Black kale with plum tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and chillies

Ingredients

200g/7¼oz black kale
4 plum tomatoes
2-4 cloves garlic
1-2 fresh red chillies
olive oil
a little stock
salt

Copyright Denis Cotter, Paradiso Seasons, published by Atrium

Method

1. Pull the leaves of kale off the stalks and tear them coarsely.
2. Slice the tomatoes into thin wedges.
3. Slice the garlic, but don't chop it finely.
4. Check the heat of the chillies by nicking off a little bit and tasting it, decide how much chilli to use and whether to leave the seeds in or out, then slice them in half lengthways and chop the lengths into thin slices crossways.
5. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to quite hot in a pan and drop in the kale. Use tongs to toss the kale in the oil and keep it from burning.
6. Add a splash of water or stock after a minute to add a touch of steam to the cooking. I would add a little salt now too.
7. The kale will wilt and take on a glossy sheen very quickly, and as soon as it does add the tomatoes, garlic and chillies.
8. Keep tossing and stirring over a high heat, occasionally adding splashes of stock or water when the pan seems too dry, though the juice from the tomatoes will help here.
9. Four or five minutes cooking should do it. Pick out a little piece of kale to test. It will be softly chewy, sweet and oily when it's done, and perfectly warmly spiced if you got your guess right on the chillies.
10. Check for seasoning and add a little salt, if needed.