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.

Sausage and Spinach with fresh pasta

This was loosely adapted from a couple of recipes in this months Bon Appetite magazine.  The big difference is that I purposely skipped the addition of heavy cream and avoided the cured meats...that some of the donor recipes called for.  Its still not a low fat recipe but, dang is it tasty.

I finally got making pasta from scratch down.  The pasta used here was fresh pappadrelle in style, with a few thinner ribbons more like tagliatelle.  Call it "rustic cut" and be done.  You are more than welcome to swap out fettuccini or other wide flat pasta for the recipe.  That's the glory of pasta....similar shapes won't affect the taste.

I can promise you this, even my pickiest eater loved this pasta and came back for seconds.

Sausage and Spinach with Fresh Pasta

• 1 lb fresh pappadrelle or tagliatelle
• 1 lb mild Italian Sausage
• 1 lb baby spinach
• 1 stick butter (1/2 c)
• 2 shallots thinly sliced shallot
• 1.4 c minced fresh flat leaf parsley (or 2 T dried)
• 1-2 ladles boiling pasta water

Add salt to pasta water until it is has the taste of the ocean (1/4c to about 2 quarts water) and bring to a boil.

Break up sausage and brown with a little bit of olive oil to get it started.  Add sliced shallot and saute until translucent.  

Add fresh pasta to salted boiling water and cook 1-2 minutes until al dente.  Scoop out the noodles with a spider and tongs and add to sausage mixture. Add Spinach.  Add butter and parsley and 1 ladle pasta water.  Toss to coat pasta with sauce and sausage.  Toss until spinach is wilted.  IF sauce is too thick thin with additional pasta water.

Serve with fresh grated Parmesan cheese and a nice Pinto Grigio white wine

Spicy Sausage and Kale Soup

Sometimes I just have to cook and come up with something that his healthy and comforting that suit my tastes at the moment. Kids can fend for themselves if they can't get into what I was yearning for. That's what left overs are for.

I picked up a trick from Ina Garten on a show she did last week using lentils. Pour boiling water on them and just let them soak for a half hour to soften them up. Doing that you don't have to simmer your soup that long and turn the veggies and stuff into mush along with softening the lentils.

This soup is similar to one I did a week ago except I stepped up the heat and spices a bit by using spicy Italian sausage along with red pepper flakes. Just enough to make it a different soup, of course adding in Kale gets you tons of beta carotene, vitamin K and some powerful antioxidants into your system making a basic soup extra healthy. That's a good thing and a postive step towards living healthy.


Spicy Sausage and Kale Soup

• 1 lb hot Italian sausage
• 1 bunch kale -coarse chopped (about 8 cups)
• 2 28 oz cans chicken broth
• 1 cup lentils -pre-soaked 30 min in boiling water.
• 1 onion -coarse chopped
• 2 carrots -sliced
• 1 T oregano
• 1 T parsley
• 2 bay leaf
• 1/4 t red pepper flakes
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Remove sausage from casing and fry until well browned. Add onion and carrot. Reduce heat and saute until onion are clear. Scrape up browned bits from bottom of pan.

Add spices, lentils and canned broth. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer 15-20 minutes until carrots are tender crisp. Add kale, cook 5 minutes until wilted with the ribs still tender crisp. Serve with a generous grating of Parmesan cheese.

Sausage and Lentil Soup

I can say that I have ever cooked with lentils up until now. I've known they were healthy and good for you, the hippies back in the day said so. The first time I ever had them was in stew form as a side dish to some braised short ribs in Paris and absolutely fell in love with them. Quite tasty, but be warned as they can be a little gassy to those of you with problems with the legume family. Then again, if you have kids it could be a plus as nothing elicits giggles better than gas.

This soup is based on one that appeared in this months Bon Appetit, loosely based as the quantity it made was twice what this one does, plus I didn't have everything needed so I improvised, a lot. Also note that I used all dried spices and herbs with this soup which is a bit of a departure for me, but hey even So Cali has its months where herb gardens go dormant. So inspired by one and improvised based on own taste scores again here at casa fraz.

Sausage and Lentil Soup

• 1 lb Italian sausage-cut to1/2 inch slices
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 onion
• 1 c chopped celery, tops included
• 1 1/2 cups lentils
• 1 t oregano
• 1 t basil
• 1/2 t marjoram
• 1/2 t thyme
• 1 T fennel, crushed lightly
• 2 T parsley
• 2 quarts chicken broth
• 1 5 oz package fresh spinach
• salt and pepper to taste
• Olive Oil
• Parmesan cheese

In large stock pot add enough olive oil to just coat the bottom. Over medium high heat add sausage. Stir often until well browned and no pink spots remain. Add onion, pepper and celery, stirring often cook until onion is translucent - about 5-8 minutes.

Add spices, chicken broth and lentils. Check seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer. Simmer 30 minutes until lentils are tender. Stir in spinach and cook until just wilted. Serve hot with Parmesan grated over the top of the soup.