Harvest Penne with Roasted Cippollini Onions, Sungold Tomatoes and Kale

Makes 4-6 main course servings

For this hearty pasta dish, deep-flavored cippollini onions (the ones that look like flying saucers) are oven-roasted and tossed with toothy greens and bite-size tomatoes. You can use chard, curly kale, or any type of cooked greens or cherry tomato for this recipe, but bright orange Sungold cherry tomatoes really sparkle against the deep green leaves of kale.

1 pound of cippollini or other yellow onions, peeled and diced
½ cup olive oil (divided)
12-16 oz. penne or other short pasta (whole wheat or wheat-alternative pastas work well too)
1 bunch Kale, stemmed and torn into bite-sized pieces
1 bunch Beet greens, chopped
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 pint Sungold or other cherry tomatoes, halved if large
1 large handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste

Optional: crumbled feta or grated parmesan as a garnish. Alternately, pine nuts as a garnish.

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large shallow roasting pan, toss onions with ¼ cup olive oil. Roast for 30-40 minutes, stirring once or twice, until edges begin to brown and sugars begin to caramelize. Remove from oven and set aside.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, heat remaining ¼ cup olive oil in large soup or stock pot over medium-high heat. Add greens and garlic, and sauté, stirring frequently, until greens begin to wilt. Add ½ cup of pasta cooking water to the greens, cover, and cook until tender, about 6 minutes. When greens are tender, remove from heat, add tomatoes, and gently toss. Drain pasta, reserving some pasta water, and return pasta to pot. Add roasted onions, greens and tomatoes, cheese or pinenuts (if using), and just enough pasta water to moisten pasta. Toss in the fresh basil and season to taste with salt and plenty of pepper. Serve immediately.