Garganelli With Kale

Garganelli, a specialty of Bologna, are little tubes of egg pasta rolled from squares (not pressed through a die like penne) so there is a little flap of dough that crosses over -- more ridges to grab the sauce.

I started the water boiling and then set out to find ingredients for a sauce. We had two nice bunches of Tuscan kale so I chopped those up and started them in a pan with hot olive oil, a couple of cloves of garlic and dried red peppers. I added about 1/2 cup of white wine and covered the pan to let the kale cook down. There was just the end of some dried chorizo in the fridge so I cubed that and added it to the pan. After about 8 minutes I added in a drained can of garbanzo beans and let the kale keep cooking for a couple minutes covered and then for a few minutes without the lid.

I tossed the drained pasta with parmesan cheese, the kale mixture, and a bit of the pasta cooking water before serving.

The chewy, rich egg pasta was the perfect backdrop for the bitter kale, fruity olive oil, and spicy flavorful chorizo. I rarely make egg pasta but this dish was such a hit with me we may see it more often around here.