Sausage Pasta with Collard Greens & Mixed Mushrooms

I love coming home on a chilly day and making this warming and “not entirely bad for you” seasonal dish that is filled with collard greens, mushrooms, Italian sausage and Parmesan.

Course pasta

Cuisine Italian

Keyword collard greens, mushroom, orecchiette, parmesan

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Servings

Calories 552kcal

Ingredients

1 bunch collard greens, about 9 ounces
1 pound orecchiette pasta
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
½ pound sweet pork Italian sausage, casings removed
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium shallot, diced
12 ounces mixed mushrooms, sliced (I use crimini and shiitake)
Kosher salt as needed
Freshly ground black pepper as needed
½ cup Parmesan cheese, plus additional for serving
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Thoroughly wash the collards then cut into a chiffonade. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil over medium heat. Blanch the collards, remove from the water and pat dry then set aside. Reserve the water used to blanch the collards (it will be light green.)
Heat the large pot with the “collard water” and bring to a boil. Cook the pasta until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 cup of the water. Return the pasta to the pot and toss with one tablespoon of the olive oil.
Place a large skillet or sauté pan over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring occasionally to break up the sausage, until browned, about 8 minutes.
Remove from pan, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible and set the sausage aside, returning the pan to heat. Add the remaining oil and heat through.
Add the garlic, shallots and mushrooms to the pan and sauté, until the mushrooms are lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the greens back to the pan.
Add the sausage and mushroom mixture to the pot of cooked pasta, stirring to combine. Add a little of the pasta water if needed. Stir in the Parmesan cheese then add the crushed red pepper and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve in warmed pasta bowls topped with additional Parmesan.

Nutrition