Orecchiette with Greens and Ground Pork Sausage
by Duncan FarmsA delicious pasta dish, showcasing our farm fresh greens and delectable ground pork sausage!
This delicious pasta dish showcases our farm fresh greens, as well as our unbeatable ground pork sausage.
Just because Winter is over, doesn't mean the season for warm, nourishing meals is in the past. The addition of Spring Greens packs this meal full of antioxidants and micronutrients, and the pork sausage brings the protein!
Ingredients
Olive oil
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1 lb. Duncan Farms Ground Pork Sausage
1 lb. Spring Greens such as Swiss Chard, Kale, Mustard, Collards, or Spinach (or a mix of them all!)
3 cloves garlic, minced** (See Recipe Note below!)
Kosher salt
Crushed red pepper flakes
1 lb. Orecchiette pasta
1 Tbsp Unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup. Grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, plus more to pass
Fresh cracked black pepper
Directions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Meanwhile, heat a small amount of olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat and cook the sausage until browned and cooked through.
Transfer cooked sausage to a large bowl. In the same pan, add a tablespoon of olive oil and turn heat to high. Once the oil is hot, add half of the greens. Let the greens sit for a minute undisturbed. Season with a pinch of kosher salt and crushed red pepper flakes to taste.
Add half of the garlic. Begin to toss the greens around until they start wilting. Once wilted, transfer to the large bowl with the sausage.
Repeat with the remaining greens. Transfer greens to large bowl. Don’t wash the pan yet.
*Cooking all the greens at once will overcrowd you pan and steam your greens, retaining too much water!
Add a pinch of salt to the pasta water. Boil the pasta for about 9 minutes. (The box likely says 11, but check it at 9.) Reserve a cup of the cooking liquid. Drain the pasta.
In the same sauté pan that you cooked the sausage and greens, add about half of the reserved cooking liquid and bring to a simmer.
Add the tablespoon of butter and stir, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Let simmer until reduced slightly, about a minute.
Place the pasta in the large bowl with the sausage and greens. Pour this cooking liquid-butter mixture over top. Add the cheese and stir with a large spoon. Taste. Add more of the reserved cooking liquid if necessary.
Dish out the pasta, cracking black pepper over each serving and passing more Parmigiano Reggiano on the side.
Recipe Note
Did you know!
When cooking with garlic, always chop, slice, or mince (whatever cut your recipe calls for), then allow the garlic to sit at room temp for about 10 minutes before cooking.
Cutting a garlic clove breaks its cells and releases stored enzymes that react with oxygen. That triggers healthy sulfide compounds, such as allicin, to form. Letting the chopped garlic stand for 10 to 15 minutes before cooking allows the compounds to fully develop before heat inactivates the enzymes.