Penne Pasta with Spicy Italian Sausage, Mushrooms, and Spinach.
Serving Size:4
Total Time:45
Difficulty:Beginner
INGREDIENTS.
1 packageUncle Charley's Hot Italian Sausage
2-3 tbspOlive Oil
3/2 lb thickly slicedMushrooms
1/2 thinly slicedRed Onion
5clove garlic, minced
1/2 tspcrushed red pepper
10 ozBaby spinach leaves
1 1/4 cupChicken stock
1/2 lbPenne Pasta
1 cupMozzarella Cheese
1/4Parmesan cheese
Salt & Pepper
INSTRUCTIONS.
Fill a medium-sized pot with water, add a generous amount of salt and bring to a boil to cook the pasta. Wash spinach if needed and spin dry or dry with paper towels.
Poach sausage links, just covered with water and a lid, for about 10 min. Drain off the water.
Heat about 2 tsp. olive oil in the same large heavy skillet, add sausages and cook until well browned. Let sausage cool, then slice in rounds and brown again, adding a bit more oil if needed.
As soon as pasta water boils, add the pasta, stir, reduce heat to a low boil and cook just until pasta is al-dente. Drain cooked pasta in a colander placed in the sink.
While pasta cooks, slice mushrooms and red onions and mince garlic. Remove browned sausage to a bowl, add a little more oil to the pan and add mushrooms, cooking 3-4 minutes or until they start to release liquid. Add the red onions, garlic, and red pepper flakes and cook about 5-6 minutes more, or until mushrooms are lightly browned and onions are cooked.
Put sausage back into the pan with the mushrooms and onions, add the stock and cook 2-3 minutes, or until the sausage is hot. Then add the spinach all at once, tossing with the hot mushrooms-sausage mixture until the spinach wilts, about 2-3 minutes.
Add the drained pasta and heat for a minute or two. Then add both kinds of cheese and toss until the cheese melts and coats the pasta, about 2-3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper and serve hot, with more Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on at the table if desired.
