Sausage and Spinach Pappardelle

 

A family favorite that makes a bunch.  Even spinach haters love it cause its so darned good.

Ingredients:

• 4 mild or hot Italian sausages (about 12 ounces)
• 1/4 c minced shallot or sweet onion
• 8-10 oz baby spinach
• nutmeg
• 1/4 c parmesan grated
• 1 stick butter
• 12 oz pappardelle pasta
• parmesan for serving.

Put on a large pot of water and bring to boil  Cook pasta according to package directions.  Do not drain pasta as you will need pasta water

Remove sausage from casing and crumble in a large frying pan over medium high heat.  When cooked add shallot (or sweet onion if you can't find shallots).  Sautee' 1 minute until translucent.  

Reduce heat and start adding spinach in batches, adding more as it wilted. Add a couple of scrapes of nutmeg (a large pinch worth).  When the butter is about half melted add a ladle (scant 1/2 cup) pasta water and stir into the melting butter to emulsify.  DO NOT skip this step or your sauce will break.  Finish adding spinach, when all wilted down add parmesan cheese and stir into butter emulsion.  If it starts to break add another 1/4-1/2 c pasta water to re-emulsify. 

At this step your pasta should be ready to be pulled from water and added to the mixture.  Simmer in sauce a minute or two tossing with tongs to coat all the pasta with the glorious butter cheese sauce.  Serve in bowls with additional grated parmesan.

I'm back bearing gifts - Lemon Bomb Dump Cake

 

 Its been a long while since I dusted off this password and shared something from my kitchen to yours.  A lots happened since I last blogged here the biggy of course was a move to League City TX and a whole 'nother style of cooking.  Southern Comfort is what I've been exploring the last couple of years.

The Lemon Bomb Dump Cake is just one of those comfort foods that Texas and the South are known for.  (BBQ is a whole nother story for another time).

Lemon Bomb Dump Cake

• 2, 21 oz cans lemon pie filling
• 1 boxed Lemon Cake Mix (I used Duncan Hines)
• 1 8 oz cream cheese - room temp
• 1 stick salted butter

Preheat oven to 350F

Lightly grease a 9 X 13 baking dish.  Spread evenly lemon pie filling into the bottom of baking dish.  Cut off marble sized nubs of cream cheese and dollop onto the pie filling.  Lightly spoon out cake mix over the pie filling cream cheese in one even layer.  Cut thin slices of butter and put on top of the cake mix.

Bake 50-60 minutes until golden brown.

A few notes.  If you don't want it as strong a lemon you can substitue out the cake mix for vanilla or yellow style cake mixes.  The cream cheese really needs to be soft as it is easier to cut off little nubs than the cold stuff.   The exception to the room temp is the butter, to get nice even slices you really need it refrigerator cold.

Stay tuned for future installments...fraz