Tasty Tuesdays...Orecchiette with Kale

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Welcome to Tasty Tuesdays!

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Well, after two weeks in a row of posting beef recipes, I am getting back to what I truly love - pasta!  Pasta is, hands down my favorite meal.  I would be perfectly content to eat pasta every single day.  This recipe is from the December 2010 issue of Cooking Light.  Click here for the original recipe.

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Ingredients:

- 8 ounces uncooked orecchiette pasta

- 5 kale, washed and torn into pieces { I used red kale }

- 2 slices center-cut bacon

- 1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped {I used the sun dried tomatoes I made here}

- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

- 3 large garlic cloves, chopped

- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

- 3/8 teaspoon salt

- 1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shaved

- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

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1. Cook pasta in boiling water 8 minutes or until almost tender. Add kale, and cook 2 minutes. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid.

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2. While pasta cooks, cook bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat 4 minutes or until crisp. Remove bacon from pan with a slotted spoon; crumble and set aside. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add sun-dried tomatoes, crushed red pepper, and garlic to drippings in pan; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add pasta and kale, reserved 1/2 cup cooking liquid, black pepper, and salt to pan; toss to combine. Add bacon and lemon juice.  Stir to combine.  Top with freshly grated cheese and a dash of olive oil (optional).

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Although this wasn't the best pasta dish I have ever made, I still enjoyed it.  If I make it again I will leave out the red pepper flakes or add a smaller amount - my mouth was on fire!

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Now it's you turn.  What did you cook this week?

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{ Please remember to add a link in your post back to Tasty Tuesdays or the Tasty Tuesdays button which can be found on my sidebar - thanks! }

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