Gordon Ramsay’s green pasta coats fusilli in a smooth kale sauce with garlic, lemon zest and Parmesan. Hand-crushed almonds and peppery rocket go on top. Ready in 15 minutes.
The recipe is in Ramsay in 10 under the name Super Green Pasta with Rocket, Almonds and Lemon. He calls it an easy way to boost your intake of cruciferous greens, and he opened his whole YouTube series with this dish. The video does several things the book skips.
The technique is in the draining. Keep the pasta wet when it leaves the pot, then bring everything to the boil together. The starch clinging to the fusilli thickens the kale into something creamy without any cream.
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Gordon Ramsay Green Pasta
Course: DinnerCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy4
servings5
minutes10
minutes635
kcal15 min
Fusilli in a smooth kale and garlic sauce, printed in Ramsay in 10 as Super Green Pasta with Rocket, Almonds and Lemon. The dish that opened his YouTube series.
Ingredients
4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
3 garlic cloves
2 anchovy fillets (optional, leave out if cooking vegetarian)
250g (3½ cups) chopped kale
500g (1 lb 2 oz) fresh pasta (any type)
60g (¼ cup) roasted almonds
1 lemon
6 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese or vegetarian equivalent
2 large handfuls of rocket
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- Boil the water: Fill the kettle and bring to the boil. Pour into a large saucepan, season with salt and return to the boil.
- Start the garlic: Place another large saucepan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Peel and finely slice the garlic, add to the oil and cook for 2 minutes until lightly coloured. Add the anchovies, if using, and break them down with a wooden spoon.
- Steam the kale: Add the kale with a spoonful of the boiling water. Cover with a lid and steam for 3 minutes.
- Cook the pasta: Put the pasta into the boiling water and stir to separate. Cook for 2 minutes, or as the packet says.
- Prep the finish: Roughly chop the almonds and zest the lemon.
- Blitz the sauce: Take the kale off the heat. Blitz until smooth with a hand blender.
- Toss: Drain the pasta, not too thoroughly, the water clinging to the fusilli feeds the sauce. Add it to the kale with the lemon zest, half the Parmesan, salt and pepper. Toss together.
- Serve: Divide between four bowls. Finish with the rocket, almonds, remaining Parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil.
Notes
- The book suggests adding broccoli or spinach for extra nutrition, and wholewheat pasta if you have more time. For vegan, drop the anchovies and the Parmesan.
FAQs
What does Ramsay do differently in the YouTube video?
A lot. He blends the kale in a NutriBullet instead of using a hand blender in the pan, and he pours the kale’s steaming juice straight into the blend. He adds chilli flakes with the garlic, skips the anchovies, and toasts a few almonds in the pan with the kale.
The almonds get crushed through his hands, not chopped. Rougher pieces, better crunch.
Why kale instead of spinach?
Ramsay answers this in the video. Spinach vanishes into nothing when it hits heat. Kale keeps its rugged texture through cooking, so the sauce ends up with body instead of slime.
The book adds the nutrition angle, kale and rocket are both cruciferous greens. Spinach can still join them as an extra, just not as the base.
Do the anchovies matter?
The book lists two fillets as optional, melted into the garlic oil at the start. They season the whole sauce from below, nobody tastes fish. Leave them out and add a pinch more salt.
If the salty fish is actually your favourite part, his sardine pasta makes it the whole dish, tinned fish, chilli and rocket stirred through the same way.
Why should you not over-drain the pasta?
Ramsay’s instruction in the video: don’t over-drain it. The starchy water clinging to the fusilli loosens the kale into a sauce that coats instead of sitting in clumps. Then everything comes back to the boil together, and it turns glossy.
His aglio e olio runs on the same rule, starchy pasta water emulsifying oil and garlic into a sauce from almost nothing.
Can I use dried pasta instead of fresh?
Yes. The book’s 500g fresh pasta cooks in 2 minutes, which is what keeps the dish inside 10. Dried fusilli takes 10 to 12. Start it before the garlic. Everything still lands together.
In the video Ramsay says fusilli, penne or spaghetti all work. The twists just hold more sauce.
What do you serve green pasta with?
A tomato salad, straight from the book, something sharp and red against all that green. Half the rocket can go into the hot pasta and half on top, dressed with salt, olive oil and lemon juice. Ramsay plates it that way in the video.
From the same book, his green shakshuka pulls the same green trick at breakfast, eggs instead of pasta.
