Gardening in my opinion is quite finicky and I find that even doing the same exact thing year after year yields different results. Yes I know weather matters but I plant garlic every fall and this years crop is GORGEOUS. I am SO proud that here is a picture of it. These are the largest heads I have ever gotten. I just pulled them so they are still drying but I can’t wait to start using them.
The Quarter is for scale, yes they are that large and there are around 40 of them. My initial thought was they are gorgeous, my second thought was wow that’s a lot of garlic to use up before it goes bad. I am going to have to figure out a way to make it last longer.
I brought up my gardens because there are a couple of things out there that are doing what I want them to do and the reason we keep filling the beds with plants and seeds year after year. The Swiss Chard looks amazing and I need to use it up. Chard is funny you think you have a lot until you add it to the pan and them it just about disappears. While Chard is a little bitter when eaten raw, when you cook it get milder and sweeter. It’s a great addition to soups and pastas.
This recipe come together in less than 20 minutes once you have all the ingredients out and ready to go. I find timing on recipes can be very misleading at times in my opinion. I think I am pretty efficient in the kitchen and sometimes it takes me twice as long as they say it does to prep and serve just saying!
Pasta Swiss Chard and Sausage
Ingredients
- 12 ounce box of pasta - small shells rigatoni. cavatappi
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 links sweet Italian sausage casing removed, crumbled
- 4 tablespoon butter
- 5-6 cloves of garlic chopped
- 1 bunch of Swiss chard remove stems and roughly chop leaves
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 3/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup grated Parmigiana Reggiano grated
- 1 lemon - zested
- kosher salt
- freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Pasta; make pasta as directed on the box. save 1 cup up the pasta water
- in a large pot or dutch oven over medium high heat add the olive oil and the sausage. breaking up while cooking. transfer sausage to a plate and set aside.
- remove most of the fat from the pot and add the butter, add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds to a minute being careful not to burn.
- Add the Swiss chard and saute until it wilts 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle with the flour and cook for another minute or so. lower the heat to a simmer
- Add the milk and bring to a boil. cook for a minute then add the sausage, parmesean, lemon zest and add a little salt and black pepper.
- stirring occasionally until the sauce thickens.
- Add the pasta to the pot and toss. Add pasta water as needed.
Notes
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