If you love the combination of kale, lemon and caper, my vegan Linguine with Kale & Lemon Caper Sauce will definitely hit the spot! This refreshing pasta has the brininess and tanginess of capers and citrusy and refreshing note from lemon. Not to mention, it's got lots of greens from kale!
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time40 minutesmins
Total Time50 minutesmins
Course: Main
Cuisine: Italian Inspired
Servings: 2people
Author: Plant-Based Matters
Ingredients
Kale & Lemon Caper Sauce
1tbspextra virgin olive oil
3garlic clovesminced (about 1 1/2 tbsp)
4ozyellow onionthinly sliced (about 1 cup)
4ozgreen kale leaveschopped or teared
1/2tspsea salt
1/4tspblack pepper
1cupwater
1/2-3/4cuppasta cooking water
3tbspcapersdrained
2 1/2tbspnutritional yeast
2tbspfreshly squeezed lemon juicezest the lemon first then get the lemon juice
First, start making kale & lemon caper sauce. Heat up a frying pan at medium high heat. Pour extra virgin olive oil and add garlic. Cook for 1-2 minute until aromatic and golden brown. Then add yellow onion and cook for 3-4 minutes until softened.
Next, add kale and season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook for 1-2 minutes. Then add water (1 cup / 240 ml) and reduce the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes or so until kale leaves are tender. Once kale leaves are tender, reduce the heat to medium low and continue to simmer until step 4.
While kale is cooking, start boiling water for cooking linguine. When the water is boiling, salt the water and start cooking linguine for 7 minutes (or follow the instruction on the package.) Reserve some pasta cooking water (at least 1/2-3/4 cup / 120-180 ml.)
2 minutes before the linguine is done, add capers, nutritional yeast, lemon juice and 1/2 cup / 120 ml pasta cooking water to the sauce (save the remaining 1/4 cup / 60 ml for later in case you need it.) Give a quick stir.
Add the cooked linguine to the sauce. Toss lightly. If the pasta is dry, add the remaining pasta cooking water.
Serve with lemon zest, vegan parmesan style cheese (optional), and a drizzle of lemon infused extra virgin olive oil (optional) or regular extra virgin olive oil.
Notes
Choice of Pasta
I personally love using linguine for this recipe. Spaghetti or thin spaghetti would be a great choice, too.
You can substitute with any pasta of your choice.
Kale
I use regular (curly) kale for this recipe
You can also use dinosaur kale
Capers
I use Organic Capers from Jeff’s Garden. Not only it tastes great but also is user-friendly because of the widemouthed glass jar.
Lemon
Lemon is one of the essential ingredients of this recipe.
I use both lemon juice and lemon zest.
Lemon may vary in juiciness. While 1 regular to large size lemon should be enough for 2 servings, I recommend buying 2 lemons just in case.
Be sure to zest the lemon first, then squeeze the juice afterwards.
Nutritional Yeast
Nutritional yeast gives the “cheesy” flavor and umami to vegan cheese alternatives.