Pasta w/ Sausage and Goat Cheese

 

Another mighty fine pasta dish! I won’t say it’s my all time favorite since I said that in the last blog, but this is a pretty delicious dish. Would I really blog about it if it wasn’t delicious?? No! I believe this recipe came out of a Redbook magazine. I ripped the page out at the doctors’ office. They don’t mind at all. That’s what the magazines are there for, right?  I most likely saved a few people from getting sick by taking the page. Those magazines are nothing but an incubator full of germs. You are welcome to those I saved. Please mail your co-pays directly to me or send to my paypal account.

 

I made this dish using spicy Italian sausage, but the recipe suggested spicy chorizo. I might try it with chorizo eventually, but I usually have Italian sausage in the freezer so that’s all I’ve tired so far. Use whatever floats your boat. I don’t think you can go wrong with this combination. This dish has fresh veggies, pasta and goat cheese. How bad can that be???

 

Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

 

1 Tbsp olive oil

4-5 links of sausage

1 cup chopped red or yellow onion

8 oz of pasta (I used whole grain spaghetti)

4 cups loosely packed baby spinach, trimmed of stems

2 tomatoes, cored, chopped (about 1 cup)

1/4 cup dry red wine

4 oz goat cheese crumbled (about 1 cup)

1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

2 Tbsp dried oregano

6 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced

1/4 tsp each of sea salt and freshly ground pepper

 

Directions:

 

In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add sausage (casing removed and cut into pieces) and onion and cook, stirring until sausage is cooked through and onion is translucent.

 

 

Meanwhile, heat a large pot of salted water to boiling. Stir in pasta and cook until al dente, 8-9 minutes (or according to package). Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup of pasta water. Transfer pasta to skillet with sausage and onion.

 

 

 

Over medium heat, add spinach, tomatoes, wine and enough of the pasta water to make the pasta slippery. Cook, stirring 1 to 2 minutes until spinach is wilted and ingredients are warmed through.

 

 

Remove from heat; stir in goat cheese, parsley, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.

 

 

Serve warm and enjoy!