
Taste your food. Does it need more salt before you add the pasta and shrimp which will absorb the flavors? Remember: the pasta water is salted so keep this in mind
Once the kale has wilted add the pasta and the shrimp, a few splashes of pasta water, stir well to combine and cook for another 3 minutes or so with the lid on.
Uncover, see if the shrimp are done and the pasta is al dente.
Add the zest from half the lemon and the capers.
Taste again. does it need more salt? More acidity?
Does it need to be thinned a bit with pasta water?
Let it sit with the lid off for 5 minutes, off the heat, stir well, serve with feta.
Yes, it matters how you chop, dice, slice garlic as it impacts how garlicky something is and whether or not it’s punch-you-in-the-face or velvety and more subtle, like when you thinly slice it