Time for another recipe – this one is in regular rotation at the White House. It’s easy to make and hard to mess up, very tasty although not necessarily pretty. I’m talking about Escarole, Sausage & White Bean Pasta.
The name pretty much sums it up – add some garlic (ok, a lot of garlic), crushed red pepper flakes and chicken broth and you’re good to go. A great dish now that the weather is turning cold, serve with a glass of wine and some Italian bread.
See the comments for the recipe and enjoy.
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Escarole, Sausage & White Bean Pasta
Serves 4
Prep: 10 – 12 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes
4 links sweet Italian sausage
1 head escarole, rinsed & drained
14 oz can cannellini beans
1 lb box rigatoni or penne pasta
4 large cloves garlic
1 TBS olive oil
½ cup chicken stock
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Parmesan cheese to serve
Salt & pepper to taste
1. Start pasta water to boil. Meanwhile, remove the core and any damaged parts from the escarole. Cut the head into 3 sections lengthwise and then chop in 1 inch strips across. Set aside. Rinse the cannellini beans and set aside.
2. Smash the peeled garlic with the flat edge of your knife then finely chop. Cut the sausage links into 3/8 inch slices.
3. Approximately 10 minutes before you put the pasta into the boiling water, start the olive oil in a large heavy bottomed pot (big enough to hold everything) over medium heat and add the garlic. When the garlic softens add the sausage slices, stirring frequently.
4. When sausage has browned, deglaze the pot with the chicken stock, scraping up any browned bits. Add the crushed red pepper and beans.
5. At this point, you should start the pasta. Add the escarole to the large pot, use tongs to toss, lower heat to medium low and cover.
6. About 4 minutes after starting the pasta, toss the escarole, sausage and beans mixture to get all the escarole wilted. If there is no liquid in the pot, add up to a ¼ cup of the pasta water. Re-cover and continue to cook over low heat.
7. When pasta is 90 seconds from being finished (just under al dente), set aside 1/4 cup of pasta water and then drain. Add pasta to the pot and thoroughly mix everything up. The escarole should be completely wilted down by this point. Turn off heat. Once again, if there is no liquid in the pot, add a couple tablespoons of reserved pasta water. Taste and season with salt and pepper as necessary. Re-cover and let stand for 5 - 8 minutes.
8. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve.
Note: the 5 – 8 minutes at the end are important. You want the pasta to finish cooking in the covered pot. It will absorb most of any liquid still there.
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