When I first heard the name Cavolo Nero I honestly thought somebody was talking about an Italian opera singer. Well, I was partly right. Cavolo Nero is of Italian origin and mostly found in the Tuscany region. It has dark green leaves that are almost black in colour and each leaf has a tough central stalk. It was those stalks that caused me a lot issues when cooking it but we’ll get to that soon! I quite like its almost bitter flavour too. I find it strangely addictive. More importantly, it’s full of antioxidant goodness.
It’s been awhile since I’ve cooked some “glorious greens” here on the blog. My approach to cooking the Cavolo Nero was going to be simple. No complications whatsoever. I wanted to braise the Cavolo Nero in some olive oil with a little water in addition to adding some dried chili flakes, garlic and anchovies. It’s a simple, yet tasty combination of ingredients that I find compliments the flavour of dark green vegetables. And I quite like that steamy, garlic flavour cooking through everything. I just didn’t expect the stalks to be so stubborn! It took nearly one hour to braise the Cavolo Nero! One hour! Here I was expecting a quick, tasty side dish to some lamb. Lesson learnt. Next time I’ll cut the stalks out and just sauté the leaves.
CAVOLO NERO RECIPE
(Remember this isn’t a recipe “set in stone”. Play around with a different combination of ingredients. Just cut the central stalk out to save time!)
- 1 bunch of Cavolo Nero or black kale
- a good splash of olive oil plus extra
- 1 pinch of dried chili flakes
- 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic
- a few anchovies
- 1 cup of water (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
- Place the Cavolo Nero leaves in a pot of boiling water. Cook for 5 minutes and drain. Squeeze out all the excess water.
- In a non stick or cast iron pan heat up some virgin olive oil, turn the heat to medium and add the garlic, chili flakes and anchovies.
- Give everything a good stir and let it cook for a few minutes.
- Add the “just blanched” Cavolo Nero leaves and stir everything again.
- Cook for a further 5 minutes *if you keep the central stalk you may need to add some water or chicken stock here to further braise the leaves-depending on their “toughness”*
- Cook until tender and glossy
- Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
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{ 38 comments… read them below or add one }
What an interesting ingredient. I have only seen it used in soups. This way of cooking Cavolo Nero looks very tasty and good.
Stunning photos, Peter! And kale is one of my favorites, so how could I resist this recipe? I can’t, of course.
Loving the dark backgrounds Peter. I’ve been playing with dark for my project 365 after seeing some fabulous shots in the Little Dorrit series which started last Sunday on ABC1.
OMG…just discovered your site through @leeoliveira82, and I LOVE it! Food, travel, and spectacular photography? All the the things I love. And I especially love the name. Must be the Greek in me. Adding you to my shotrlist pronto!
♥ V
Peter, nice recipe with lovely photos, as usual
Dario
They have a stunning dark colour Peter that would marry well with lamb.
I thought you were talking about a wine! A nice side dish, good with fish me thinks?
Yes, I think it would do well with fish as well.
A beautiful recipe! That dish looks very good. What superb pictures!
Cheers,
Rosa
One hour seems like a huge amount of time to braise green leafy vegetation. Were the leaves robust enough to stand that length of cooking without becoming overcooked?
Hi Simon,
Surprisingly, the leaves were really robust. Maybe I ended up with a not so fresh batch.
I love this stuff! I think they also call it black kale here in So Cal? More fiber with the central stalk, heh!
Yes Anna I believe it’s also referred to as black kale in the States.
Your bunch of cavolo nero looks so slender and elegant! I love the stuff – our Italian side of the family makes a delicious traditional Italian bean soup using cavolo nero – perfect winter stuff.
I’ve never cooked with cavolo nero – they were never available in the Philippines where I grew up – so I have always wondered how to cook it and what it would be great with – this post was very helpful! Also, it was truly inspiring as the pics are very beautiful…
Forgot to say, love the addition of anchovies – it would definitely add a whole new dimention to the dish.
Peter this looks sooo good and like it would warm me up on these cold winter days…..and so simple too!
I have not heard if Cavolo Nero. It sounds more appropriate for an opera singer than vegetable. lol!! It’s quite similar to Dutch curly kale and thanks for sharing. I learnt a new veg today.
You did an amazing job photographing a dark food with dark backgrounds. I think the ingredients you have chosen (pepper flakes and anchovies) are perfect and we should think of these more often for anything in cabbage/cruciferous family.
I’ve also never seen it before – not even in my local Italian store that has what I thought was everything. Is it so different in taste to green kale? Perhaps you could write and sing a few bars before or while serving it… just to authenticate it more.
I am growing this again this year, and I just love it. I like to cook it with a little bacon (for fat and salt) and lemon juice and zest for acidity. I have to add the lemon at the end so the kale doesn’t turn brown.
I love it when you do these simple preparations that really let the ingredients shine.
I love this stuff, in fact we are growing it in our garden. Around here it is also known as Tuscan Kale, Laciniato Kale or Dinosaur/Dragon Kale (because of the scales). We eat it almost daily, and I usually just leave the center stalk in. Although, the way you prepared it, is much more elegant than the sauteed that we normally do I absolutely LOVE it, Peter!!!
Such a beautiful first shot Peter, you make the plant look so magical. Where did you get these from? I’m going to try and find some at Marrickville Markets this weekend.
you thought it sounded like Opera singer, i thought it sounds like a porn star! LOL
I see this kale at market all the time but never know how to cook them. Good to know a simple braise works well too!
I love the little cast iron braising pan — so pretty against the dark wood! Love the technique, too!
I love cavolo nero. I’m a Tuscan girl, born inTuscany, living in Tuscany, eating Tuscan more of the time.. and I absolutely love your dish! The ‘simple’ approach is very important, it is the Tuscan philosophy related to food. You really captured me with your recipe!
Cheers from Tuscany
I have never tried cavolo nero or black kale. I wonder whether we get them in Greece.
I’ve never heard of it till now, but your photography certainly has made it tempting!! Absolutely stunning
Bellissime foto deve essere delizioso questo contorno di cavolo nero, è vero la costola non deve essere usata, complimenti per il tuo bellissimo blog , ciao x
LOL Peter, it does sound like an Italian opera singer! I’ve never heard of it either, but I love greens and prepare mine similarly so I’m sure I would love this! Too bad it took so long!
Hi Peter – Well done – both with the inspiring shots and your recipe! I did a slow cooked lamb for 8 hours last weekend and sourced all my ingredients from Eveleigh St Markets – I needed some winter greens and the Cavalo Nero was on every stand! I followed a recipe from June’s Gourmet Traveller and stir fried the leaves with red wine vinegar, mustard and witlof leaves.Interesting combinations but I felt it was too complex – I prefer your recipe so will try!
I’m not a big fan of it.
I’ve been growing it in the garden and have tried a few ways of eating it. The most successful was destemmed raw and sliced up like a coleslaw with a garlic and olive oil dressing. Don’t forget the salt.
It is very tough and can take a good boiling in the pot.
Sauteaing it with chillies and garlic in oil sounds good I may try that and see what its like.
http://ozgrow.com/download/file.php?id=8683&mode=view
I am addicted to this stuff, totally. We are growing some this year in fact, and fingers crossed it might actually work out. Lovely photos as usual mate. Love the dark broodiness of it, and strong contrasts.
What a beautiful photo story punctuated with the grand finale: a beautifully flavourful – and healthy – dish!
Mmmmm. This jumped out at me from the pictures at tastespotting.com. I love kale, especially this variety. I usually cut about half the stalk out and then doing a lazy chiffonade. I like to sauté it with lightly browned onions and garlic. Super excellent with some sundried tomatoes and pine nuts. I love it with eggs too!
Peter, what stunning photographs. I love the taste of cavolo nero and you’ve captured its beauty too.
I love greens cooked like this and these beautiful black beauties are no exception. GREG
i LOVE this blog, cant wait to grow this kale and use it in this recipe – keep up the great work dude, your an inspiration
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