Sausage, Vegetable and Pine Nut Pasta

This sausage, vegetable and pine nut pasta is a delicious meal any day of the week.   It’s quick to prepare and cook and the ingredients are easily increased if you’re cooking for more people – just make sure you use a large frying pan or casserole dish.   It’s also a good recipe if you’re entertaining!

As noted below, feel free to you change the combination of vegetables – it’s a good recipe for getting your 5 a day.   We both love sausages and vegetables, so it’s a winner for us!

UPDATE – April 2020

I’ve made this recipe many many times since it was first posted in 2018.   As time has passed, i’ve slightly changed Step 1 of the instructions and have decided that now is a good time to provide this update.   Instead of quartering each sausage once removed from their skins and rolling each piece into a ball, i’ve been removing the sausages from their skins and then roughly chopping them up.  They get a bit more chopped up when you’re browning them at Step 5…this means you’re pretty much getting sausage in every mouthful!   The instructions have been updated and I’ve updated the ingredients list below too after making it again recently…the quantities have been tweaked slightly and a couple of extras added….just what I had in the fridge at the time!

Ingredients

• 3 pork sausages
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
• 1-1.5 tbsp olive oil
• 150g pasta of your choice fresh or dried
• 145g broccoli cut into small florets
• 100g chestnut mushrooms quartered or sliced
• 95g green beans halved
• 70g sugar snap peas halved
• 100g leeks halved lengthways and then sliced (approx. 1 cm thick)
• 150g curly kale already chopped
• 150g spinach
• 1 clove garlic peeled and sliced
• 2 tbsp pine nuts toasted
• freshly grated parmesan to taste
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Start by preparing the sausages – remove the skins and discard and then roughly chop up the sausage meat.
2. Grind the fennel seeds and chilli flakes together with a pestle and mortar until the fennel seeds are lightly crushed.
3. Then prepare the vegetables.   Feel free to change the combination of vegetables – for example: try courgette, mange tout or peas.
4. If you’ve chosen a dried pasta, cook it now in boiling salted water until al dente, according to packet instructions – when draining the pasta reserve a few tablespoons of cooking water. (I tend to use fresh pasta, so wait until further down the instructions to start cooking your fresh pasta).
5. Heat a medium/large frying pan on a medium heat with the olive oil. Add the chopped sausage, ground fennel seeds and chilli flakes and brown for 6 minutes. Stir frequently to coat and chop the sausage meat up a bit more while cooking.  After 2 minutes add the leeks, mushrooms, broccoli and green beans and cook together for the remaining 4 minutes – stir frequently.
6. Add the garlic to the pan and cook for a further 2 minutes.
7. (If you are using fresh pasta, cook this now in boiling salted water until al dente, according to packet instructions – when draining the pasta reserve a few tablespoons of cooking water.).  We used fresh fusilli in this recipe.
8. Add the sugar snap peas to the frying pan and stir. Then add the kale and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.   I know it looks like pan is over flowing, but don’t worry the kale will shrink as it sweats down!
9. Sweat the kale for 5 minutes with 3-4 tablespoons of the cooking water from the pasta.   Stir frequently to reduce down.
10. After 2 minutes add the spinach and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.   Wilt the spinach for the last 3 minutes of the kale cooking time along with 1-2 tablespoons of the cooking water from the pasta.   Stir frequently.
11. Stir in the pine nuts.
12. Add the pasta to the frying pan and mix together with the sausages and vegetables over a medium to low heat until everything is well mixed.
13. Add a good handful of finely grated parmesan and mix together with 2 to 3 tablespoons of the reserved cooking water.
14. Check the seasoning – it’s unlikely that you’ll need salt but you may need some extra freshly ground black pepper.
    Serve with more freshly grated parmesan and enjoy – we had ours with garlic bread and white wine…yum!

Tip

We’ve also used Italian sausages, which means you can miss out the fennel seeds and chilli flakes from the recipe.   Unfortunately we can’t seem to get them in the local supermarket, however, we have managed to get them in Marks and Spencer.   If you like a good hit of fennel, I’d recommend following the recipe and use good pork sausages with the ground fennel seeds and chilli flakes.

Sausage, Vegetable and Pine Nut Pasta

Deborah

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Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 16 mins

Total Time 26 mins

Servings 2

Ingredients

  

• 3 pork sausages
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
• 1-1.5 tbsp olive oil
• 150g pasta of your choice fresh or dried
• 145g broccoli cut into small florets
• 100g chestnut mushrooms quartered or sliced
• 95g green beans halved
• 70g sugar snap peas halved
• 100g leeks halved lengthways and then sliced (approx. 1 cm thick)
• 150g curly kale already chopped
• 150g spinach
• 1 clove garlic peeled and sliced
• 2 tbsp pine nuts toasted
• freshly grated parmesan to taste
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

 

• Start by preparing the sausages - remove the skins and discard and then roughly chop up the sausage meat.
• Grind the fennel seeds and chill flakes together with a pestle and mortar until the fennel seeds are lightly crushed.
• Then prepare the vegetables.   Feel free to change the combination of vegetables - for example: try courgette, mange tout or peas.
• If you've chosen a dried pasta, cook it now in boiling salted water until al dente, according to packet instructions (I tend to use fresh pasta, so wait until further down the instructions to start cooking your fresh pasta).
• Heat a medium/large frying pan on a medium heat with the olive oil. Add the chopped sausage, ground fennel seeds and chilli flakes and brown for 6 minutes. Stir frequently to coat and chop the sausage meat up a bit more while cooking.  After 2 minutes add the leeks, mushrooms, broccoli and green beans and cook together for the remaining 4 minutes - stir frequently.
• Add the garlic to the pan and cook for a further 2 minutes.
• (If you are using fresh pasta, cook this now in boiling salted water until al dente, according to packet instructions.)
• Add the sugar snap peas to the frying pan and stir. Then add the kale and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Sweat the kale for 5 minutes with 3-4 tablespoons of the cooking water from the pasta. Stir frequently to reduce down. After 2 minutes add the spinach and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.   Wilt the spinach for the last 3 minutes of the kale cooking time along with 1-2 tablespoons of the cooking water from the pasta.   Stir frequently. Stir in the pine nuts.
• When draining the pasta reserve a few tablespoons of cooking water.
• Add the pasta to the frying pan and mix together with the sausages and vegetables over a medium to low heat until everything is well mixed.
• Add a good handful of finely grated parmesan and mix together with 2 to 3 tablespoons of the reserved cooking water.
• Check the seasoning - it's unlikely that you'll need salt but you may need some extra freshly ground black pepper.
• Serve with more freshly grated parmesan and enjoy!

Notes

We've also used Italian sausages, which means you can miss out the fennel seeds and chilli flakes from the recipe.   Unfortunately we can't seem to get them in the local supermarket, however, we have managed to get them in Marks and Spencer.   If you like a good hit of fennel, I'd recommend following the recipe and use good pork sausages with the ground fennel seeds and chilli flakes.