There’s never a bad time to break out your cast-iron skillet, and this Baked Pasta with Sausage and Greens is a really good reason to use my favorite cooking skillet.
This simple pasta recipe is bursting with flavor, and comes together so quickly. Slightly bitter broccoli rabe or just plain broccoli (which I used) and spicy Hot Italian chicken or pork sausage are combined with cloves of garlic, sage and yummy cheese. This pasta is a crowd-pleaser and one of our favorite weekday dinner recipes!
Crisp nuggets of Italian sausage and tender broccoli swathed in a blanket of cozy cheese sauce—this is the definition of cold-weather comfort food.
This recipe was adapted from Epicurious. We ate it with a large green salad. Absolutely delicious!
Ali in the Valley
Baked Pasta with Sausage and Greens
8
servingsIngredients
¼ cup plus 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed or chicken (what I used)
6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp finely chopped sage, plus 10 leaves for serving
½ tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups half-and-half
12 oz fontina and/or aged cheddar, coarsely grated, divided
1 lb ridged medium pasta shells or large tube pasta
1 bucn broccoli rabe stems cut into 2 pieces, leafy ends left long or just broccoli (that’s what I used)
Directions
- Place racks in middle and upper third of oven; preheat to 325 °F. Heat a large, deep ovenproof skillet over medium-high. Pour in ¼ cup oil; add sausage and break up into small pieces. Cook, undisturbed, until browned underneath, about 4 minutes. Stir a few times; cook, undisturbed until cooked through, about 3 minutes.
- Add garlic, chopped sage, and red pepper flakes to sausage and cook, stirring, until garlic is golden, about 2 minutes. Mix in half-and-half and simmer until thickened slightly, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Stirring constantly, gradually add two-thirds of the cheese a little at a time, letting it melt before adding more. Cook, stirring until sauce is smooth and thick, about 3 minutes; season with salt. Remove from heat.
- Meanwhile, cook pasta in a pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally and adding broccoli rabe during the last 2 minutes, ultils veru al dente, about 2 minutes less than package directions. Drain in a colander, shaking well. Return pasta and broccoli rabe to pot.
- Add sausage mixture to pasta and toss to coat; transfer to skillet. Cover with foil and bake on middle rack until pasta is al dente and sauce is bubbling, 30-40 minutes. Remove from oven. Heat broiler
- Top pasta with remaining cheese. Toss sage leaves and remaining 1 tbsp oil in a small bowl; arrange over pasta. Broil on upper rack until cheese is browned in spots, about 5 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.
