I came up with this recipe while out at Vicki’s Veggies on Labour Day weekend for the annual Heirloom Hurrah. Every year on the last long weekend of the summer, people flock from all over Ontario to sample the goods at this annual tasting of the tomatoes. It started many years ago when Vicki realized that she had too many tomatoes left at the end of the season, so decided to invite people out to taste all of the great varieties that she grows.

Imagine being able to taste almost 200 varieties of tomatoes at one time? Amazing! This has turned into quite the extravaganza, with many vendors selling local products, and this year with the addition of a pizza oven that her partner Tim picked up. I as on pizza duty, and hat a great time it was! Even made some breakfast pizzas for the crew on Sunday morning. We were also selling Vicki’s famous bread salad, which was a big hit. What an amazing weekend, spent in one of my favourite places.

We went for a swim at Little Bluff on Saturday night, which is about a 10 minute drive from the farm. A gorgeous rock beach, with nary a soul to be seen. Clear and warm waters of Lake Ontario, friends, swimming, and maybe a few beers were consumed, before we all realized that we were starving and that the sun was going down. Tim and I are great to play off one another when planning meals, so I came up with this great idea for a quick meal. Kale “carbonara”. I put it in quotes, as a traditional carbonara is made with egg and cheese as the binder for the sauce, but here is the cheat of this classic, using butter and cream.

Kale Carbonara

Use your judgment on amounts, this isn’t the kind of thing that you need to measure, it will be tasty regardless of the amounts.  

Bacon

Kale

Garlic

Sweet peppers

Hot pepper

Cream

Butter

S&P to taste

Nutmeg (optional) – I didn’t use this, but think it will work.

Pasta (optional)

• Chop the bacon, and render it until crispy on medium high heat.
• While the bacon is cooking, blanch the kale for a few minutes. Drain and set aside.
• When the bacon is ready, remove and set aside.
• Add chopped garlic, and a few sweet and hot peppers to the bacon fat, sauté until soft.
• Add the kale, and cook for a couple of minutes.
• Add a good sized knob of butter, about half a stick to a stick depending on how much kale you are cooking. Then add the cream, and stir until you have a thick consistency.
• Season, and serve immediately.
• If you want to make this a meal, you can add some cooked pasta to make it more hearty, or serve as a side.