Spanish Pasta With Sausage and Greens

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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!

📖 Recipe

Spanish Pasta With Sausage & Greens

Tamara Andersen

Spanish flavors - olive oil, garlic, parsley, smoked paprika - with pasta, chorizo, and greens combine in a healthy and quick weeknight main dish!

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Course Main Dish

Cuisine Spanish

Servings 4

Calories 615 kcal

Ingredients

1x2x3x

• 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

* I like sweet onions vertically sliced, but chopped and any variety is fine!

* As I mentioned in the post, I've done this with Spanish chorizo and linguica. The flavors are identical. Don't use Mexican chorizo!

Macronutrients (approximation from MyFitnessPal.com): 615 calories; 24 g protein; 57 g carbohydrates; 30 g fat.

Nutrition

Calories: 615kcal

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.

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and/or star rating! Email us with any questions: tamara@beyondmeresustenance.com