Sausage, Spinach, and Ricotta Pasta

This is an easy one! Several variations of this have become my go to for a quick weeknight dinner, it even warms up well for lunch the next day. As usual, anything with sausage is a winner with my husband. Luckily this comes with a huge serving of spinach and some healthy protein with the ricotta.

Sausage, Spinach, and Ricotta Pasta
serves 4-6

1 pound box elbow, shell, or other medium shaped pasta
1 quart part skim ricotta cheese
3 Tbsp. Olive oil
4 cloves Garlic, minced
Pinch red pepper flake
4 Sweet Italian sausages with casings removed
1 bag Spinach (about 4 cups uncooked), chopped into 1 inch pieces
Salt and Pepper to taste

 Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta and reserve 1 cup cooking liquid.

In a large skillet over medium heat add 1 tablespoon olive oil. When the pan and oil are hot add sausage, breaking into small pieces. Cook until brown and slightly crisp. Drain sausage on paper towels.

 Return pan to the stove and reduce heat to medium low. Add the remaining olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flake. Cook until garlic is fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add spinach to pan. When spinach begins to wilt add sausage, ricotta, and pasta. Stir together and let cheese warm up.

Add reserved pasta cooking liquid to thin sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!

Sausage and Peppers

Tonight starts freezer week! We are kicking this week off the same you would the big game - sausage and pepper sandwiches! Served with the left over arugula salad from date night!

Sausage and Peppers

1 lb sweet italian sausage links (you can mix in hot if you like), sliced into rounds
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
3 medium peppers (I use a mix of red and green), sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
olive oil
1 large can tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp red pepper flake
1/2 cup red wine

In a skillet or dutch oven heat olive oil over medium heat. Add sausage rounds and cook through. Remove from pan and drain fat (you can use the rendered fat from the sausage here if you like, I try to keep it a bit healthier and drain it). Add 1 Tbsp olive oil and add garlic, peppers, onions, and red pepper flake . When the peppers and onions soften add the wine, let cook off a bit and add tomatoes and spices. Return cooked sausage to the pot and let simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Sausage and peppers is a versatile meal; you can serve it over pasta, with a salad, or on a torpedo roll! This recipe makes about 6-8 servings and freezes very well! 

can you smell how good this looks?

Chicken and Sausage Cassou-Lazy!

Thanks to Healthy Delicious for sharing the wonderful recipe for Cassoulet with White Beans, Sausage and Turkey. I have made some slight changes due to my pantry missing ingredients, I would recommend using what you have on hand to save a trip to the store and some money! I have listed my changes to the recipe below.

While talking about this dinner a friend pointed out that this is not a genuine French Cassoulet (oh la la) and I should not call it that on my blog. He dubbed it Cassou-Lazy. I was going to argue with him (this dish takes some work after all) but I looked into what a cassoulet really is and was quite surprised.  The Internet told me that a traditional French cassoulet is a slow cooked peasant food with white beans, tomatoes, ham, pork sausage, and duck. It would cook in the fire for up to 3 days using any scraps they had left over. Three days!! Well there is no way I have time for that! This dinner only takes about 1 1/2 hours. I was even able to make sausage and peppers for another night using the left over ingredients from it! Cassou-Lazy it is!

Two dishes in one night means less work later!

 Cassoulet with White Beans, Sausage & Chicken

2 links sweet Italian sausage, taken out of casings

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion, chopped

1 carrot, diced 

6 plum tomatoes, roughly chopped (or a large can of plum tomatoes, drain and save sauce for another time)

1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped 

2 springs fresh thyme, chopped 

1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes

1 can Cannelini beans

4 ounces roasted chicken thighs, rough dice

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

1 Tbs olive oil

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Place a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook through. Remove the sausage, leaving the drippings in the pan. Add the garlic and onion and cook in the sausage drippings until they begin to soften — about 5 minutes, add more oil if needed. Add the carrot and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, rosemary, thyme, and pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally to help break down the tomatoes, for about 10 minutes. Stir in the beans.

Spoon half of the tomato and bean mixture into a 3 quart casserole dish or dutch oven. Scatter the turkey and sausage over it, then top with the remaining beans. Sprinkle the bread crumbsover the top, then drizzle with olive oil.

Bake for 60 minutes, or until the sauce is thick and the bread crumbs have browned (if necessary, you can put it under the broiler for 5 minutes at the end to help brown the breadcrumbs). Let sit for 15 minutes prior to serving.

mmmm look at those crunchy breadcumbs!

This dinner was so good I wish you could be here to taste it! This is a warm you to the bones, delicious, crowd pleasing dish to be shared with friends and loved ones. I will be making this all winter long, you can call me Cassou-Crazy!