brussels sprout, sausage & walnut rigatoni.

this is a fairly simple pasta dish that is bulked up with lots of green goodness by way of the mighty little brussels sprout. a savory sausaugey & cheesy pasta always sounds quite delicious to me, but can also be so so heavy and feel like a total gut bomb!

the brussels sprouts plus the walnuts serve as a sort of soffritto here (which is usually carrot, celery & onion), the base ingredients and flavors of this dish. the brussels bring an earthy, light & bright component while the walnuts add a nice soft crunch in the overall texture.

while the bulk of this dish is green brussels-heavy, they truly melt away and become disguised by the savory sausage. pete and i are (embarrassingly?) big fans of a straight up jimmy dean hot sausage log. it’s so versatile! we use the jimmy log and dress it up in so many ways - pastas, breakfast sandwiches, tacos, potato-ey dishes, etc. it’s just been an all-around easy to utilize pork product in our household. thank ya, jimbo.

the best part of this experience is that the brussels, sausage & walnut crumbles sneak down into the rigatoni tubes for a nice little tasty treasure trove in every bite. this combo would also be great with a different fat noodle like paccheri, or even pappardelle!

Brussels Sprout, Sausage and Walnut Rigatoni

Serves 3-4

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. rigatoni

• 1 lb. brussels sprouts (10-12 medium sized brussels), finely chopped

• 2 cups walnuts, well chopped

• 6 oz. ground sausage (Italian style or breakfast style, etc)

• 1 large shallot, finely chopped

• 2 large cloves of garlic, minced or grated

• juice of half a lemon

• 1 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese or parmigiano reggiano, plus extra

• crushed red chili flakes

• salt & pepper, to taste

Instructions-

Prepare all ingredients by chopping the shallot, garlic, Brussels sprouts, walnuts and grating the parmesan.

In a large skillet or heavy bottomed Dutch oven, cook the sausage on medium heat until browned, using a wooden spoon to break down into small crumbles. Don’t remove any excess oil as it will help to coat the brussels.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the dry rigatoni and cook as long as instructed on the package, leaving the noodles slightly al dente. (When the noodles are done, be sure to reserve 2 cups of the pasta cooking liquid and drain the noodles, or simply use a large slotted spoon to lift the noodles from the water and into the skillet with the cooked brussels, sausage & walnut mixture. You will use the remaining pasta water as needed to make everything saucy.)

While the pasta is cooking, add the chopped shallot and garlic to the sausage skillet, tossing to incorporate. Add the finely chopped Brussels sprouts and season with a generous pinch of salt, tossing and cooking everything until softened, 3-5 minutes.

Squeeze in the juice of half or a whole lemon to deglaze the skillet, using a wooden spoon to scrape up any bits of fond that have stuck to the pan. A couple tablespoons of red wine vinegar or a dry white wine would be another nice option for deglazing the pan if you don’t prefer a lemony flavor.

Add the chopped walnuts, mixing everything to incorporate all ingredients and soften the walnuts, 2-3 minutes. Add 1-2 teaspoons of crushed red chili flake, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper, tossing to coat.

Once the pasta is cooked and lifted into the skillet or Dutch oven, alternate between adding a splash of the pasta cooking liquid and a handful of grated parmesan, stirring well between additions to create a saucy emulsion. The rigatoni should be catching the crumbled sausage mixture inside each noodle tube :) Taste for salt and add as desired.

Once the pasta seems well coated, glossy and no longer clinging to itself, serve into a bowl, grating more fresh parmesan cheese over top, freshly ground black pepper and red chili flakes.

Enjoy immediately!

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fresh sausage, kale & roasted root vegetable medley.

coming back after a lonnng recipe hiatus with a meal that seems sooo snoozy, but nourishing and scrumptious, actually.

boring new mom alert!

jumping from the last recipe that i posted well over a year ago, frozen almond joy, to roasted fall root vegetables….says a lot about how my brain has changed after becoming a mom this spring. i’m just trying to slowly dip my toes back into all the things i used to do…

i love our sweet little bebe to pieces, but my my how life has changed!

anyway, hopefully more fun recipes to come now that i’ve somewhat figured out how to exist with a baby in tow!

as the fall quickly turns into winter in the northwest (it snowed this week!!), these warm colorful root veggies really warmed our souls after we threw this all together with produce from a local farm stand.

plus, we added local fresh sausages and two kinds of cheeeeeeese.

this meal was super hearty. you could make it as a side dish, or just eat a larger portion as your actual meal, which we did and were totally satisfied.

a recipe like this is quite easy to throw together, just some chopping required, and that’s pretty much it!

i chopped up some of the green carrot tops to toss into the mix - it seems insane to throw out all the green carrot tops when they are perfectly edible. they’re like a mild parsley.

just a note that the sausages i used were uncooked when i added them to the sheet pan. if you want to use pre-cooked sausage, get the veggies roasting first and add the cooked sausage to the mix later on.

something magical happens when onion & garlic infuse into these root veggies along with herby salt or other herbs of your choosing. plus the addition of huge parmigiano reggiano shards, melted into little whisps all over the veggies. then topped with crumbled feta! mmm mmm, heartwarming. i LOVED the addition of the fresno pepper the first time i made this. it was like a sweet spicy heat that was very welcome amongst the grounded, earthy fall root veg.

i set aside a full container of chopped onion, beet and carrot when i first made this because chopping all these vegetables at once yielded a LOT. i would just recommend chopping and adding in the potatoes right before you’re going to roast them, so they don’t get oxidized and gross n’ brown.

this is totally customizable with what herbs, spices, cheeses or toppings that you’ve got on hand! fresh rosemary and/or thyme would be great tossed throughout, but i used an herby salt that really kicked up the overall flavors.

& how gorgeous are red beets!?! no lack of coloUr or flavor in this simple fall & winter sheet pan meal!

Fresh Sausage, Kale & Roasted Root Vegetable Medley

Serves 2-4

Total Time: 45 minutes // Baking Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2-3 fresh hot pork link sausages, sliced or removed from casings and crumbled

• 1 large red beet, chopped into small cubes

• 3-4 large carrots, chopped into small cubes

• 1 cup of chopped carrot tops

• 1 medium yellow onion, sliced

• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 pound small red and/or yellow gold potatoes, chopped into small cubes

• 1 bunch lacinato kale, chopped

• 1 medium red fresno pepper, sliced into thin rings

• shaved parmigiano reggiano cheese

• kosher salt or herb salt of choice

• freshly ground black pepper

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

• feta cheese crumbles or goat cheese (chevre)

• pistachios, pepitas or walnuts, chopped (optional)

Instructions -

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Chop the kale and green carrot tops, setting aside for later. Chop all the root vegetables, aromatics and raw sausage as instructed, placing on the baking sheet as you go.

Drizzle everything on the baking sheet with olive oil and a few hefty pinches of kosher salt or an herbed salt. Toss well with tongs until all components are lightly coated in oil, evenly distributed and spread out into one layer.

Roast for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and toss everything well, testing a potato to see if its tender. Top with the chopped kale and carrot tops, tossing again to distribute. Shave large shards of fresh parmigiano reggiano cheese all over the veggies, and return to the oven for 5 more minutes.

Remove from the oven when the parmigiano shards are melty and the kale is tender but not too crisp. Serve up in bowls with plenty of black pepper and herbed salt to taste, crumbled feta or chevre, and chopped pistachios, pepitas or walnuts, if desired.

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