My farm stand has been selling a smaller more delicate variety of kale that I love to use because I don’t have to strip the leaves off the stems–I can simply chop across the stems crosswise and use virtually the entire stalk.

I simply slice the kale, boil it in heavily salted water, drain and set aside.  After I remove the kale, in the same water, I boil the sausage (tonight, it’s chicken sausage), then let set aside.

The brilliant thing about this dish is that the cooking liquid from the kale and sausage makes such a beautiful, flavorful broth, I’m actually able to save it to use in other dishes.  It has a mild chicken flavor from the sausage, but if you choose to omit the sausage, the kale cooking liquid makes a great vegetable broth in itself.  You could never do this with spinach or swiss chard, which both leave their cooking liquid with a strong acrid iron-y taste.

While the pasta is boiling, I brown the sausage (very lightly), then add some sliced shallot and kale and saute until the pasta is cooked. I toss in the pasta, along with some cooking liquid and raw olive oil. I serve this dish with plenty of grated pecorino romano cheese and black pepper.

Pasta with Sausage and Baby Kale

serves 4

1 lb rigatoni or other short, fat pasta

1 bunch young kale (stems should be no more than about a quarter-inch in diameter)

1 lb chicken sausage (optional)

2 shallots, peeled and sliced thinly

1/4 c extra-virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

grated pecorino romano for sprinkling at the table

Wash and slice kale crosswise into 1″ lengths and drop into well-salted boiling water.  Cook for about 7 – 10 minutes.  Drain and set aside.

In the same water, boil the sausage for approximately 10 minutes and set aside to partially cool.

Cut sausage into 1″ lengths and set aside.

While pasta is boiling, place sausage, shallots and oil in broad skillet. Place on low heat and lightly brown sausage for about 5 minutes.

Add kale and continue sauteing until pasta is cooked.

Toss in pasta, along with about a cup of pasta cooking liquid, and a tablespoon more extra-virgin olive oil.  Taste and add salt and pepper, if necessary.

Serve with plenty of grated pecorino romano and additional black pepper.