I made pasta with french lentils, kale and artichoke hearts

I just made this last night, and it was so good I had it again tonight for dinner and decided to post about it immediately. The secret is actually caramelizing, not just sauteing the onions, which means cooking them very slowly on very low heat, and that takes some patience. But it brings out the delicious sweetness of the lentils, and you can use that time to de-stem the kale and chop the artichoke hearts and boom--dinner is ready.

The recipe is below. The artichokes were my addition--it adds some nice contrast to the sweetness in the dish. I also tossed the whole batch with some Romano cheese, which has a similar effect...

Pasta with Lentils and Kale and 'Chokes!


Ingredients

• 1/2 cup French (small) green lentils
• 2 cups water
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped (2 cups)
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 3/4 pound kale (preferably Tuscan; sometimes labeled "lacinato")
• 3/4 pound dried short pasta (I used whole wheat fusili.)
• 1 can artichoke hearts, quartered--if you're doing it my way.

Simmer lentils in water (2 cups) (I used broth--in which case salt isn't necessary) with 1/4 teaspoon salt in a 1- to 1 1/2-quart saucepan, uncovered, adding more water if necessary to keep lentils barely covered, until tender but not falling apart, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and season with salt.

While lentils simmer, heat 1/4 cup oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté onion with pepper and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, stirring, 1 minute. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and golden (stir more frequently toward end of cooking), about 20 minutes. Remove lid and increase heat to moderate, then cook, stirring frequently, until onion is golden brown, 5 to 10 minutes more.

While onion cooks, cut out and discard stems and center ribs from kale. Cook kale in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water , uncovered, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer kale with tongs to a colander to drain, pressing lightly. Keep pot of water at a boil, covered.

Coarsely chop kale and add to onion along with lentils (including lentil-cooking liquid), then simmer, stirring, 1 minute. (Add the 'chokes here too!) Season with salt and pepper.

Add pasta to kale-cooking liquid and boil, uncovered, until al dente. Reserve about 1 cup pasta-cooking liquid, then drain pasta in a colander. Add pasta to lentil mixture along with about 1/3 cup of pasta-cooking liquid (or enough to keep pasta moist) and cook over high heat, tossing, 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons oil.

I made wild mushroom pizza with caramelized onions, fontina and rosemary

Yo. This pizza was the bomb.

We followed the recipe pretty exactly, except we used way less butter and made one big pizza with our store-bought whole wheat crust instead of a few little ones with homemade dough. (This kind of messed up the proportions, and our pizza was PILED WITH SHROOMS. But you can never have too many shrooms, in my humble opin.) Also discovered that fontina cheese is so freaking good on pizza! Gotta do that more often.

Wild Mushroom Pizza with Carmalized Onions, Fontina and Rosemary

Ingredients

• 7 tablespoons butter, divided (You don't really need this much. Used a spoonful of Earth Balance combined with olive oil for the onions and the mushrooms.)
  
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon grapeseed oil (Skipped this.)
  
• 3 onions, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced crosswise (about 6 cups)
• 2 pounds assorted wild mushrooms (such as crimini, oyster, chanterelle, and stemmed shiitake), cut into bite-size pieces
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons minced shallot (about 1 medium)
• 2 cups dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary

Pizza Dough (If you are less lazy than me)

Cornmeal (for dusting)

Garlic oil

3 cups grated Fontina cheese (about 10 ounces)

Preparation

Melt 3 tablespoons butter with 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until golden, about 45 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter with 1 teaspoon grapeseed oil in another heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, garlic, and shallot. Sauté 4 minutes. Add wine and simmer until almost all liquid is absorbed, stirring frequently, about 13 minutes. Add rosemary; season with salt and pepper.

Position rack in bottom third of oven. Place heavy 17x11-inch baking sheet on rack (invert if rimmed). Preheat oven to 500°F at least 30 minutes before baking. Roll out 2 dough disks on lightly floured surface to 8-inch rounds, allowing dough to rest a few minutes if it springs back. Sprinkle another baking sheet (invert if rimmed) with cornmeal. Transfer 1 dough round to second baking sheet. Lightly brush dough with garlic oil. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese. Scatter 2 1/2 tablespoons onions over cheese. Scatter 1/2 cup mushrooms over onions. Sprinkle with salt.

Position baking sheet with pizza at far edge of 1 side of hot baking sheet. Tilt sheet and pull back slowly, allowing pizza to slide onto hot sheet. Repeat with second dough disk, garlic oil, cheese, onions, mushrooms, and salt, and slide second pizza onto second half of hot baking sheet. Bake pizzas 6 minutes. Rotate pizzas half a turn. Bake until crust is deep brown, about 6 minutes longer. Using large spatula, carefully transfer pizzas to cutting board. Let rest 1 minute. Slice into wedges and serve. Repeat with remaining ingredients.