Cooking Julius Roberts' Deep Green Pasta
Welcome to my first post on Substack … please bear with me.
I have been a long time cook, food-documenter and admirer of food writers and I thought it was about time that I embarked upon my aspiration to be a food writer. And what better place to start than on this small blog on this wonderful corner of the internet?
My attitude and relationship towards food has been a rollercoaster ride and finally, after twenty-four years, I have found myself at a place of complete peace, respect and excitement when it comes to food.
Food - the thing that we all engage with throughout our lives, what we need to survive and not only survive, but to thrive.
After years of restriction, control, fear and obsession, I am proud to say that food is no longer an all-controlling entity that oppressed my day to day life, but now a passion and deep love of mine that I want to turn into a career.
This notion of thriving thanks to what we put in our bodies is encapsulated in the food of the wonderful Julius Roberts. A former chef at the esteemed London restaurant Noble Rot who realised the restaurant life wasn’t for him, making a drastic alteration in his life and upped sticks to the countryside and re-connected with why he loves cooking. His focus on quality ingredients (most of which he grows himself) is something that I really admire and the recipes he creates always look mouth-watering. I was kindly given Julius’ beautiful cookery book for Christmas and was immediately inspired - the photography, combination of ingredients and writing was all so mesmerising and I just couldn’t wait to begin cooking.
I thought a good way to kick off this journey was to start with a simple, satisfying and comforting dish of his that I have already cooked on repeat - his Deep Green Pasta.
On a cold Sunday a few months ago, my mum and I were craving some greens but also cosiness and I stumbled upon this recipe. The old Laura would have never dreamed of eating pasta for dinner, let alone craving it and eventually cooking it, but there we were. The dish blew us both away and I think it is a perfect representation of what Julius does so well, straddling the world of nutrition and comfort effortlessly.
I documented the process over on my TikTok (so I sadly forgot to take any good photographs!) but below is the recipe and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Serves 4:
250g cavolo nero (I used kale as cavolo nero season is sadly coming to an end)
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled
200g spinach
400g rigatoni (or any pasta shape your heart desires)
100ml olive oil
1 lemon
Mozzarella, pecorino, ricotta for serving (totally optional)
Get a large pan of water on to boil and season well with salt - salty like the sea.
Add the cavolo nero and garlic cloves and simmer for around 5 minutes. Then add the spinach just at the end long enough to wilt.
Lift away the greens into a colander and drain under cold water allowing all excess water to drain away.
Drop the pasta in the seasoned pan of water.
Transfer the greens into a high-speed blender. (I used a magimix which worked fine but probably doesn’t result in the smoothest of sauces - Nutribullets are recommended)
Pour in the olive oil and lemon zest and blitz. Adjust seasoning and also consistency with some of the cooking water. Set aside once you have reached the desired consistency.
Cook your pasta until al dente, making sure to collect a mug of pasta water. (This is gold dust and really helps emulsify your sauce making it extra creamy)
Strain the pasta and place back into a hot pan and add a few big dollops of the sauce.
Add some of that starchy pasta water and give a good mix until the sauce coats the pasta evenly.
Serve immediately with some more squeezes of lemon and top with any cheese of your choice.
I like to enjoy it with an extra crack of black pepper and a generous glug of extra virgin olive oil.
Recipe from ‘The Farm Table’ by Julius Roberts (Penguin Random House, 2023) pp.50-51