Pasta with Kale-Almond Pesto and Salmon

A delicious pasta dish made with kale pesto sauce and served with salmon to make a great weeknight dinner.

t’s been a while since I shared a quick weeknight dinner recipe in this space. Weeknights haven’t changed, neither has there been a dearth of exploring new recipes or ingredients. But weeknights are all about quick cooking and quick eating. Tired feet, hungry stomachs, the evening chill and no natural light. There is little or no room for photography. And food that looks delicious and tastes better, deserves to be photographed and shared.

Having said that, there is always excitement around dinner. With little prep and planning, the stress is taken away from cooking a meal from scratch and a warm nutritious dinner is ready to be savoured without the guilt of consuming loads of calories.

Jars of homemade pesto have come to my rescue for years of cooking simple delicious meals. How convenient is it when dinner is a matter of opening a jar and stirring through its contents through a pot of freshly cooked pasta. To spruce up the dish are flakes of pan fried salmon, a generous shaving of parmesan and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. And that is all. Does that mean it lacks in flavour? By no means. The flavours are packed inside the jar of homemade pesto.

I’ve tried numerous variations of herbs in pesto. In fact, I feel there are no hard and fast rules when making pesto at home. The only factor that remains unchanged for me is the presence of herbs, nuts and olive oil. I add a mix of herbs from my garden as I go. Its all about building flavours and of course nutrition. Kale is great in a pesto. It turns to a coarse paste which coats the pasta really well. If you do not like heat, leave out the chillies in the pesto.

I am not a fan of rich sauces in my pasta so this recipe is great for a simple stir-through. Salmon can be replaced with any protein of your choice. I like the flavour of fresh pan fried salmon. You can skip this step and use canned salmon flakes instead. It would certainly make the recipe simpler and quicker. For a vegetarian version replace salmon with roasted pumpkin or sweet potato.

Pasta with Kale-Almond Pesto and Salmon
Serves 4

1 tbsp. olive oil
2 fillets of salmon, skin and bones removed
salt and pepper, for seasoning
375 g spaghetti (or pasta of your choice)
1 cup kale-almond pesto
Shaved Parmesan, to serve
Freshly cracked pepper, to serve
Extra Virgin olive oil to serve

Kale-Almond Pesto
1/3 cup almonds
1 long red chilli
3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
150 g kale leaves, stems removed and blanched
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley leaves
2 tbsp. oregano leaves
1 tbsp. lemon juice
salt and cracked pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup grated parmesan

Combine salmon, salt and pepper in a bowl. Heat the olive oil a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook salmon for 3-4 minutes on each side till cooked on the sides and still pink in the centre.or until cooked to your liking. Remove from heat and cool slightly. With  a fork divide into flakes.

Cook pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain, reserving 60ml (1/4 cup) cooking liquid. Return pasta to pan.

Add the pesto and reserved cooking liquid to pasta and toss to combine. Add the salmon and stir through. Divide among bowls, top with shaved parmesan and cracked pepper. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.

To make the pesto: Place the almonds, chilli and garlic on a small baking tray and drizzle with oil. Roast for 8-10 minutes or almonds are golden brown.
Squeeze the garlic from their skins and deseed the chilli.
Place the almonds, chilli and garlic in a food processor with kale, parsley, oregano, lemon juice, salt, pepper and olive oil. Process to a coarse paste. Stir through the grated parmesan. Store in the refrigerator till needed.