Pasta with Sausage and Greens (Recipe)

Recipe for: Pasta with Sausage and Greens

This is one of my favorite fall back recipes to make at home because it’s fairly simple and easy. It also does well on the road and is easy to make in the travel trailer! It is worthy to note that if you have a boyfriend/ son/ person who eats extraordinary amounts of food, it is very easy to make a lot of this! Leftovers are great, as well.

There are several variations on this but essentially to make it you boil some water for pasta, either rigatoni or penne. Cook it according to the package’s instructions.

As the water for the pasta is heating up, heat a frying pan with about a tablespoon of olive oil.

Chop up some garlic and dice some onions and throw them into the heated pan. Add a pinch of salt, ¼ tsp chili powder, and about ½ tsp each pepper and garlic powder.

When the contents of the frying pan have browned a bit I then add any sausage (one to one and a half per person) with really good flavor (Andouille, spicy Italian, etc. but nothing too sweet. Antibiotic-free meat is always a good way to go, as well!). Cook it on medium heat until it’s lightly browned on both sides.

Then I add chopped mushrooms and spinach (remember that they both cook down a lot so use more than you think you should!) and leave it covered for about 3 minutes. You can be finished here. After you strain the pasta you’d just add a little olive oil and a pinch of salt, and then put the sausage mixture on top of the pasta and top it off with a good amount of parmesan cheese.

If you want more of a sauce topping you can add a can of diced tomatoes along with some Italian spices to the sausage mixture while it’s still in the pan and reduce it a bit until it’s a desirable consistency. Adding some parmesan or shredded cheddar to the sauce helps it to thicken a bit faster.

Also, if you're on a bit of a budget, like most of the country is right now, you can make flavorful sausage go a lot further by slicing it thinner. As long as it's good sausage it will still have enough of that great flavor and it's easier to brown the thinner slices.