Pasta Sausage Squash and Swiss Chard

This is the first meal this year that was something we haven’t already had a million times over the years. I guess I just haven’t been interested in cooking yet. We have been very busy but we are always busy so that’s no excuse. It might also have something to do with my stupid cough that is better but not completely gone. I start the day with a list of things I want/need to do then I get home from work and am exhausted and end up doing nothing. It’s getting pretty old.
So I am going to thank you for getting me back in the kitchen. I made a list of things I want to make and last night started two of them. I wanted to make something new to share with you all. According to my family we had a keeper for dinner last night. The first question my husband asks me is if I wrote it down so I can recreate it. How rude of him to think I didn’t; he knows I tend to make things even from a recipe more to our tastes mostly out of necessity. Sometimes I can’t find what the recipe puts in their dishes so I improvise with what I have on hand. I hope you all do that; though through some of my experiences at a few of my cooking classes I hold at my home this is not always the case. In his defense he and my son keep bringing up a Mahi Mahi recipe I didn’t keep track of and have never been able to replicate it again. I don’t even try anymore.

Last night I gave my fam an option of a couple of meals; my daughter said past and sausage two things we love. So that was it and here it is for you.

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Pasta Sausage Squash and Swiss Chard

This would be a great weeknight meal, it comes together pretty quickly

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Donna Clark - Cooking at Clark Towers

Ingredients

• 1 box of penne pasta
• 2 cups diced butternut squash 1/2 inch pieces mine was larger than this
• 4 cups lightly packed chopped swiss chard
• 3 links sweet italian sausage casing removed and broken up diced for a chunk works too
• 1/2 cup finely chopped shallot
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 2 tablespoon flour
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• kosher salt and black pepper to taste
• pinch of crushed red pepper flakes optional

Instructions

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 2 minutes. Add the squash and cook for 6 minutes. add the chard and cook until the pasta is tender. 1 to 2 minutes longer. Drain and return to the pot.
• Combine sausage, shallot and butter to a large saute pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallot is soft about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and the thyme and cook another minute. Sprinkle with flour cook stirring for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and cook whisking occasionally until the sauce starts to thicken. About 5 minutes. Stir in the cheese season with salt and pepper to taste. sprinkle with a little crushed red pepper to your liking. Cook until the cheese melts and the sauce is thick.
• Pour the sauce mixture over the pasta mixing to coat, serve with extra grated cheese.

Notes

You can find butternut squash generally peeled and diced in large supermarkets to make it easier

Adapted from Eating Well