« Mrs. Adams' Delicious Pound Cake | Recipe Home | Turkey Stew with Peppers and Mushrooms »

Print Options

Shell Pasta with Sausage and Greens

Posted by Elise on Dec 26, 2004

Filed under Main Course, Pasta, Pork, Quick

Shell Pasta with Sausage and Greens

My father loves to watch cooking shows and is often inspired to try out a new dish he sees prepared on a show. Today he drew inspiration from Weir Cooking in the City a program of public television KQED in San Francisco. Joanne Weir used to work at Chez Panisse and now teaches cooking classes in the city. This simple recipe of pasta, sausage, Parmesan cheese and rabe or kale is very easy to prepare and delicious. After indulging tonight we all agreed that it was a keeper. Ms. Weir's recipe calls for broccoli rabe, which wasn't available, but kale made a perfectly fine substitution. Kale can be quite bitter on its own, but included in this dish there is no trace of bitterness; it is an accent of flavor to the sausage and cheese.

Print Options

Shell Pasta with Sausage and Greens Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. shell or ear-shaped "Conchiglie" pasta
  • 3/4 lb. Italian sausage - half hot, half sweet or plain
  • 12 oz. bunch of kale, broccoli rabe, or other green, chopped (if using kale, or leafy green, remove and discard center stem)
  • 2 green onions, chopped
  • 6 garlic cloves, diced
  • 1/4-1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
  • 1/4 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Method

1 Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil, add a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a Tbsp of olive oil. Add the pasta and cook as directed on the package, until al dente.

2 While pasta is being prepared, cook kale or rabe in chicken stock for about 8 minutes.

3 While greens are cooking, sauté Italian sausage until brown - about 8 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove sausage from pan. Add green onions to pan, sauté until soft. Add garlic and cook for a minute more.

4 When pasta is done, drain and return to pan. Toss together with the greens, sausage, garlic, and Parmesan cheese. Add chile pepper flakes to taste.

Serves four to six.

Note: You might want to try experimenting with adding some sautéed bell pepper.

Indexed: Broccoli Rabe, Greens, Italian Sausage, Kale, Pasta

  • Print (no photos)
  • Print (with photos)
  • Share on Facebook

You might also like...

9 Comments

I had this for dinner tonight, used kale. It was so simple, so light, and so good. My husband even liked it! He didn't even ask what the "green" was.

Posted by: Nancy on December 27, 2004 3:48 PM

Such a good, easy all-purpose pasta dish. Used spinach and broccoli instead of suggested greens (had them on hand). I top all my pasta now with a grating of Mizithra cheese which is a very tangy Greek cheese -- superb.

Posted by: Anonymous on November 21, 2006 5:40 PM

I made this tonight, because I wanted something quick that didn't taste quick, and this was perfect.

It even got my husband to admit to liking kale!

Posted by: courtney on July 27, 2007 8:09 PM

Very tasty & quick. Used spinach, and since it's bland upped amount to 1 lb+. Good with your zucchini recipe. Thanks ya'll.

Posted by: Marcia on March 20, 2008 3:46 PM

This recipe is so simple and quick! I made a vegetarian variation of it last night.

I used bow tie pasta, vegetable broth, and beans instead of the chicken stock and sausage. I also used 8 oz. of pasta instead of a pound. It was still plenty for 5 servings. A small onion and half of a pepper added another layer of flavor.

It was tasty, but in the future I'll cut the kale smaller before sauteing it since my husband doesn't like it by itself.

Posted by: earlysun on November 3, 2008 7:43 AM

I have been searching for recipes without tomato sauce as I have been having problems with eating foods that are acidy. Wow, this was wonderful. So fresh, so clean. I used kale, which I have never eaten before, and shell pasta, together with 1/2 lb hot Italian sausage and 1/2 mild Italian sausage. It was just delicious!

Posted by: Lynn on February 5, 2009 12:54 PM

I made this last night and it was delicous. I used kale as well, since my local grocery store was out of rabe and turkey italian sausage since that's what I had on hand. Thanks for sharing, it was a perfect weeknight meal.

Posted by: Angie on March 13, 2009 7:00 AM

I had 14 people over for dinner last night and made 2 batches. It was huge. I really thought I'd have leftovers. There wasn't a noodle left! They loved it. Easy and a huge hit. Thanks!

Posted by: Laura on March 25, 2009 5:06 AM

Hi Elise,
I loved the sausage, kale and pasta recipe. I just wanted to ask, should it be on the dry side? When I cooked the kale in the chicken broth I added that to the recipe, but a lot of the chicken broth cooked down. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks!

Hi Kathleen, if still too dry, I would just add some water to it, especially if the broth cooked down too much. ~Elise

Posted by: kathleen on April 29, 2009 12:23 PM

Post a comment

(Your comment may need to be approved before it will appear on the site. Thanks for waiting. First time commenting? Please review the Comment Policy.)

Link to this recipe

Bookmark this page using the following link: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/shell_pasta_with_sausage_and_greens/

Do you have a website? You can place a link to this page by copying and pasting the code below.

<a href="http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/shell_pasta_with_sausage_and_greens/">Shell Pasta with Sausage and Greens</a>