Broken Noodles with Sausage, Kale and Mushrooms
Broken pasta with sausage, kale and mushrooms is a recipe that I found a few years ago and it was one of those aha moments when I finally found a way to use up my leftover lasagna noodles that I would accumulate in my pantry from making lasagna. I don’t know why but there always seems to be at least 3 sometimes 4 sheets that don’t get used up. This happens with other pasta shapes as well and before you know it I have a pantry full of mostly empty pasta boxes. For the smaller shapes, I would at the end of the month combine them all for a pasta mix (which the kids thought this was so much fun) but the lasagna noodles remained. This recipe fixed that problem! In fact, now I never have lingering lasagna noodles and now I even buy a whole box just to make this dish! This recipe is just amazing! Honestly, what is not to love about sausage, kale and mushrooms? The lasagna noodles in this dish add that smooth buttery texture to each bite almost reminding me of egg noodles! It is so good! I found this recipe from Bevcooks who found it from the cookbook Sunday Suppers and each of us I guess has adapted it in our own way. Bevcooks uses white wine and lemon juice instead of balsamic which sounds great but if I have the foresight to buy white wine (or any wine) for a recipe it usually doesn’t make it to the day of the meal and gets consumed 🙂 Anyway…. Because of this I decided to use balsamic which is a safe bet ingredient I always have on hand! I also added some thyme to this dish because I feel like it gives it that warmth needed for fall cooking and it goes so well with the flavor of sausage! Give this dish a try and I am sure you will love it!
Broken Noodles with Sausage and Kale
Ingredients
- 1 package of lasagna noodles broken into chunky pieces (do not use the pre-cooked lasagna noodle. This is a great way to use up those left over lasagna noodles that never seem to all get used when making lasagana.
- 4 Italian sausage links with the casings removed
- 1 bunch of kale leaves with the leafy part cut off of the stems and then cut thin (discard stems since they are tough)
- 1 small pint of baby bella mushrooms or button mushrooms
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 3 Tbs. butter
- 4 tbsp of olive oil
- 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar or red wine
- big pinch of coarse salt
- 1/2 tsp of dried thyme or 1 1/2 tsp of fresh thyme
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- In a large heavy bottom saute pan, add 2 tbsp of your olive oil and heat.
- When pan is heated add your sausage and brown them breaking them up into little bits.
- Once browned, remove the sausage from the pan on to a plate until later.
- With the same pan that you cooked the sausages in, add your mushrooms and saute for about 4- 5 minutes letting them soak up all of those yummy drippings from the sausage, about 4-5 minutes.
- Now add your kale and saute for about 5-6 minutes until you start to see the kale soften and break down.
- Once the kale cooks down, go ahead and add your garlic and saute for another couple minutes so the garlic can release it’s flavor but not burn.
- Once this is all cooked remove the veggies from the pan, add it to the plate with your sausage and return the pan to the burner.
- Melt your butter on medium heat. Once butter is melted, add your balsamic vinegar and thyme and with a whisk or with a fork stir it around and scrape up all of the yummy brown bits in the pan. Do this for about 3-5 minutes or until you see the balsamic reducing being careful to stand back a bit since cooking vinegar can clear those sinuses 🙂
- You want to cook out the acidity of the balsamic a bit and bring out it’s sweetness. Now go ahead and add back to the pan the sausage and veggies and toss it well so all of the sauce coats it evenly.
- Cover and turn heat to lowest setting to keep warm.
- Now your pasta water should be boiling so add your broken lasagna noodles and cook until al dente from your pasta’s directions.
- When they are nice and al dente, take a mug and scoop out some of that pasta water (in case your sauce needs thinning lateand then drain your pasta.
- Add your pasta back into the pasta pot after it’s drained and add the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil so your noodles do not stick!
- Now add your sausage, veggies and sauce to that pot too, tossing it all together.
- If your pasta looks to dry just add a 1/4 cup or so of your reserved pasta water.
- To serve:
- Pour your pasta into a large serving platter making sure to get all of the bits out of the pot.
- Serve it with some freshly grated Parmesan on top and at the table and enjoy!
