Chickpeas and Kale in Spicy Pomodoro Sauce
Chef Missy Robbins of Brooklyn’s Lilia restaurant swaps chickpeas for pasta in her riff on spicy pomodoro. She finishes the dish with a shower of fresh herbs and salty pecorino cheese.In 2018, Food & Wine named this recipe one of our 40 best:It comes as little surprise that our pick for 2017 is a quick, simple, and eminently usable vegetable-based dish. The recipe is from Missy Robbins of Brooklyn’s award-winning Lilia restaurant, who turns classic pasta al pomodoro on its head. In her spicy, healthy, and addictive version, Robbins (who was named a Best New Chef in 2010 for her cooking at A Voce) swaps out pasta in favor of nourishing chickpeas and tangles of kale. She says, “I created this dish when I was watching my weight, and I needed the satisfaction and flavor of a good red-sauce pasta— without using pasta. It’s an amazing one-pan dish that’s packed with richness but doesn’t take a long time to make.” For additional flavor, she tops the bowl with fresh herbs and salty pecorino Romano.
