Quinoa spaghetti with lemony kale and poached egg

Have you ever thought to put a poached egg on top of pasta? The idea was strange to me, at first- and then it dawned on me: pasta carbonara. One of my favorite comfort dishes, which features this ‘strange’ combination of pasta and egg- and it is, of course, absolutely delicious. So I gave it a chance- and it was, as I suspected, pasta perfection.

The original idea for this creation came from a Clean Eating magazine circa 2011. I was browsing through some old magazines to recycle and came upon a simple recipe for spaghetti with kale, feta and poached egg- three ingredients I love, so I tore it out and saved it for a rainy day. Well that day came this weekend, when deciding on an easy Saturday-night dinner after our long day of running errands (Ikea, you kill me, but I love you.).

I switched things up quite a bit as per my own tastes, adding some lemon and caramelizing the onions for a sweeter touch, but the idea is still the same. It was a delicious combination worth sharing.

Quinoa Spaghetti with Kale, Feta and Poached egg
Inspired by Clean Eating magazine, October 2011
Serves 2

Enough Quinoa (or brown rice) spaghetti for two
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, sliced thin
1/2 bunch curly kale, chopped
zest of 1/2 lemon
pinch red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
1/2 tsp sea salt
cracked pepper, to taste
2 eggs
1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup crumbled greek feta (made from sheep’s milk)

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, until al dente. Drain and reserve 1 cup cooking water.

2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and sautee for 2 minutes until starting to turn brown. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, about 10-15 mintes until a deep golden color. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. In the same pan, increase heat to medium. Add kale, and cook until wilted. Stir in red pepper flakes, sea salt and lemon zest.

4. Return onions to pan. Add hot spaghetti and 1/2 the feta (1/4 cup). Toss to combine. Add cooking water, as needed, to create a sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes to let flavors meld. Divide between two plates and top with remaining crumbled feta.

5. Heat 2 inches of water to just boiling in a shallow saucepan. Reduce to a rolling simmer and add vinegar. Crack each egg into a separate ramekin and slowly lower egg into simmering water, one at a time, carefully folding white over yolk with a slotted spoon. Repeat and let cook for 4 minutes. Remove immediately and place on top of pasta.

Season with freshly cracked black pepper and serve.

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