Thursday, June 23, 2011

Pasta with Escarole, White Beans, and Sausage





Today I bid farewell to TV that has entertained me over the last few months..and welcome a few.


Games of Thrones, oh how I love thee. I must admit at first I thought, how could I ever watch such fantasy…and now I wish I had a mini dragon of my own.


Nurse Jackie? If ever there was a nurse who was on drugs you would want to take care of you, she's it. Take it easy on your husband lady….PS Coop is really cute.







The Borgias – You are boring and can leave.


Freaky Eaters – Actually I have no idea if their season ended but dude I LURVE this show. If someone who eats couch cushions doesn’t peak your interest then nothing will, not to mention there was a lady who would eat the couch too - as long as you put tartar sauce on it.


Intervention – A solid show in my arsenal for years, I root for each and every person!


True Blood & Boardwalk Empire – “Woot Woot”, I think that says it all.







Toddlers and Tiaras – You can quit following me for liking this show, I know it is all sorts of wrong but I also love all the Housewives so as you can see I rank low for quality programming.


So as you can see I spend a large portion of my day sitting all still like on a couch.


Since you can’t grill and keep a keen eye on the TV, I decided to whip up some pasta over the weekend to keep us fed during the week. I am super smart this way with planning. I mean how can you watch all this goodness and cook dinner at the same time??







INGREDIENTS
Delightfully borrowed (slightly altered) from The Food Network
{Printable Recipe}


• 3/4 pound pasta, I used spiral
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 Large Links of Italian-style chicken sausage, casings removed, crumbled
• 1 medium head escarole, rinsed, drained and chopped, about 8 cups
• 1(14-ounce) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage leaves
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Parmesan







DIRECTIONS


Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package.


Heat the oil over a medium heat in a large, deep saute pan or 8-quart stockpot. Saute the onion until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook an additional 1 minute. Stir in the sausage and cook until heated through and browned, about 4 minutes.







Add the escarole and cook until wilted, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the beans, 1 cup of chicken stock, sage and red pepper flakes and simmer until the mixture is heated through and liquid is slightly reduced.







Add the sausage-bean mixture to pasta and toss well.  Season with freshly ground pepper and salt, to taste….then toss on the Parmesan baby.


Now plop down on the couch and eat…get your TV on all proper like with a big ole honkin bowl of pasta - and if you have some time please check out a food bloggers tribute to Monet.  Want to try out the recipe I supplied....Gingersnap Tart with Pumpkin Pastry Cream!



30 comments:

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Mmmhh, definitely something for me!!!

Cheers,

Rosa

Eliana said...

Ah yes - Freaky Eaters. I love and am disturbed by this show all at the same time. so crazy. What I am sure about though is this pasta. Could not look more delicious.

Laurie {Simply Scratch} said...

Ummm YUM! I love pasta salad season!!

Kristen said...

loving this combination! well done!

art is in the kitchen said...

Super idea for a hearty pasta! Very colorful too. I'll earmark this for my Summer recipes. Thanks Jennifer!!!

Tessa said...

I've been looking for some non-oven meals lately. Sounds great!

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

Oh, what a yummy pasta recipe! And thanks for taking part in the tribute to Monet...your tart looks amazing!

scrambledhenfruit said...

I don't watch much tv during the school year, but my summer vacation started today! I've heard good things about Games of Thrones- I'll have to look into that one, particularly. That pasta looks really good- it would look great on a tv tray. :)

A SPICY PERSPECTIVE said...

I love coming here, you ALWAYS make me laugh! This pasta looks amazing. :)

Sara said...

Yum, I love putting greens into my pasta, and they go so well with sausage...this sounds like a great meal! :)

Unknown said...

Oh my gosh, I don't know any of those shows (nerd without cable), but I totally want to get to know that pasta! YUM.

Liz said...

Mmm, this sounds delicious! I love the thought of adding greens to pasta.

The Cutting Edge of Ordinary said...

Looks so amazing. I must try this!

We are Nurse Jackie and Boardwalk Empire fans too at my house. We also LOVE Dexter and United States of Tara. I'm a bit sad that they are all done for the summer :(

Pam said...

That is my kind of pasta!

Kris Ngoei said...

Ha ha... life without TV is not fun at all.... I myself is a big fan to TV shows....

Wonderful shots of spiral pasta, they are just so appealing and delicious :-)

Alessandra said...

The pasta is good (minus the sausage for me) but I have no idea about the tv shows as i very rarely watch Tv, and those rare times are not dedicated to those kind of programs :-)

Xinmei @ Pudding Pie Lane said...

Very smart move, now you can eat pasta and watch tv at the same time! :D I've never seen Games of Thrones, I feel like I'm missing out :(

Unknown said...

I just saw toddlers and tiaras for the first time the other day... oh ... my... goodness!!! lol

The pasta looks incredible!!!

Heather S-G said...

Ha ha ha...I have days or weeks like that where I only feel like vegging and watching certain series'. I'd love a bowl of this in front of me next time...sounds yum.

Peggy said...

Oh I'm a True Blood fanatic too! You should definitely check out Dexter and add it to the list too =)

Roz | La Bella Vita Cucina said...

Other than recorded food shows and the nightly news; I don't do tv very much. Now too addicted to the durn computer and reading blogs! Oh well. Love this pasta recipe! I have the same summer bowls from Target; they are so cute!!!!

Tracy said...

Freaky Eaters, never heard of that one...sounds distrubing lol. This pasta looks heavenly though...I'd definitely eat that. ;-)

Lorraine said...

Wonderful pasta dish. It sounds delicious:) I have not seen Nurse Jackie but have heard it is good. Freaky Eaters is downright freaky but hard to stop watching...lol

Nancy said...

What a great dish! Thanks for sharing it. I'm not much of a TV watcher but I do love True Blood. Have a great weekend :)

Fun and Fearless in Beantown said...

I love all of the ingredients in this dish! And I have to agree that I'm excited for summer shows to come back!

Anonymous said...

Great pasta dish, lovely combinations - definitely going to try this one!
Mary

Pam said...

Not much beats a good pasta dish and this certainly is one of them. YUM!!! Have to check out Freaky Eaters!

Reeni said...

The pasta looks like something I would love! And Game of Thrones - can't wait for the 1st season on DVD.

Unknown said...

love your eye for TV and your taste for pasta;-)

Chris said...

Colorful and good for you. I'm talking about the pasta, not television ;)