This is my own creation. Although, really it’s based on the broccoli raab and sausage dish you see in lots of places. I make that too but we’ve had an abundance of Swiss Chard from our CSA this year, so I’ve used that to make this too.
Pasta with Sausage and Swiss Chard
First, I take anywhere from 1/2 pound to 1lb hot turkey Italian sausage, removed from its casing, and brown that in a big pan. Then I remove it.
Then, I take two or three cloves of sliced garlic and put them in the pan with olive oil (If I’m watching my weight go down, I use maybe 2t to 1T oil; if I’m watching it go up, I just pour it in), I cook the garlic and some crushed red pepper (depending upon how much heat you want) until the garlic is just shy of toast (you should be able to smell it). Then I toss in a whole bunch of sliced, washed chard (don’t worry it cooks way down and really, it’s hard to get too much). I don’t worry about draining the chard well either b/c the water helps it cook. I sprinkle it with a bit of salt.
Meanwhile, I’ve boiled water for pasta (I may even take some of this water – like a 1/2C and add it to the chard to help it cook). I add pasta to the water (any short type – orrecchiete, shells, rigatoni, penne – just not spaghetti or linguine or something like that).
Once the chard has wilted, I add the sausage and if my timing is right, my pasta is ready about a minute later. I set aside about 1C of the pasta water before I drain the pasta, and add the drained pasta to the sausage and chard. I add some of the reserved water to “loosen” it a bit, scraping up the browned bits and basically giving the pasta a nice coating of flavor.
Serve with some grated cheese on top.
By the way, using 1/2 pound of whole wheat pasta, 1T olive oil, 1/2 pound turkey Italian sausage, and up to 1/2lb chard gets you 6 weight watcher points for a serving of 4 (no cheese).