Working long hours like we do putting on culinary events doesn’t mean that we skimp when it comes to our dinner. This easy, anytime pasta cooks together in minutes and is rich and satisfying yet still rather light and healthy too. Making this dish in spring gives us yet another excuse to use copious amounts of green garlic and is a great vehicle for using up any tender young spinach we have leftover from other recipes. For the meat, any good quality, fresh pork sausage will work fine here but we like Richard Caggiano’s Garlic and Thyme Sausage the best. This recipe serves two but can easily be multiplied.
2 handfuls of Fusillata
1 Tbls olive oil
1/4 lb. pork sausage (casing removed and meat rolled into little balls)
1-2 Tbls minced green garlic (white ends only) or 3 cloves garlic
2 Tbls white wine
2 Tbls cream
2 handfuls of baby spinach
Dry Jack cheese (finely grated) to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional-red chili flakes
Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Add 2 tablespoons of salt. Add pasta to water and stir. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large sauté pan and add sausage. Brown sausage all over and add garlic. Let garlic cook for a minute until fragrant and add wine. Reduce wine in pan by half. Check pasta for doneness (it should be slightly underdone when added to sausage mixture) and remove 1 cup of pasta water and add to sausage mixture. Reduce by 2/3’s. Add cream and pasta. Toss pasta with spinach and cheese. Taste for salt and pepper. Add chili flakes at this point if using. Divide finished pasta between two warm bowls and top with a bit more cheese.
