Kale & Basil Pesto Caprese Pasta Salad

• 1/4 cups Pine Nuts
• 2 cups Fresh Basil Leaves
• 2 cups Fresh Kale Leaves
• 1 clove Garlic, Peeled
• 1 pinch Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cups Shredded Parmesan Cheese
• 1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (you May Not Need It All)
• 3/4 pounds Whole Wheat Pasta (I Used Fusilli)
• 1/4 cups Kale & Basil Pesto
• 1- 1/2 cup Cherry Tomatoes, Quartered
• 6 ounces, weight Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, Cubed
• 1 pinch Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 2 ounces, weight Sliced Prosciutto

1. For the pesto:
2. 1.
3. Toast pine nuts in a small skillet over medium heat until lightly browned.
4. Set aside to cool.
5. 2.
6. Place cooled pine nuts, basil, kale, garlic, salt, pepper, and Parmesan in a food processor and pulse once or twice to combine.
7. 3.
8. Stream a few tablespoons of olive oil into pesto while food processor is running, until youve reached the desired consistency.
9. You may not need all of the olive oil.
10. I generally use between 1/2 and 2/3 cup to get it to the right thickness.
11. For the pasta salad:
12. 4.
13. Cook pasta in very salty water, according to package instructions for al dente.
14. 5.
15. Drain pasta, put it into a bowl and toss with pesto.
16. Set aside to cool.
17. 6.
18. When pasta has cooled to room temperature, toss it with the tomatoes, mozzarella, salt and pepper.
19. Place in a covered container in the fridge to chill for at least an hour or until youre ready to serve.
20. 7.
21. Just before youre ready to serve, place the prosciutto on a baking sheet (I like to use my non-stick baking mat so the prosciutto comes up easily).
22. Bake at 400 F for 5-7 minutes or until prosciutto is nice and crispy.
23. Prosciutto tends to crisp up pretty quickly, so keep an eye on it.
24. 8.
25. Let the crispy prosciutto cool to room temperature and slice it as best you canit will crumble a bit, but thats OK!
26. 9.
27. When youre ready to serve, toss the crispy prosciutto pieces with the rest of the pasta salad.
28. If the pasta salad is a little dry, toss it with some more pesto or a drizzle of olive oil.
29. Serve immediately.
30. Notes: 1.
31. I love the bitterness that fresh kale lends the pesto, but to tone it down a bit just blanch the kale before adding it to the pesto to take some of the bite out of it.
32. 2.
33. Wait to add the prosciutto until youre ready to serve so that it doesnt get soggy.

nuts, fresh basil, clove garlic, salt, parmesan cheese, olive oil, whole wheat pasta, basil, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, salt

Taken from tastykitchen.com/recipes/main-courses/kale-basil-pesto-caprese-pasta-salad/ (may not work)