 I am a big fan of cavolo nero, or dinosaur kale, but this could be made with any leafy greens—spinach would be scrumptious; Swiss chard, succulent; and beet greens, delectable. “Bodacious,” which would continue the alliteration, is a word of which I am not terribly fond, and so, “delectable” are the beet greens. This is a multistep recipe, so if you wanted to get a jump on the prep work, you could certainly make the walnut pesto and cook the greens a day ahead of time and refrigerate them until you’re ready to make the béchamel sauce and assemble the lasagne.
Walnut Pesto
½ cup (2 ounces) walnuts
½ cup packed parsley leaves
¼ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Kale
2 bunches cavolo nero (also called dinosaur kale)
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Béchamel Sauce
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
7 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 cups whole milk
¹/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
For Assembling
9 lasagna noodles, cooked al dente
¾ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese, divided in thirds
1. The traditional way to make pesto is with a mortar and pestle. It’s okay to exhale now. Even I don’t do this, so I will not ask it of you. A good work-around for making pesto quickly without turning it into an actual paste is to use a mini food processor or food processor, and pulse each ingredient separately until it is coarsely ground. I process the walnuts before the parsley in order to avoid ending up with liquid parsley in the processor, which would add moisture to the pesto, for we don’t want that. Once the walnuts and parsley are pulsed to a coarse texture—around the size of tiny pebbles for the walnuts—combine them with the cheese in a small bowl, add the olive oil, stirring to combine, then add salt and pepper to taste.
2. It is important that the kale be rinsed well—it is a broad leaf that grows near the dirt and as such, can pick up dirt—then dried, and finely chopped. You can chop the kale into strips if you like, but you may find yourself fighting clumps of kale while eating. Best to try for fork-manageable pieces of kale—say, 1-inch squares—in the preparation stage than at the dinner table.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or sauté pan over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook until translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the kale and sauté until all of it is softened, turning it frequently to be sure that the pieces on the bottom do not burn, 5 to 7 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. To make the béchamel sauce, create a roux by melting the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, then whisking in the flour (keep the whisk moving constantly) until they are combined. Continue to cook your roux until it is a light golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the milk slowly, whisking continuously as it is added.
5 Once the milk is added to the roux, cook over medium heat until the sauce is thick, with a consistency similar to that of pancake batter, 10 to 12 minutes; whisk it constantly and be careful that the sauce does not scald on the bottom of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the grated nutmeg, and add salt and pepper to taste.
6.Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 10 by 15-inch rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, and take out your lasagne pan or large casserole dish.
7.Now, you are ready for lasagne assembly. Spread enough béchamel sauce over the bottom of the lasagne pan to just cover it. Place 3 lasagna noodles atop the béchamel. Cover with half of the cooked kale mixture. Top the kale mixture with one-third of the remaining béchamel sauce, then sprinkle with ¼ cup of Pecorino Romano. Repeat for the second layer, and then top with the last 3 lasagna noodles.
8.Mix the walnut pesto with the remaining béchamel sauce, and spread the mixture over the top layer of noodles. Sprinkle the last ¼ cup of Pecorino Romano over the assembled lasagne. Place the pan on your foil-lined baking sheet, and bake until the lasagne is browned on top and the sauce is bubbling on the sides, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the lasagne from the oven and allow it to cool for 10 minutes before cutting into this gooey kale masterpiece. Serve it forth, and remind yourself that even though you are ingesting a huge amount of butter, milk, and cheese, there has to be some benefit from the leafy greens.
Copyright 2010, Amy McCoy/Poor Girl Gourmet. All Rights Reserved.
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