Chicken Sausage, Kale, and Mushroom One Pot Pasta {25 Minute Meal}

Is it just me or does already delicious pasta taste even better when it’s cold outside? And taste even better still when you’re in your coziest clothes and curled up under a blanket watching Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock?

Somebody PLEASE give me a high-five over Benedict Cumberbatch? At least throw me a little hand flutter or appreciative nod, would ya? Because -OHMYGOSH- that man can ACT. Maybe I’m a sucker for a brilliant, high-functioning sociopathic, superior, condescending, grandiloquent nerd-God with disheveled hair, but mercy! There’s just something about watching Sherlock and Watson run all over London in inclement weather stopping nefarious characters that makes the food taste mmm-mmm-good. I’m all Molly Hooper over here.

Besides all that hot brain and sizzling acting, Benedict Cumberbatch is just plain fun to say, isn’t it?

Today’s one-pot wonder tastes every bit as good when eating it seated at the table like a civilized person instead of a crazed fan girl in a dark room on a couch. You know, should you decide to emerge from the cave. Unlike me. I’m hibernating with Sherlock and Watson. After all, Sherlock doesn’t “go anywhere without his blogger.” And this Sherlock’s blogger doesn’t go anywhere at all when the weather is what it’s been lately.

But the pasta! This pasta deserves its own devoted fan base. It’s an addition to my growing collection of one-pot pasta dishes. Those marvelous, glorious, fantastical meals that somehow come together in under thirty minutes but taste superior to dishes that require vast planning and the precision timing of an elaborate Sherlock plan. I’m sorry. I’m trying to stop with the Sherlock this and Sherlock that, but once I get started…

THE PASTA!

It all starts out by toasting panko bread crumbs with fragrant poultry seasonings in browned butter. I’m clearly a fan of {Sherlock. Sorry} the crunchy, buttery, toasted, herbed, panko bread crumbs on these pasta dishes. Mainly this is because BUTTERY TOASTED BREAD CRUMBS. I’m fairly certain we don’t actually need another reason beyond that. The bread crumbs take a rest and grow crispier in a bowl while the pan goes back onto the stove top where we brown some chicken sausage links cut into coins. I like to use chicken and apple sausage here, because I think the sweet apple matches beautifully with the pasta, sauteed onions and mushrooms, kale, and garlic that are added in as it simmers in chicken stock. The final dish is a beautiful marriage of chicken sausage with sauteed onions and mushrooms, hearty kale, and noodles in a garlicky, creamy, tomato sauce that cooks around the pasta in a one-pot wonder that puts dinner on the table in under 25 minutes. Served with a topping of the Buttered Herbed Bread Crumbs, this is a meal that is sure to wow but still manages to be virtuous nutritionally.

Cook’s Notes:

• Pick a longer cooking type of shaped pasta (in the 9-12 minute range according to the box) so that the pasta is done at about the same time as the kale. If you choose something fine or quick cooking (like angel hair) it will be overcooked and mushy by the time the kale is tender.
• Speaking of the kale, you must remove any tough stems or spines from the kale leaves before chopping. If you buy pre-washed and pre-cut kale, you’ll want to pick it over and remove the stems or spines, too. The leaves will cook to perfection in about nine to twelve minutes, but the stems and spines would take much longer!
• While I love to use Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage that I buy at Wegman’s, I’ve also had good results using Mild Italian Chicken Sausage, and Chicken Sage Sausage from other grocers.

Chicken Sausage, Kale, and Mushroom One Pot Pasta {25 Minute Meal}

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Rebecca Lindamood

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A beautiful marriage of chicken sausage with sauteed onions and mushrooms, hearty kale, and noodles in a garlicky, creamy, tomato sauce that cooks around the pasta in a one-pot wonder that puts dinner on the table in under 30 minutes. Served with a topping of the Buttered Herbed Bread Crumbs, this is a meal that is sure to wow but still manages to be virtuous nutritionally.

Ingredients

  

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For the Buttery Herbed Bread Crumbs:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 3/4 teaspoon dried poultry seasoning blend
• 1/4 teaspoon granulated onion
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon granulated garlic

For the Pasta:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil divided
• 12 ounces chicken sausage links chicken apple or chicken sage sausages are good here, cut into 1/2-inch thick coins
• 12 ounces sliced shiitake mushrooms
• 2 small yellow cooking onions trimmed of both ends, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
• 4 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 pound shaped dry pasta *See Notes
• 4 cups chopped kale leaves stems and center spines removed
• 3 cups halved fresh cherry tomatoes canned crushed tomatoes, or tomato puree
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley plus more for garnish
• 5 garlic cloves peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt plus 2 pinches
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Instructions

 

• In a very large pasta pot or high-sided skillet, melt the butter over medium low heat. Stir in the panko bread crumbs, poultry seasoning, granulated onion, kosher salt, and granulated garlic. Stirring frequently, toast the breadcrumbs until they are fragrant and golden brown. Transfer the bread crumbs to a bowl and set aside.
• Return the pan to the burner, raise the heat to medium and add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Swirl the pan, and add the sausage coins to the pan. Cook the sausage for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the underside is golden brown, flip the coins and cook another 2 to 3 minutes, or until the second side is also golden brown. Transfer to a separate bowl.
• Return the pan to a medium high burner, drizzle in 1 more tablespoon of the olive oil, swirl to coat the pan, then add in the mushrooms and onions along with a two pinches of kosher salt. Let them rest for 2 minutes before stirring, there may be golden brown edges to the onions and mushrooms. Cook for one more minute, then add the chicken stock, pasta, kale, tomatoes, parsley, garlic, salt, and crushed red pepper flakes to the pan and stir. Raise the heat to medium high to bring the mixture to a boil. When it reaches a boil, drop the heat to medium low, stirring and tossing the contents of the pan frequently, stirring the sausage back into the pot after about 8 minutes, cooking until much of the liquid has been absorbed and the pasta is tender. If you find the liquid is evaporating too quickly, you can add more stock or water 1/4 cup at a time, until the pasta is tender. Remove from the heat and serve, garnished with additional parsley, passing the bowl of Buttery Herbed Bread Crumbs at the table.

Notes

*Choose a thicker, longer cooking pasta rather than a thin, fine, or quick cooking pasta so that the kale and pasta are done cooking through in about the same amount of time!

Nutrition

Calories: 401kcalCarbohydrates: 52gProtein: 17gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 33mgSodium: 997mgPotassium: 605mgFiber: 3gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 3240IUVitamin C: 47.1mgCalcium: 79mgIron: 2.4mg

Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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