A Simple Rustic Pasta Dish

One Time Contribution This is the first thing I made from the food I have available now. It has been a bit thin in the cupboard for a while and I finally got a good bag of groceries. The black beans are soaking and I am getting ready to poach the chicken. But first, lunch. This is a simple rustic pasta dish. This is enough for two big servings. If you are solo it could be two lunches or dinners. It is a hearty dish. If you need to serve more people, just multiply. It is forgiving. Ingredients: 1 cup Italian Pasta. Yes, that makes a difference. You can use any short pasta. Orchiette, Penne, Rotini, shells, Geminelli, even Bowties. I cup of hardy vegatable, chopped. You could use broccoli, cauliflower, or fresh green beans. I am not as sure about leafy greens or roots. When I try those I can report back. 4 cloves garlic, minced. This is the heart of the sauce and the one without substitutions. A healthy glug of savory fat. I use olive oil because butter is more dear. If you have plenty of butter, use it. Lard or bacon fat MIGHT work, I will find out. One sausage. The fresh kind in a casing or not. If it is in a casing, remove it. If not, 1/4 pound. You can use any type of fresh sausage, such as Sweet or hot Italian, Andouille or bratwurst. Even turkey or chicken, but they may need salt and different seasonings. I plan on experimenting with Tofu for a vegan version, but the seasoning would have to increase. Stay tuned. Method: Boil the water for the pasta. While it comes to a boil, cut the vegetable into bite size pieces, mince the garlic, and prepare the sausage, either take it out of casing or weigh it to 1/4 pound. The water should be boiling by now. Add the pasta and a pinch of salt. Stir to break up. Put a timer on for two minutes LESS than cooking time on the box. You are going to par-boil the vegetable for two minutes in the same pot as the pasta, at the end of pasta cooking time. You COULD steam it for two minutes in its OWN pot, but this is how I do it because it is less work. Both the vegetable and the pasta end up in the same pan at the end of the recipe. Get out a cast or stainless skillet. Pour or drop in the fat and heat it. When it's hot, add the garlic first and brown just a tiny bit. Add sausage and start breaking it up like you would ground beef for sauce. It should take about 5 minutes. Check the pasta time. When the meat is thoroughly brown, turn off heat. When the timer goes off, telling you the pasta will be done in two minutes, add chopped broccoli to pasta. Set the timer for two additional minutes. When that timer beeps, the pasta-vegetable mix is done. Drain the vegetable/pasta mix and add to the skillet with the sausage and garlic. Turn the heat back on to medium and mix well. You want to create a sauce from the sausage mix. If there is a seasoning you like that you think would work, add it. Fresh Thyme? Red pepper flakes? Use what you like and what you have. Serve hot. If you can get farm lettuce, serve with salad. If you want to make more than enough for today and freeze some for later, cool it down and place in airtight freezer containers, filled nearly to top. Use portions for one serving. Label with name and date. I like glass for a bunch of reasons. This is the first in a series ofFlexible Master Recipesthat are designed to use what we have and what we can get. IF YOU LIKE THIS PLEASE RESTACK. THAT IS WHAT SUBSTACK USES FOR THE ALGORITHM! Everything I write is wide open. No paywall ever. But I need to make enough to survive the modern world. If you like the writing and can afford it, I could really use your support. And if you can't, free subscriptions still build the substack. I appreciate all of you. Leave a comment Thanks for reading Annabel's Hard Times Kitchen! This post is public so feel free to share it. Share Notice to Readers: Every essay across my three Substacks remains completely open-access because I refuse to use paywalls. If this work brought value to your week and you wish to make a voluntary one-time or recurring contribution to help keep these independent channels online, you can access methods of support directly below. This is what keeps the lights on: To leave a standard one-time tip:Buy Me A Coffee To back my long-term survival fund:Go-Fund-Me To set up a regular monthly patronage baseline:Patreon