Creamy Tuscan Kale Campanelle With Lemony Panko Bread Crumbs
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Creamy Tuscan Kale Campanelle is made with your favorite super food, kale, and mixed into a creamy pasta. It’s so creamy and delicious with ALL the flavors and sure to be your new go-to pasta dish for weeknights!
If you’re reading this on the day it was posted, it’s National Pasta Day! The perfect excuse to make yourself a big bowl of pasta to eat on the couch while you Netflix n’ chill.
If you’re from the future, well, let me just assure you, you don’t need an excuse to eat this delicious Tuscan Kale Campanelle! You have my permission to eat it any time and any day you want. Go crazy, have a bowl of pasta for breakfast!
This pasta is meant to serve 4 but Shane and I devoured the entire thing ourselves. IT’S THAT GOOD.
Wait…it gets better…most of the ingredients for this recipe are pantry staples, so you probably won’t need to purchase a ton of ingredients at the store for this one!
Tuscan kale pasta ingredients
This tuscan kale pasta is full of all kinds of warming fall goodness! It has a base of an herby cream sauce with fresh aromatic basil. Sun dried tomatoes add a briny pop, kale makes it fresh and green, and the lemony panko breadcrumbs brighten it up.
This pasta recipe is a great way to incorporate kale into your diet, especially for kids who might not like the earthy taste of kale. It’s totally hidden in this deliciously creamy pasta!
I used a fancy pasta shape called campanelle because I just love the way the curly noodles hold the sauce. However, if you can’t find it, you can use any short cut pasta that you like. Cavatappi is great too.
Serve it with some freshly grated parmesan cheese and an extra sprinkle of lemony panko breadcrumbs for good measure.
Remember when I first shared those lemony panko breadcrumbs in the Tomato Ricotta Pesto Pasta With Balsamic Burst Cherry Tomatoes? They’re so good I think they need their own post.
You can put them on just about anything. Add them to macaroni and cheese and BOOM, you have instantly elevated your favorite childhood dish. Mind. Blown.
Ingredient notes:
- When shopping for ingredients for this recipe, look for the sun dried tomatoes that are marinating in oil. I find these to be juicier and not quite as intense as the tomatoes that are completely dry.
- In this recipe, I use bone broth because it has way less sodium than chicken broth and makes the sauce super creamy. If you’re looking for a vegetarian option, you can use vegetable broth instead.
How to make tuscan kale campanelle
To begin, you’ll want to boil a pot of water and cook the pasta. While the pasta is cooking, begin making the lemony panko breadcrumbs. Even though these take the shortest amount of time, I like to make them first because you don’t have to worry about them getting cold while you prep everything else.
Once you’ve toasted the breadcrumbs, you’ll begin making the cream sauce. It’s made in the same skillet as the panko breadcrumbs, so no need to worry about dirtying another pan!
It’s made in 4 easy steps:
- In the same skillet you used for the panko, add broth, red pepper flakes, dried basil, Italian seasoning, lemon zest, and garlic. Bring the mixture to a boil, stir, and reduce to low and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until the liquid has reduced to 1/3 cup.
- Remove the pan from the heat and mix in the butter until it has melted completely, then mix in the heavy cream and chopped sun dried tomatoes, simmer for 2-3 minutes, then mix in the mushrooms, and kale.
- Gently mix the pasta in with the sauce and toss until the noodles are fully coated, mix in half the fresh basil and simmer for 2-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove the pan from the heat and add the remaining fresh basil, panko, and parmesan cheese. You might need to transfer the pasta mixture to a large bowl for this step.
It looks and sounds fancy, but it’s really quite simple. Two pans, 25 minutes of cook time, and probably about 30 seconds of eat time because it’s soo good!
Pasta do’s and don’ts
There are so many myths to cooking pasta, so I want to leave you with all the facts about how to cook pasta!
Do:
- use a tall pot for long pasta to keep it from sticking
- use a short pot for short pasta
- salt the pasta water
- add spaghetti or other long pasta to the pot whole, don’t break it!
- save your pasta water
Why?
Short pots are for short pasta, and long pasta needs a lot of room to swim! The first time you season your pasta is while it’s cooking in the pasta water, so it’s very important to use salt in the pasta water. I use 2-3 tablespoons of salt for about 6 cups of water. Reserving the pasta water to mix in with the pesto will create a nice velvety and thick pesto sauce without adding tons and tons of extra oil.
Do not:
- rinse pasta
- add olive oil to the pasta at any point in time
- break long noodles before putting them in the pot
- mix the pasta and sauce in the same pot you cooked it in
Why?
Pasta should be starchy and if you rinse the pasta or add olive oil, you will lose some of that starchiness. The starch allows the sauce to adhere to the noodles. If you add oil to pasta, the sauce will slide right off.
If you liked this recipe, you might also like:
- Tomato Ricotta Pesto Pasta With Balsamic Burst Cherry Tomatoes and Lemony Panko
- One Pan Skillet Chicken With Spinach, Sun Dried Tomatoes, and Creamy Mushroom Sauce
- Caprese Pasta
Want to try this Pesto Pasta recipe?
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Creamy Tuscan Kale Campanelle With Lemony Panko Bread Crumbs
Ingredients
Pasta
- 1 box of campanelle pasta
- 1 bunch of lacinato kale, about 10 leaves
- 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes (in oil), chopped
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1.5 cups shiitake mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or avocado oil
- salt and pepper
Lemony Panko Bread Crumbs
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 lemon, juice and zest
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, more if you like heat!
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or avocado oil
Cream Sauce
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups chicken bone broth*
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 lemon, zest
Instructions
Pasta
- Cook pasta according to box instructions until just al dente (firm to the bite).
- While the pasta is cooking, heat a large skillet with 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, kale, garlic, salt and pepper, and saute for 3-4 minutes or until the mushrooms have started to brown and the kale has slightly wilted. Set aside.
Lemony Panko Bread Crumbs
- In the same skillet you used for the kale and mushrooms, add 2 tbsps of olive oil to a large skillet and heat over medium heat. Add the panko, lemon zest, and red pepper flakes, stir to coat the panko and cook for 4-5 minutes, continuing to stir occasionally, until the panko is lightly toasted. Right before removing it from the heat, add lemon juice from half the lemon, stir, and set the toasted panko aside.
Cream Sauce
- In the same skillet you used for the panko, add broth, red pepper flakes, dried basil, Italian seasoning, lemon zest, and garlic. Bring the mixture to a boil, stir, and reduce to low and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until the liquid has reduced to 1/3 cup.
- Remove the pan from the heat and mix in the butter until it has melted completely, then mix in the heavy cream and chopped sun dried tomatoes, simmer for 2-3 minutes, then mix in the mushrooms, and kale.
- Gently mix the pasta in with the sauce and toss until the noodles are fully coated, mix in half the fresh basil and simmer for 2-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove the pan from the heat and add the remaining fresh basil, panko, and parmesan cheese. You might need to transfer the pasta mixture to a large bowl for this step.
Notes
- Nutrition information is approximate and was calculated using a recipe nutrition label generator.
- Substitute the chicken bone broth for vegetable broth if you want to make this pasta vegetarian.
