Orecchiette with spinach and sausage

I haven't posted a recipe for over a month! WHAT?!?! How can that be?? Oh yeah, we have been in a terrible dinner rut lately.  Hubby and I have the "what to have for dinner" talk everyday and it has been the worst part of the day.  He also traveled a little bit and I don't cook too much when it is just me and PB.  We usually just go out for tacos :)

Yesterday when we were on our lunch date he came up with an idea for dinner.  I love when he gives me a list of things he wants to eat and I get to put them together.  So he said he wanted spinach and sausage with pasta.  We debated pasta shape for a while and then he said orecchiette.  It is a shape we don't have often so I went with it.  

Now, I am a tomato sauce person and I usually don't like a sauce that doesn't at least have some tomato chunks in it.  I have to say that this was amazing.  I might have eaten lunch early so I could eat the leftovers before Hubby could :)

I browned the spicy poultry sausage and deglazed the pan with vodka.  White wine would be wonderful too, we just didn't have any.  Then I sauteed the spinach in a lot of olive oil and garlic.  I added a little pasta water and then tossed everything together with some parmesan cheese.  Hubby and i said it would be a great side dish without the sausage.  This was so good, I couldn't wait to share it with you all.

PB went crazy for it.  He usually won't eat pasta that doesn't have tomato sauce on it, including mac and cheese.  But this he was shoveling.  He cleared his plate in no time and we didn't have to fight him to take bites.  

Printable Recipe

Orecchiette with spinach and sausage-recipe by Me and Hubby

This is flexible for how many people you have.  I cut this recipe in half when I made it for the 3 of us.

1 pound orecchiette

1 large pkg baby spinach

about 1 pound spicy poultry sausage

1 cup good olive oil

1/2 cup vodka or white wine

10 cloves garlic, chopped (more or less to taste)

red pepper flake

oregano

salt

parmesan cheese

Put a large pot of water on the stove on high heat for the pasta.  In a large pan on Med/high heat start browning the sausage.  Take it out of the casing and break it up.  When it is fully cooked, take it out of the pan and set aside.  Pour vodka into the pan and scrape off all the brown bits from the pan.  When the pan is fully deglazed add olive oil, garlic, red pepper flaked.  When the garlic is fragrant add the spinach and cook down on medium heat.  Add a pinch of salt and oregano to the spinach.  

When the water is boiling add salt and then the pasta.  Cook pasta according to the package.  While the pasta is cooking add the sausage back into the pan. When the pasta is almost done take about a 1/2 cup of the cooking water and add it to the spinach and sausage.  Simmer and stir to thicken the sauce.  Cook pasta to just al dente and then drain it.  Add pasta to the spinach and sausage and toss to coat.  Let cook for about a minute and stir in some parmesan cheese then you are ready to serve.  

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