Orecchiette With Tomato Sauce and Kale Recipe (2024)

One of my favorite homemade pasta sauces ever. I don't know why it turns out so much better than the others, but it does. I always add 2-3 cans of diced tomatoes though; otherwise it barely colors the pasta.

Dumping the pasta water over the uncooked kale--when you drain the pasta-- is enough to cook it.

Notes from Italy - the recipe this is loosely based on (orecchiette con cime di rape) is not generally swimming in tomato sauce. Try the recipe as is once before adding more tomatoes. Secondly, we usually add the greens (already chopped) into the pasta for the last few minutes - saves time, saves cleanup!

My family and I loved this recipe! An excellent warm and hearty pasta dish for a cold night. Definitely agree with the previous commenters about doubling the suggested amount of tomatoes for the sauce, though. For us, 2 cans (28oz) was exactly right.

I got lazy and just added the kale to the sauce. I also included a hot pepper and onion cause I had it. I used frozen stewed tomatoes from the summer. This was simple and delicious.

I keep bags of washed stripped kale in the freezer so when I want to add it to a sauce, soup, etc. I just crush the bag and dump it in. You don't have to wash the kale first so it's incredibly convenient and easy

Easy weeknight vegetarian dinner. I followed the suggestion to go with 28 oz of tomatoes (thank you!) and served with a light kale salad to double down on the greens.

I put a colander full of kale in the pot of boiling water and blanched it, lifted out the colander and put kale in bowl of ice water. Did it in two batches. Very easy.

If simply dumping pasta water over the uncooked kale works for you, then I am guessing that you are using baby kale.

Loved this. I did take others' recommendation and used a 28 ounce can of tomatoes.

Delicious! Must be the garlic and red pepper flakes. I had tender kale from the garden to add. Will definitely repeat this for company.

Very simple and straightforward, and the sauce is light and fresh, with the kale adding a nice bite - family loved it. I submerged the kale in a colander into the boiling water -- made it very easy to transfer to the cold water. Agree that absolutely need two cans (28oz) of tomatoes -- maybe even more, as even with two cans the coverage was scant.

Really? One 14oz can of tomato? Its not very saucy with so little. I added more and the ratio of sauce to pasta seemed right.

Amazing weeknight pasta. Once the kale is added to the tomato sauce, everything comes together beautifully!

I chose to throw the chopped kale into the pasta water 2 min before pasta was done rather than pre-blanch and it seemed to work fine. Added a little lemon zest for brightness against the earthy kale. Responding to the multiple "more tomato!" comments: this recipe doesn't make an American style tomato sauce, it's really a kale sauce with tomato accents and it's lovely.

Delicious. Agree with using 2 cans of tomatoes; I also added a little extra parm. Family friendly!

Needed to add a small can of tomato juice otherwise it would have very little sauce for both the kale and pasta. Will use a larger can of tomatoes next time.

Perfectly nice and very easy. Agree use more tomato than called for. Crowd pleaser, but not a wow.

8/6/2023. Just. Meh. Used 2 cans Kirkland organic diced tomatoes, fresh basil, Dino kale, good parm. Not a lot of flavor.

Very nice. Served as a side to salmon. Used a homemade marinara sauce to which I added more onions and garlic. The tomato was minimal; basically a binder.

New favorite way to disguise kale

Love this recipe. I double everything else for this amount of pasta for 3, we like a higher ratio of sauce and kale to pasta.

I made ahead, using the base recipe as a guide. I used last summer's tomatoes (blanche/crushed) straight from the freezer. Added 3T of tomato paste, 2T red wine, and a half cup of roasted mushroom mix (https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017259-roasted-mushroom-base). I did not blanch the kale, just tossed it in during the last few minutes of cooking. As noted elsewhere, not super 'saucy'--more like a topping over a bed of whole wheat spaghetti.

The recipe says to take the sauce off the heat and just add the kale when it is blanched and chopped. I found it necessary to simmer the kale with the sauce rather than just stir it in to let he flavours merge I also combine the sauce and the pasta gradually to the proportion I like in a separate bowl, rather than adding the sauce to the entire pot of pasta. I used whole wheat pasta.

Sometimes in winter, you just need something tomato-y, with plenty of green stuff. Using a 28 oz can of tomatoes, and four cloves of garlic, with the proscribed 12 oz of pasta, this comes out juicy, and the kale pleasantly just a little chewy. I added some feta when I reheated the leftovers. It would probably be good on the first round, but the Parmesan worked fine.

Yup. 24 ox can tomatoes. Double garlic.

Great inspiration! I added cherry tomatoes in addition to the small can of tomatoes and had fresh spinach on hand so subbed that for the kale. Seasoned to taste and enjoyed, will make again.

Loved this recipe, but we cheated by adding sliced, cooked mild Italian sausage. A big hit.