Inspired by the VEG cookbook and my friend ZsuZsa I decided to make a quick pasta with whatever I could harvest in our garden. I ended up making this vegetarian pasta dish. We both loved it. The leek, kale and asparagus worked perfectly together. The young tops from my homegrown thyme and marjoram added a strong forest-y aroma. And the mi-sec chèvre frais really topped off the taste. A delicious, healthy and easy spring dinner that you should try out yourself.

orecchiette kale chevre frais1

What do you need (2p):

– two small hands of pasta (I used an orecchiette pasta)
– two big hands full of kale (in my case homegrown purple kale)
– one big leek
– 4 green asparagus
– few small bites of fresh goat cheese (I used a mi-sec chèvre frais)
– full table spoon of thyme (I only used the young tops)
– full table spoon of marjoram (I only used the fresh growth on top)
– 1 tbsp butter
– salt & pepper to taste

What to do:

Start boiling the water with some salt for the pasta. Clean the vegetables in the meantime. Take the kale off the chewy stalks. Wash the leek and take the root part off and some of the green (the part that is old) and cut it into smaller pieces. Shave the asparagus length wise. Place the butter in another pan and warm it up to melt.
Add the pasta to the boiling water and boil them as long as they need to be boiled. In the meantime start grilling the vegetables. First add the leek on top of the butter and let it caramelise lightly. It will not take long to reach that state. Now add the kale and as you do that, add a few table spoons of water to revert the process from grilling to steaming. Now also add the asparagus and all the washed herbs. Stir it for several minutes.
As soon as your pasta is ready, you can strain the pasta and add it to the vegetables. Quicly stir fry everything and add some salt and pepper to taste. Place it on a plate and add some small chunks of the goat cheese on top.

Enjoy!

orecchiette kale chevre frais3