Kale Italian style

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 bag of kale, ready to cook, approx. 1 kg
• salt water
• 3 tbsp rapeseed oil or olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp, heaped chili flakes or 1 red chili pepper, cut into rings
• 2 tsp salt
• some pepper
• ½ lemon(s)

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 25 minutes; Total time approx. 55 minutes

a delicious side dish to pan-fried dishes or as an antipasto

This recipe calls for bagged kale, which has already been stripped of almost all of its stems and chopped. Remove any remaining ribs/stems or tear off and wash the leaves. Very thin leaf ribs can be used. Cook the kale in a large pot of boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Rinse thoroughly in a sieve with ice-cold water and drain the water. Blanching and re-rinsing preserves the vibrant green color it had before cooking. Heat the oil in one or two large pans with higher sides. Peel the garlic and halve the cloves. Briefly fry the garlic halves in the oil, but do not let them brown so they don’t become bitter. Add the kale and braise. Season with salt, pepper, and chili flakes to your liking. Add a little water, cover, and cook the kale over medium heat for about 15 minutes. Season to taste with lemon juice and more salt if desired, and remove the garlic. Kale tastes best when briefly reheated. It goes perfectly with Italian sausages (salsiccia) or German bratwurst, as well as any kind of pan-fried meat. Kale also tastes wonderful warm or cold and makes an excellent antipasti. Note: Kale (Cavolo Nero/Ricchio) tastes similar to kale (Cime di Rapa), friarielli, and dandelion greens, and is prepared in the same way as leaf or root spinach.