Wintery pasta - trottole with kale pesto and parsnips

When it's cold out, I love to play mad scientist in the kitchen. So this pasta is a kind of a Frankenstein's monster that's actually turned out damn tasty. Though still green, of course - my metaphor is perfect!

I used spinach trottole, that's why it's so very green, although the kale was (obviously) green too. For the kale pesto blend all the top ingredients until mushy, adding the olive oil slowly as they blend. The parsnips need to be chopped finely, not quite julienned, but not far from it - grill them with some olive oil, salt, pepper and nutmeg for about 10 minutes, or until crispy. Fry the pesto for a few minutes, stirring constantly, before adding the cooked pasta. My friend recently explained to me why we should never add oil when cooking pasta - it's because it makes the surface slippery so that the sauce doesn't stick. So make sure you just use loads of salted water instead when cooking the trottole, if that's the pasta you choose to use (I'd recommend it). Add the sizzling parsnips at the end and grate more cheese on top before serving. That down there makes about 3 servings

Ingredients

100g curly kale

4-5 tablespoons mild olive oil

100g pumpkin seeds

2 garlic cloves, chopped

100d Pecorino or grana padano cheese, grated

Salt and pepper

400g Spinach trottole pasta

Parsnips

Nutmeg, grated