I hate Mondays. Seriously, I can never get out of bed on time, no matter how cute the kids are when they climb in and wake me up at 6:30am. By the time I’ve arrived home in the evening (hello traffic and other people’s road rage) I “JUST WANT CARBS” as I yell to my husband. Have I mentioned that I’m an emotional eater? This pasta recipe is an end-of-the-cupboard recipe, which means you can pretty much add whatever you’d like or whatever you have left over…which makes it perfect for a weeknight, especially by Friday.
Ingredients:
3-4 Italian sausages (I like spicy ones) 1 tsp olive oil 4 cloves chopped garlic ¼ white onion 1 can San Marzano whole tomatoes 1 tbs Italian seasoning ½ tsp salt ½ tsp ground black pepper 1 tsp tomato paste 5 cups cooked pasta (any small, bite-sized pasta)
1 bag spinach
Directions:
Start by grilling the sausages on the stove top until they are almost cooked through (if you have cooked leftover sausages already, just omit this step and add them after your onions are cooked). Remove sausages and slice into bite-sized pieces. In your stockpot, add oil and onions over medium heat until they are translucent. Add garlic and sausages. This step will either cook your sausages or warm up your leftovers.
From here lower the temperature to medium low, add the whole tomatoes, seasonings and tomato paste. Break your tomatoes up with a fork. Allow to simmer with the lid on for 10-20 minutes to soften the tomatoes even more.
Carefully remove the lid to add your pasta and spinach. Stir until the spinach is soft and the pasta smells amazing.
Finish with grated parmesan and serve.
A great edit: this would be delicious meatless, without the sausage. Or, add grilled mushrooms or cooked asparagus to get extra vegetables on the table and additional flavours.