A delicious meal, thanks to Anna Jones. In the first edition of The Guardian’s Saturday Feast magazine (20 January 2018), she has a recipe which was perfect for using up food in the fridge, left over from a weekend of abysmal weather..

800g kale (or cavallo nero) stripped off the stalks and torn into bite-size pieces
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Good quality olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
½ -1 tsp dried chilli flakes
400g dried pasta – rigatoni or penne are good
150g Parmesan cheese, finely grated

Put a third of the kale into a large bowl, with a little salt and two tablespoons of olive oil. Move it around and scrunch it with your fingers. Add the chilli flakes and a generous amount of black pepper. Put to one side.

Briefly fry the crushed garlic in a little olive oil until it begins to smell and have the lightest hint of colour. Take the pan off the heat, leaving the garlic in place.

Cook the pasta in a large pan of well salted water.

While the pasta is cooking, put the unseasoned kale into a food processor with the crushed garlic from the frying pan. (Do not wash the frying pan as it will be needed again.) Season well. Add half a wine glass of olive oil and blitz the contents into a bright green paste.

Return the frying pan to the heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and, when it is really hot, add the seasoned kale from the bowl. Fry it,stirring, until it is crisp and crunchy.

When the pasta is cooked, hold back a mugful of the cooking water. Drain the pasta, return it to the pan and add the kale sauce and half the Parmesan. Gradually add enough of the reserved cooking liquid to form a sauce and stir around until all the pasta is coated.

Serve hot with the fried kale scattered on top and the remaining Parmesan sprinkled over.

Lightly roasted pine nuts would work well in the pesto and some small roasted tomatoes could be added before serving.