Any recipe using kale always catches my eye! I adapted this magazine recipe to use this week’s kale. I’m glad I did; it provided a yummy lunch for us.
WHAT YOU NEED:
2 cups uncooked pasta
8 oz. uncooked sausage
4 cups uncooked kale, roughly chopped
1 cup chicken broth
¼ tsp. black pepper
¼ tsp. slat
½ cup shredded parmesan cheese
WHAT YOU DO:
Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions; drain. I used whole grain rotini. The original recipe calls for rigatoni.
Cook sausage: The original recipe calls for sweet Italian turkey sausage; I used a pound of Rose Creek Farms pork sausage which made this dish quite meaty (and filling!)
Remove sausage from casing and cook in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, breaking up sausage as it cooks, about 3 minutes. Once it’s cooked, I elevate the skillet and use a paper towel to absorb the fat.
Prep kale: wash, de-stem and roughly chop.
Add kale to sausage, stirring frequently, until limp, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Add chicken broth to skillet and scrape up browned bits on bottom of skillet with a wooden spoon; season with salt and pepper. I used homemade broth from a chicken I had cooked in the crock pot. I refrigerated the broth which solidifies the fat on top. It is easy to remove and discard, leaving the flavorful broth!
Cover skillet and reduce heat to low; cook until kale is tender, about 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in rigatoni; heat through.
Sprinkle each serving with about 2 tablespoons of cheese before serving. (I actually stirred the 1/2 cup of cheese into the hot just-drained pasta, tossing to coat as the cheese melts. I learned this trick from Rachel Ray!)
Yields about 1 1/2 cups per serving.
I had some leftover salad in the refrigerator, so I used it as a base for this dish. It was delicious!
The magazine recipe includes these suggestions: Make this dish vegetarian by swapping cannellini beans for the sausage and vegetable broth for the chicken broth. Try broccoli rabe when kale is not available.
Leave a comment