Sausage + Kale Pasta with Walnut-Mint Pesto

Ingredients:

1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

1/2 cup fresh mint, roughly torn 

Zest and juice of one lemon 

Fresno chili (optional) 

1/3 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated

1/2 cup + 4 tbsp olive oil 

1 hot Italian pork sausage 

1 garlic and herb pork sausage 

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 bunch Tuscan kale, ribs removed and roughly chopped 

Dry white wine 

1 lb. dried pasta, such as Trofie or Gemelli 

Salt

Pepper

To Make:

Add walnuts, parmesan, mint, lemon zest+ juice, a generous pinch of salt, and the optional slice of chili to a blender. Start blending on a very low speed while you slowly pour in 1/2 cup of olive oil. Blend until mixture is smooth and uniform texture and color.  Set aside. In a medium pan, heat up remaining olive oil on medium-high heat. Remove sausages from their casing and add to pan.  Cook sausages while breaking them up with the back of a wooden spoon until golden brown and fully cooked, about 7-10 minutes. While the sausage is cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the kale for 1 minute. Remove from pot and transfer to a large bowl of ice water. Let sit in ice bath for 50 seconds, then transfer kale to a dish cloth to remove any access water.  Remove sausage and set aside on a paper towel lined plate. Add garlic to the same pan and cook for 1 minute. Add kale and sausage to same pan and sauté for second, then add a splash of white wine and a drizzle of olive oil. Then, turn off the heat and add 1/2 cup of pesto mixture. Stir until combined. Cook pasta in salted water for the suggested al dente cooking time and reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Add pasta to pan with kale and sausage along with a generous splash of cooking water. Turn heat on low and toss pasta around. You can add the remaining pesto mixture here if you’d like. If the pasta isn’t saucy enough, add a bit more cooking water. To Serve: plate pasta and grate a bit of parmesan cheese and lemon zest on top. Season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Garnish with torn mint.