Nina:
I love adding an extra course into what can be regular weekday dinners, and this quick to complete appetiser gives me just that. A quick boil of kale...
With the winter quickly approaching, optimizing the seasonal ingredients at hand is something worth thinking about now. Although the preparation for this recipe is seemingly too easy, the flavor pay-off is anything but simplistic.
With sensorial depth from freshly-pressed extra virgin olive oil and spicy zest from garlic, there's nothing that this appetizer doesn't bring to your taste buds. A true classic on all trattoria tables throughout the country, bring a little bit of Italy into your home with this quick-to-prep antipasto recipe. Pair it with a white bean (Cannellini bean) soup, and you and your loved ones will instantly be transported back to that quaint osteria in the Tuscan countryside.
Try it with...
Filippo Bartolotta
for 4 servings
Step
1
Of 3
Clean kale by removing leaves from internal stalk, and reserve stalks of smallest, most tender leaves. Place in large bowl filled with cold fresh water, drain in colander. Repeat this washing process until water runs clear and kale is sufficiently cleaned.
Fill larger soup pot halfway with water, and boil. As soon as bubbles come to surface, add salt to taste. Add kale and cook 10 minutes, approximately. Sometimes larger leaves will require longer cooking times, so be sure to taste leaves during cooking process. Once all leaves reach consistency desired (soft, but not over boiled), drain kale, or leave to cook another 2/3 minutes.
Drain cooked kale, and allow to drip off excess liquid for a few minutes.
Step
2
Of 3
While kale is cooking, use round biscuit cutter to cut 4 round shapes out of bread slices.
Heat a grill pan and grill well on both sides of bread. This passage can also be completed in broiler in oven if you don't have grill pan. Both options work well.
Peel garlic clove and leave whole. Set aside for use in following step.
Step
3
Of 3
On plate, place biscuit cutter in center. On the piece of toasted bread, rub both sides with peeled garlic clove. Place the bread shape back into the biscuit cutter (located on the plate), dress with salt and olive oil, and place a bunch of kale on top, just enough to reach slightly over the top of the biscuit cutter.
Dress generously with olive oil, salt and black pepper. Serve promptly.
Try it with...
Filippo Bartolotta
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View productLove is always the common denominator at the base of the philosophy of Francesco Illy, who with this wine reminds us that 'Love is Madness' (Amore e Follia) and, as such, always produces something magical.
View productMouth-filling and velvet, Rocca delle Macìe's historic Supertuscan
View productNina Sunday 1st of November 2020
Quick and impressive
I love adding an extra course into what can be regular weekday dinners, and this quick to complete appetiser gives me just that. A quick boil of kale, a rub of garlic and a toasting of bread and it comes together perfectly. An excellent antipasto to even greater dinners.