Tagliatelle with Sausage & Swiss Chard

Here’s a simple recipe that you can put together in a pinch.  Though I love tagilatelle, any pasta shape, short or long, wide or narrow, will work fine.  Isn’t Swiss chard gorgeous?  So very colorful and it happens to be one of the healthiest of vegetables (its nutritional benefits include vitamins K, A and C, magnesium, potassium and iron).

Swiss chard is delicious briefly sauteed in a bit of olive oil with a sprinkling of fresh garlic. In this recipe we cook it a little longer with onions and garlic then chop, chop, chop, before adding it to the pasta.

I’ve used both roasted garlic & herb sausage and Italian sausage and either are delicious in this recipe.

Tagliatell with Sausage & Swiss Chard

2 generous servings

Ingredients 

1 14.5 ounce chicken broth

2 garlic and herb or Italian sausages, casings removed and crumbled (about 6 ounces)

1 bunch Swiss chard, washed well and chopped

1/2 medium onion, sliced thin

2 medium garlic cloves, minced

red chili flakes (optional)

6 ounces tagliatelle or other pasta of your choice

1 tablespoon butter

crumbled feta cheese

salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation

In a medium saucepan, boil the chicken broth over medium high heat until reduced to 3/4 cup, about 6 minutes.

Remove the casings from the sausage.  Crumble the sausage into bite sized pieces and lightly brown for a few minutes over medium-high heat.  The sausage I used was fully cooked.  If you buy uncooked sausage follow the cooking directions on the package.

Cut off and discard a small portion of the ends of the Swiss chard ribs.  Remove the thick portion of the ribs and slice into 1/2 inch pieces.  Roughly chop the leaves and keep separate from the ribs.  Thinly slice the onion and mince the garlic cloves.

In a large skillet, heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat.  Add the Swiss chard ribs and sauté for 3-4 minutes or until just tender (do not brown).  Add the onion and garlic and a dash of red chili flakes if using.  Sauté on medium heat for about 6 minutes or until the onion has softened.  Fold in the chopped Swiss chard and season with salt and pepper.  Cook covered, for about 10 minutes, stirring now and then until the vegetables are very tender.

Meanwhile, cook your pasta until al dente.  Drain and set aside.

Remove the vegetables to a cutting board and chop into very fine pieces.  Place the saucepan back on the stove on medium-high heat and add the reduced chicken broth and butter.  Add the pasta, give it a stir then add the chard and sausage.  Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.  Serve right away with a sprinkling of feta cheese.