Recipe: Cheesy baked kale, cauliflower and potato pasta

There is no denying that when the purple cauliflowers come into Rhubarb I get a little bit excited. Mother Nature outdoes herself on this noble-looking, anti-oxidant-injected vegetable.
So when our home-chef blogger Gabby dished up the purple cauli and and it's trusty, vitamin-packed side-kick kale as part of her Northern Italian take on Mac'n' Cheese, I was beside myself. Comfort food transformed and elevated to the next, jam-packed, nutritious level.
Check it out and while you are there don't miss the other dishes that accompanied it at our budget-friendly, Winter 2024 Rhubarb feast - French Onion Soup, Winter salad of fennel, blood orange and radicchio and Apple Streusel Cake.

Thanks Gabby, over to you.

"This delicious recipe is a veggie-packed play on an old Antonio Carluccio favourite, which is essentially a hearty northern Italian version of Mac and Cheese. BUT with a twist: this pasta bake is studded with tender cauliflower (just heavenly this winter), potato (we used Nicola) and bright Tuscan kale.
The pasta is traditionally an Italian spelt pasta called ‘pizzocheri’ (a type of spelt fettucine), but we used organic l’Abruzzese spelt penne, which you can buy in-store at Rhubarb Rhubarb, where you’ll find many pasta options.

- Gabby xx"

Feel free to substitute whatever pasta you prefer or have on hand: macaroni, penne, fusilli…. If all you have is ‘long’ pasta eg. fettucine, spaghetti, linguine, use them up! Just break them up before you cook them to make them ‘short’ and easier to mix through the other ingredients. 
Stir in some delicious organic Mungalli ricotta, Blue Bay sour cream, grated Bambarah Organics cheddar over the top and you’ll have a dish of cheesy, bubbly goodness hitting the table in no time. 

CHEESY BAKED KALE, CAULIFLOWER AND POTATO PASTA

Makes: 4 large, 6 smaller serves. Or 4 hungry, 6 less hungry folks.

Preparation time: 20 mins 
Cooking time: 20-30 mins

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Ingredients (for the soup):

• 1 whole cauliflower, cut into florets (cut up the stem too)
• 1 bunch Tuscan or regular kale, washed, leaves removed from the tough stalks (save for stock) or rainbow chard, silverbeet or spinach. Shred the leaves.
• 200g potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
• 300 g dried pasta (we used organic l’Abruzzese spelt penne)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and slices
• 1 tub fresh ricotta (we used Mungalli organic)
• 1 cup grated tasty cheese (we used Barambah)
• 300 ml sour cream (we used Blue Bay)
• ½ cup parmesan
• Handful of chopped fresh parsley and dill
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil to dress.

 Method:

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees Celsius (200 C if fan forced).
2. Cook your pasta as per packet directions. Drain and set aside.
3. In a large saucepan, place the cauliflower, kale and potatoes. Cover with water and season with salt. Cook until tender (about 10-15 minutes.) Drain and set aside. 
4. Next, melt the butter in a small pan and fry the garlic until foaming and just fragrant, but not brown.
5. Put the pasta and vegetables into a large, buttered oven proof dish. Mix with the cubes of cheese and sour cream whilst still warm. Pour over the foaming butter and garlic. Mix well. 
6. Sprinkle over the parmesan and fresh herbs, and drizzle with oil.
7. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes until cheese has melted and dish is heated through.