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Spanish flavors - olive oil, garlic, parsley, smoked paprika - with pasta, chorizo, and greens combine in a healthy and quick weeknight main dish! Spanish Pasta With Sausage and Greens is quick, healthy, and loaded with flavor!
You don't need a silver fork to eat good food.
~~ Paul Prudhomme, American celebrity chef.
Spanish Pasta With Sausage & Greens doesn't require a "silver fork." It is certainly not a fancy dish; rather, it is healthy, flavorful, and quick to make. 🙂 I love this dish for busy weeknights because it comes together so quickly. I've been writing about flavor profiles a lot lately, and once again, my knowledge of flavor profiles came in handy. Spanish Pasta With Sausage & Greens tastes Spanish, though you might not find it on Abuela's table. The Spanish flavor profile includes (but is not limited to), olive oil, garlic, parsley, smoked paprika, and saffron. For sake of the budget, this recipe doesn't specify saffron.
I have to add a caveat. 😉 While I usually use Spanish chorizo in this dish, I recently split an order of linguiça with second son Evan. Neither of these flavorful sausages is available locally, and shipping is expensive, so I had linguiça but not chorizo. You will not notice much difference in this recipe. The ingredients for both sausages are nearly identical. You can use any quick-cooking green in this recipe, or you can use mature kale or chard, but increase cooking time. I really like arugula or an arugula/spinach mix. A baby kale or baby green mix would be awesome. The greens are wilted just prior to tossing with the pasta, so keep this in mind if you choose mature greens.
I always recommend good prep work when trying to get dinner on the table on a busy weeknight. Put a big pot of water on to boil first. Add a palm full of salt. When the water comes to a boil, you can reduce heat until you are ready to boil your pasta. I like Barilla Plus Penne, and it requires 11 to 12 minutes. I really can finish this dish in about that much time! Add olive oil to the pan with garlic, vertically sliced onion, and cubed sausage. Sauté until onion is translucent. Add ¼ cup dry sherry, ½ cup chicken or vegetable broth, and 2 tsp. smoked paprika (hot or mild according to preference). Cover, and let the mixture simmer while pasta finishes.
When pasta is al denté, add ½ cup pasta liquid to pot along with greens. Cover. Drain the pasta well. Give the sauce a good stir to incorporate the greens into the sauce. Add the sauce to the pasta, and toss to combine. Garnish with parsley and grated parmesan (or similar hard cheese). Enjoy this lovely pasta dish with a light, spicy red wine such as sangiovese or a Spanish rosé. Buen apetito!
Spanish Pasta With Sausage & Greens
Ingredients
- 8 oz. pasta I like penne
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 sweet red, or yellow onion, vertical slice*
- 1 tsp. garlic minced
- 8 oz. chorizo ¼" dice
- 1 pint grape tomatoes I like Cherub
- ¼ cup dry sherry*
- ½ cup broth chicken or vegetable
- 2 tsp. smoked paprika
- ½ tsp. sea salt or to taste
- a few grinds pepper
- 5 oz. tender greens*
To Serve
- ¼ cup parsley chopped
- parmesan romano, asiago, etc. to garnish
- * See Notes!
Instructions
- Add a palm full (about a tablespoon) salt to a stock pot of water over high heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat until ready to cook pasta.
- In a saute pan over medium-high heat, add olive oil, onion, garlic, grape tomatoes, and sausage. Stir occasionally, allowing tomatoes to begin to burst, and onions to cook to translucent.
- Add sherry (or wine) and broth. Simmer uncovered until nearly ready to serve.
- Add pasta to boiling water, and cook according to package instructions. Reserve ½ cup pasta water.
- Add greens and pasta water to saute pan. Cover. Drain pasta.
- Stir sausage and greens mixture. Toss with pasta.
To Serve
- Divide pasta among 4 plates. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and use a vegetable peeler on hard cheese as desired. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
NOTE: Macronutrients are an approximation only using unbranded ingredients and MyFitnessPal.com. Please do your own research with the products you’re using if you have a serious health issue or are following a specific diet.
Jonas says
Super easy and super tasty. Only change I made was add 1/3 of a green pepper, and I used half the amount of greens. It really could have used the full amount of greens, 5 oz. sounds like a lot but it would have worked.
Beyond Mere Sustenance says
I'm so glad you liked it Jonas! Thanks for taking time to leave a comment. It is much appreciated!
Brian Jones says
Ooo this looks good! Do you use cooked or uncooked Chorizo? I will need to find a substitute but the Hungarians make a similar sausage so will give it a whirl 🙂
Tamara says
Hi Brian! The sausage I use is cooked (cured), hard like salami. The linguica that I have substituted is as well. Let me know how the Hungarian sausage works out... Thanks for stopping by!