Pasta with Escarole, Sausage, and Beans
The classic Tuscan pairing of beans and greens meets sausage and pasta for nourishing comfort food the whole family will enjoy.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces penne or short, spiral, or tubular pasta (gluten-free if needed)
- 1 pound Italian sausage (hot or sweet, turkey or pork) or Homemade Sausage
- 2 tablespoons (28ml) olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more to taste)
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 (15-ounce) packages fresh chopped escarole* (1½ - 2 lbs escarole)
- 1 cup (240ml) chicken broth
- 1 (15.5-ounce) can cannellini beans, undrained
- 2 teaspoons (10ml) red wine vinegar (could sub lemon juice)
- ½ cup shredded or grated Parmesan cheese
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Optional for serving: ¼ – ⅓ cup fresh, chopped parsley and/or additional Parmesan for sprinkling, additional red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions, reserving 1 cup of pasta water. Drain pasta when done and set aside. Heat a large (14-inch) pan or Dutch oven over medium high. (Tip: If using the Homemade Sausage option, which is leaner than traditional sausage, lightly coat the skillet with oil before sautéing to avoid sticking.)
- Add the sausage, and cook, breaking it up as you go, for 5-7 minutes or until nicely browned. Remove the sausage to a plate. Drain excess grease from the pan, if needed.
- Reduce the heat to medium, and add the olive oil, red pepper flakes, garlic, and half of the escarole. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and then cook, stirring to wilt, for 2-3 minutes. When wilted, add the remaining escarole and another sprinkle of salt and pepper. Continue to cook, stirring regularly, for another 2 minutes to wilt. Add the broth, undrained beans, and cooked sausage. Stir to combine and simmer for about 2 minutes.
- Stir in the pasta, red wine vinegar, Parmesan, and optional parsley. Stir to combine, and simmer for another 2 minutes or so. When you stir in the pasta, you can add the reserved pasta water, if desired (see notes).
- Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with an extra sprinkle of Parmesan and chili flakes, if desired.
Notes
*The escarole: I most often find pre-chopped bags of escarole, which makes this meal especially easy to whip up. Some local stores also carry fresh heads, so use what’s available and looks the freshest. When using the 15-ounce bags, I typically use about two-thirds of the second bag and save the rest to add to a salad or soup another day. If starting with the whole head, I discard the center stalk as it can be tough and more bitter than the leaves. You may wish to also discard the outer leaves, as they can be more bitter and less tender than the inner leaves.
I have served this dish two ways – with and without the addition of the pasta water. The broth alone adds sufficient moisture and a subtle hint of soupiness. If you’d like this dish to have even more broth to slurp, add the reserved cooking water, as desired. Especially in this case, for best flavor, I do recommend cooking the pasta in well salted water. Either way, I taste and season accordingly at the end.
Forget to reserve the pasta water? You may use additional chicken broth instead. The consistency is thinner, but you could do the same if you accidently drain the beans.
Options with the beans: Butter beans are a lovely alternative to the cannellini beans, but because they are larger, you may want to use a second can to really notice their presence. In this case, simply add the liquid from one can and drain the other.
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