Chicken Sausage and Kale Pasta

When you start a food blog, you challenge yourself every week to come up with new recipe ideas. While this process is usually really fun, my brain has been feeling so “blah” lately. Long work hours have me coming home totally exhausted and not even in the mood to cook and experiment. We try to only buy dinner out on Fridays and cook at home the rest of the week. It’s cheaper and healthier so I have been pushing through!

With this little slump I have been stuck in, I have been making really quick and easy dinners (which is totally not a bad thing!). I think most of the stuff I post here is easy because I know we all be busy peeps! This chicken sausage and kale pasta is one of those dishes. Truthfully, I’m not a big sausage person. I don’t dislike it, but it’s also not my first choice, but my husband loves it so I have been trying to incorporate it more into some of our meals. Chicken sausage seemed like a very fair compromise and he didn’t even notice the difference!

This is a very versatile dish actually. You can use whatever type of pasta you want (regular, low carb, whole wheat, etc.). If you don’t love chicken sausage, you can use regular pork or turkey sausage or heck, even just plain chicken if you wanted! I loaded mine up with fresh kale, but you can get crazy with your veggies too with broccoli and/or spinach. Load it up! The more veggies, the better, right?!

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Yield: 4-6 servings

Chicken Sausage and Kale Pasta

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Chicken Sausage and Kale Pasta - An easy pasta dish made with spicy chicken sausage and fresh kale!

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb. pasta (penne, rotini, or farfalle all work well)
• 2 1/2 cups fresh chopped kale
• 2 tbs. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb. spicy (or regular) chicken sausage, casings removed (can also use pork or turkey)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain the pasta, but reserve 1 cup of the liquid.
2. While the pasta cooks, place kale in a skillet with about 1 tablespoon of water. Cook over medium heat until wilted. Remove from the heat and set aside.
3. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the chicken sausage and cook, breaking up into small pieces until the sausage is browned, about 8 minutes.
4. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and saute for about 30 seconds. Add the kale and toss to coat.
5. Add the pasta and reserved cooking liquid 1/4 cup at a time. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle fresh lemon juice on top if desired. Serve.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1/6th
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 368Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 50mgSodium: 763mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 2gSugar: 2gProtein: 14g

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