What are you cooking for dinner tonight? Are you casting about for a quick and easy one-bowl meal? Try this one, or a variation on it - it's just pasta, meat, and greens.
We are really smitten with these little pasta rings from Trader Joe's - they are fun to cook and eat! Kids love them too.
We bought a little sausage from our favorite farm vendor at the market - homemade spicy Italian sausage. We also got a few handfuls of fresh spring spinach and some new garlic.
This is a good dish to demonstrate how just a little meat can flavor and deepen a whole dish. You don't need much to make it taste great and be filling.
All of this cooks up in literally 15 minutes, and you can substitute any pasta, ground meat, or greens. Use good cheese too!
Anelletti Pasta with Sausage and Greens
1 pound anelletti pasta from Trader Joe's
Olive oil
1/4 pound Italian or spicy sausage, crumbled
4 cloves garlic, minced
Four big handfuls of seasonal greens like baby spinach or arugula
1/2 cup grated Pamesan cheese
Cook the pasta in salted water. It should cook for just 12-13 minutes. Drain and set aside.
In the same big pot you cooked the pasta in, heat a little olive oil and add the crumbled sausage and garlic. Cook over medium heat until the sausage is cooked through.
Add the greens and cook until barely wilted, then add the pasta and cheese and stir until all is combined and gooey - about two minutes. Serve with extra cheese.
Originally published April 9, 2008.
(Images: Faith Hopler)
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cool! my kids would LOVE this! never seen that shape of pasta before! No Trader Joe's here, but I'll keep my eyes peeled next time we take a Saturday jaunt into Italy!
damn that looks good.
nice photo.
I make something very similar to this a couple of times a month. So tasty!
ooh, thanks for this- I bought a bag of this a few weeks ago and have been at a loss as to the perfect recipe.
This looks great! I have half a bag of anelletti pasta in my pantry and this looks like the perfect dish to use it for!
SpaghettiO's! But in a good way.
SpaghettiO's tasty cousin!
I think I spy a Target Chefmate pot! I have one too. When I first saw this post pop up on my rss I was like...oh man...who made a big pot of Spaghetti O's... but now I want to pick up my own bag of Trader Joe O's :)
This looks great!! Definetely a good idea for an easy dinner.
This is great. We made an adult version of SpaghettiOs using the same pasta .... not only fun for kids but adults really love it, too!
http://www.chezus.com/?p=136
Thanks, I made this last night and it was delicious.
Oh, this looks good. I'll have to make it this weekend. Like a fab, grown-up version of spaghetti-os.
pasta sausage greens = a combo i never tire of. looks delish and comforting.
I *just* commented on another blog that I, too, have recently purchased the little pasta rings from TJ's. I thought they'd make a great adult version of Spaghetti-O's. I'm not terribly fond of tomato based sauces, so seeing this recipe makes me happy. I have every single ingredient, so this is our weekend dinner. Thank you!
Made this tonight for dinner and the family loved it. Thanks for the super-simple recipe!
yum this was good. i didn't have time to get to trader joe's so i used orecchetti, and thought it was just great. packed some for lunch today too.
I made this last night although I halved the amount of pasta and doubled the amount of meat. It's my first time making this combination and I loved it! So glad to expand my repertoire of pasta dishes. =)
This is awesome! I'm a 21 year old college student, and this is the first meal I've ever made that didn't come out of a box or the microwave. It's delicious, and the sense of accomplishment is even better. Thanks so much for sharing!
I tried it too. Delicious! Thanks :)
I tried something similar a few days ago and it was very delicious
Thank you so much for this recipe! I tried it with mini farfalle and 1/2 pound of sausage instead of 1/4 pound, and it was so good! The leftovers were awesome reheated with a little bit of olive oil and some cheese sprinkled on top. Thank you so much again for such a tasty, easy, nutritious addition to our weekly menu! : )
one of my favorite combinations! i sometimes add about 1-2 tablespoons of butter sliced in pieces with a little bit of the salted pasta water and some fresh grated cheese. yum!
I want those! It's burgers here tonight, I'm just so excited that it's warm enough to BBQ again!
I remember seeing this dish or a very similar one on a post on the Kitchn awhile back and I've used it in my rotation of favorite pasta meals ever since. In the summer when tomatoes are abundant, I love tossing in halved cherry tomatoes for a little acidity. Yum.
I too have had this in heavy rotation at my house since you ran this 2 yrs ago. We all love it!
BUT found out last week that Trader Joe's (at least in Chicago) has discontinued their Anelletti Pasta the recipe calls for. It is just not the same without the Oh's.
BOO HOO!!
Oooh looks great, can't wait to try it some time this week :)
this was in regular rotation at my house since it was originally posted. such an easy delicious meal. Now that I don't eat meat I haven't been making it, but maybe I can throw in a few extra veggies instead!
We call this goulash where I'm from -- it was my favorite meal growing up. Thanks!
I just made this!!!! It was super tasty. Except no Trader Joe's where I'm from, so I had to make do with orchiette. Still yummy!!!
I also love this shape of pasta but recently I haven't been able to find it at Trader Joe's! Has anyone else noticed this? Did they discontinue it?? What's a good substitute?
Creamette brand pasta makes "O"s in two sizes and is widely available in the Midwest. They're called "Rings." I haven't tried their rings but I find some of their other pastas kind of gummy so I'd love to know if there are other brands as well.
I went to Trader Joes to buy these pasta noodles- and they didn't have them! The manager guy said that they stopped carrying them! I was so disappointed because I really wanted to make this. I guess I will have to substitute another kind of pasta :(
Any pasta shape can be substituted for the anelletti rings. Wheel shaped is the most similar and is widely available in grocery stores.
Russo's Market in Watertown, MA carries anelletti pasta :)
I'm a novice cook (I've cooked a full meal about three times in my life) and I tried this recipe tonight. It ended up tasty! I even added some mushrooms and tomatoes I had sitting in the fridge. :) However, there were some problems. After cooking the pasta, some had stuck to the bottom of the pot and, when I put it back on the burner, it started burning/smoking. I live in a dorm and was afraid the fire alarms would go off, so I put the pot under cold water and did the greens mixing in the skillet I had used for the meat and veggies. I think the small space made the greens stick together (and it also seemed like there was way too many greens; again, maybe just because the skillet was too small). I stirred everything together in the then-cooled pot and all of the meat and veggies got stuck in the clusters of the greens! Again, the dish was tasty, I guess it was just the burning pot that messed me up. Any advice for keeping the pasta from sticking?