Wholewheat fettuccine with kale, caramelised onions and marinated goat’s cheese

There is a goat and sheep dairy farm in Victoria, Australia, called Meredith Dairy that makes the most amazing marinated cheese. It’s like a soft goat’s cheese but richer from the sheep’s milk, and it can transform pasta like no other cheese. In this recipe, I use my own Marinated Goat’s Cheese, inspired by Meredith Dairy, with great results. If you have neither of these cheeses, it also works well with a good soft goat’s cheese. I owe credit for this recipe to Melinda Dimitriades, a talented Australian food purveyor and chef, who arrived at my sister’s tiny New York City apartment many years ago with a tub of the famous cheese. She made us a pasta dish that we all swooned over. We have been making variations of it ever since, and this one with kale has become a cold-weather favourite.

Credit: At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen

• serves

  4-6

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 medium to large red onions, thinly sliced
• sea salt
• 340 g (12 oz) wholewheat fettuccine
• 700 g (1 lb 9 oz/10 cups) sliced lacinato kale (cavolo nero) (from about 1½ bunches)
• 225 g (8 oz) marinated goat’s cheese (see below; oil marinade reserved), at room temperature
• freshly ground black pepper

Marinated goat's cheese

• 1 x 225 g fresh goat’s cheese log, sliced into 1.2 cm rounds
• 120 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 8 thyme sprigs
• ½ tsp whole peppercorns
• 3 garlic cloves, halved lengthways
• 4 bay leaves

Instructions

To make the marinated goat's cheese, lay the goat’s cheese in a single layer on the bottom of a dry, wide-mouth 280 to 350 g jar. Pour in enough olive oil to cover cheese. Add a couple sprigs of thyme, a few peppercorns, 2 pieces garlic and a bay leaf. Continue layering the remaining cheese, oil and seasonings until you have used up all ingredients. Lightly press the last layer of cheese down to make sure it’s completely submerged in oil. Seal jar and place in the fridge to marinate for one week before using. Cheese will keep for at least two months. Bring to room temperature before serving. 

To make the pasta, warm the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and add onions. Sauté for 10 minutes or until beginning to brown. Add 1 teaspoon of salt, lower heat slightly and continue cooking for 15 to 20 minutes more or until onions are soft and caramelised. Meanwhile, bring a large pan of water to the boil and add a large pinch of salt. When onions are caramelised, add fettuccine to boiling water and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, or following the packet instructions, until al dente. Drain pasta and return to pan.

While pasta cooks, stir kale into onions, cover frying pan and cook for 6 to 8 minutes or until tender, stirring once or twice. Add onion and kale mixture, three quarters (175 g/6 oz) of the marinated goat’s cheese and lots of black pepper to pasta; toss well. Drizzle in a tablespoon or more of oil marinade from the cheese and season to taste. Divide among bowls and top with a crumble of remaining goat’s cheese; serve immediately.

Note

•The cheese will spoil if it isn’t covered at all times. If you remove a few pieces, make sure the remaining cheese is covered, adding more oil as needed, before closing the lid. 

• The oil from the marinated goat's cheese is luscious drizzled over toast or pasta, with or without the cheese, or you can use it in salad dressings. Keep any leftover oil in the fridge ready to use.

• I love using fettuccine and other ribbon-like pastas for this dish, but penne and other types of wholegrain pastas work well, too.

Recipe and image from At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen: Celebrating the Art of Eating Well by Amy Chaplin (Quarto Books, $39.99, hbk).

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.