Braised Lacinato Kale with Tomato and Anchovy Soffritto Recipe
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There are several other terms for this dark kale, with cavolo nero, black cabbage, Tuscan kale, and dinosaur kale among them. More important than its name is its role in Campania’s culinary history. While Americans tend to treat this kale as a novelty, similar greens, boiled and seasoned with anchovy, have been eaten in and around Naples since the Middle Ages, predating pasta and pizza as classic Campanian dishes.
The key to braising the greens in this book is to blanch them long enough. If the kale is blanched adequately, you won’t have to cook it for very long with the soffritto. If you have undercooked the kale in the blanching process, simply ladle in water and continue to cook the kale with the soffritto until the leaves are tender. If lacinato kale is unavailable, regular kale or chard is a fine substitute. The soffritto, which will keep in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for 2 weeks, is also delicious with green beans.
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
- 4 salt-packed anchovies, rinsed, filleted, and soaked
- 1/2 cup tomato paste
- 2/3 cup water
- 2 pounds lacinato kale (about 3 bunches)
- Kosher salt
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- To make the soffritto, in a large sauté pan, warm the olive oil over medium-low heat. Stir in the onion and anchovies and sweat, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes, or until the onion has softened. Stir in the tomato paste and fry, stirring frequently, for about 7 minutes, or until the paste turns from bright red to a deep rust. You need to cook the tomato paste this long to develop the rich, full flavor of the soffritto.
- Deglaze the pan with the water, dislodging any browned bits from the pan bottom. Adjust the heat to low and simmer, partially covered, stirring every 10 minutes, for about 30 minutes, or until the mixture develops a pastelike texture. If the mixture starts to brown too quickly, stir in a splash of water and continue to simmer.
- Pass the soffritto through the medium or fine disk of a food mill into a bowl and set aside. Alternatively, smash the soffritto against the sides of the pan with the back of a wooden spoon. You should have about 3/4 cup. Set aside.
- Using kitchen shears or a sharp paring knife, remove the center ribs from the kale leaves. Cut the ribs crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide pieces and set aside. Stack 3 to 5 leaves, roll them up lengthwise, and cut crosswise to create 1-inch-wide ribbons. Repeat with the remaining leaves. Rinse the leaf pieces and rib pieces separately in several changes of water until the water is clear.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the rib pieces and blanch for about 12 minutes, or until tender. Using a wire skimmer, transfer them to a large, towel-lined baking sheet to drain. Working in batches, add the leaves to the boiling water and blanch each batch for about 8 minutes, or until tender, then transfer to the baking sheet.
- Give the pot a quick rinse and return it to the stove. Add the olive oil and warm over medium heat. Stir in the soffritto and cook for about 1 minute, or until it is sizzling. Stir in the kale, add about 1/2 cup water, adjust the heat to low, and simmer the kale for about 5 minutes, or until it is very tender and has absorbed the flavor from the soffritto. If the kale is too dry, add a splash of water and continue braising. Taste for seasoning and add salt if needed.
- Transfer the kale to a warmed serving bowl and serve immediately.
This recipe, while from a trusted source, may not have been tested by the CHOW food
team.
Reprinted with permission from A16: Food + Wine by Nate Appleman and Shelley Lindgren, copyright © 2008. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House. Photo credit: Ed Anderson © 2008
I'd love to try this with some kale I got from my CSA last night. It's a flat-leaved kale, doesn't look like the pictures of Lacinato kale at all, but I'm unsure what variety it is. Should I bother with this recipe, if other kales taste so different from Lacinato? I think I've only ever had curly kale, which I like. Opinions?
"Actually, Lacinto or (dinasaur as my CSA calls it) Kale tastes and looks quite different from the curly kale."
Indeed! I do not really like curly kale, but, I love cavolo nero/black kale/lacinto kale/dinosaur kale/whatever your local store calls it. It is less bitter, more richly flavoured with that green vegetable flavour, and you can serve it much less fully/over-cooked because you don't have...+READ
"Actually, Lacinto or (dinasaur as my CSA calls it) Kale tastes and looks quite different from the curly kale."
Indeed! I do not really like curly kale, but, I love cavolo nero/black kale/lacinto kale/dinosaur kale/whatever your local store calls it. It is less bitter, more richly flavoured with that green vegetable flavour, and you can serve it much less fully/over-cooked because you don't have to defeat the unappealing curly texture of curly kale.-COLLAPSE
1/2 a cup of tomato paste sounds like a lot. Can I use fresh tomato or even plum tomatoes that I roasted when I had an abundance and are now in the freezer?
Alright, perhaps I should eat my words here. I'll have to hunt some down and give it a whirl myself.
Actually, Lacinto or (dinasaur as my CSA calls it) Kale tastes and looks quite different from the curly kale. First and foremost, its not curly. Second, its much darket, almost black. To borrow the analogy you used, just like iceburg lettuce, mesclun and romaine while all "lettuce", look, taste and feel quite different.
FWIW, I am in the Providence area which also has large Portugese and...+READ
Actually, Lacinto or (dinasaur as my CSA calls it) Kale tastes and looks quite different from the curly kale. First and foremost, its not curly. Second, its much darket, almost black. To borrow the analogy you used, just like iceburg lettuce, mesclun and romaine while all "lettuce", look, taste and feel quite different.
FWIW, I am in the Providence area which also has large Portugese and Brazilian populations many markets carry Lacinto Kale because we also lots and lots of Italians.-COLLAPSE
I should add that Massachusetts has a huge Portuguese and Brazilian population, two ethnic groups that are probably the biggest consumers of kale, period, and never once have I seen kale sold by a varietal name.
Do you buy your swiss chard, romaine lettuce, and spinach by varietal name as well? Probably, heck in Cali. at some fru fru market they probably have varietal iceberg lettuce. Hope you...+READ
I should add that Massachusetts has a huge Portuguese and Brazilian population, two ethnic groups that are probably the biggest consumers of kale, period, and never once have I seen kale sold by a varietal name.
Do you buy your swiss chard, romaine lettuce, and spinach by varietal name as well? Probably, heck in Cali. at some fru fru market they probably have varietal iceberg lettuce. Hope you are paying $12/lb for your Lacinato kale.-COLLAPSE
And I am sure cooked they all taste identical. Heck, cooked Kale and collards taste the same.
Here in MA it's just plain kale.
StriperGuy... Not be be rude, but that is simply not true.
Taken from about.com:
Kale is usually classified by leaf form and texture
* Scotch types have very curled and wrinkled leaves
* Siberian (or Russian) types are almost flat with finely divided edges
* Heirloom ‘Lacinato’ is in a class of its own.
* Blue-green color is associated with greater cold tolerance
* Japanese kale is...+READ
StriperGuy... Not be be rude, but that is simply not true.
Taken from about.com:
Kale is usually classified by leaf form and texture
* Scotch types have very curled and wrinkled leaves
* Siberian (or Russian) types are almost flat with finely divided edges
* Heirloom ‘Lacinato’ is in a class of its own.
* Blue-green color is associated with greater cold tolerance
* Japanese kale is primarily used for decorative or ornamental purposes.
Besides leaf form and texture, kale comes in a rainbow of colors from pale yellow, to steel blue, through purplish red and finally to almost black.
* SCOTCH KALE
‘Dwarf Blue Curled Scotch’ (squat plant, good for container culture; curly blue leaves; good in salads when young, or cooked when mature; very cold hardy; 55 days)
‘Redbor’ (a red ‘Winterbor’ with deepest red-purple leaves; color enhances with cold; gorgeous in a flower bed or as an edging; sweet flavor; 28 days baby, 55 days mature)
‘Winterbor’ (2’ to 3’ tall; extremely hardy; very productive; blue-green; 28 days for baby kale; 60 days mature)
* SIBERIAN KALE
o ‘Red Russian’ (blue-gray, flat, deeply cut leaves; veins and stems are blue-green in warm weather, turning red with cold; one of most tender kales; delicious raw in salads; add seeds to lettuces to make your own mesclun mix; 25 days baby, 50 days mature)
o ‘Blue-Curled Vates’ (great flavor, can be used like lettuce; best cold weather kale; medium green; 60 days)
o ‘White Russian’ (mild and sweet; excellent for cool weather salads; mulched it is hardy to 5ºF; 58 days)
* HEIRLOOM KALE
o ‘Lacinato’ (an Italian heirloom also known as ‘Nero di Tosca’, ‘Tuscan Black’ or ‘Dinosaur’; 12” to 24” long, 3” wide, slightly crinkled, deep blue-gray leaves; excellent cooked; heat and cold tolerant; 30 days baby, 65 days mature)
Of course, they may may not "exist" where you live--but at the Farmers Markets here in California, several of the above varieties are readily available to choose from each week.-COLLAPSE
Kale is kale. I've never hear anyone use the term Lacinato ever. Lacinato is yet another fru fru disused name that you dug up to make a garden variety (har) item sound sophisticated. It's kale for god's sake, yummy, delicious, healthy, essentially curly collard green, kale.
Now you will have some hopeless fashion foodie torturing green grocers everywhere trying to hunt down the elusive Lacinato...+READ
Kale is kale. I've never hear anyone use the term Lacinato ever. Lacinato is yet another fru fru disused name that you dug up to make a garden variety (har) item sound sophisticated. It's kale for god's sake, yummy, delicious, healthy, essentially curly collard green, kale.
Now you will have some hopeless fashion foodie torturing green grocers everywhere trying to hunt down the elusive Lacinato Kale.-COLLAPSE