Weekend Cooking: Sausage and Spinach Pasta

How To: This recipe came about due to a bag of spinach and some left over chicken broth sitting in the fridge about to expire. I stared at the two unused items and wondered what I could do with them; I really hate throwing food away. A closer look at my random leftovers revealed a half an onion and three garlic cloves. Immediately images of pasta swirled in my head.

Step 1: Cook some noodles. I used medium shells as that's what I had on hand.

Step 2: Cook 1 pound of ground Italian sausage in a large skillet. When almost done, add in some chopped onion.

Step 3: Pour in 14 oz of chicken broth along with a good sprinkling of dried basil, an even better sprinkling of garlic powder, and a 14 oz can of stewed tomatoes.

Step 4: Bring to a boil, let reduce a bit. Add 8-14 ounces of chopped spinach. Cover and let the spinach steam on a med-low heat until done.

Step 5: Mix noodles and sauce. Mix in a solid 1/2 cup of Parmesan or Mozzarella cheese.

Change it Up: I put this together with what I had on hand, so there are definitely a few changes to be made. First and foremost, use real garlic cloves, 4 or 5, and add them in to the sausage at the same time as the onion. Second, a can or two of diced tomatoes may be tastier than the stewed; just a thought, not a fact. And finally, kale or a mix of spinach and kale is a good variation.

Pair it With: Bread. Seriously, can you eat pasta without buttered bread? My preference is for a nice, crunchy loaf of French Bread, but even buttered sandwich bread works.