Pasta with Sausages - Italian Comfort Meal For Winter

This pasta dish is delicious! It's hearty, flavorful and a true “comfort” food. Cooking the sausages in wine is new for me. I found that it makes a big difference in the taste of the sausages, turns them an appetizing dark burgundy - and as an added bonus your whole house smells yummy!

The Swiss chard adds great nutrition and flavor. If you don’t see any Swiss chard, you could substitute spinach.

Try this and let me know what you think! It is definitely a favorite in our household.

Pasta with Wine Sausages

Serves 4-6

One package (six links) of sweet Italian sausages or mixed sweet and hot sausage

1/4 cup dry red wine

4 T olive oil, divided

1 lb. dry pasta – rigatoni, large penne, oriecchiette, preferred

1 clove garlic, minced

Large bunch fresh Swiss chard, thoroughly washed and stripped of its middle vein and torn into pieces

Freshly ground pepper

Fresh nutmeg

4 T pesto sauce (I have used Buitoni Pesto with Basil as well as DeCecco Pesto alla Genovese)

¼ cup parmesan cheese, plus additional for serving

Place all the sausages in a sauté pan and pour in wine and 2 T olive oil. Let cook, uncovered, on low-medium heat until wine is absorbed and skins crisp, about 30 minutes, turning frequently. Remove from pan and slice into bite-size pieces.

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until just el dente, remembering to reserve about a cup of the hot starchy pasta water before draining.

In the same large sauté pan used for the sausages, sauté minced garlic in about 2 T of olive oil on low heat until soft, not burned. Add the swiss chard and cover to let wilt, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Add pepper and a sprinkling of fresh nutmeg and stir.

To assemble:

Put pesto sauce in the bottom of a large heated pasta bowl. Add a little bit (1-2 T) of the reserved hot pasta cooking water and stir well. Add cooked pasta and stir well to coat. If the pasta needs more moisture, add reserved pasta cooking water in small amounts if needed until the right consistency and moistness is achieved. Add seasoned greens, sliced sausages, and parmesan cheese and stir well. Serve with additional parmesan cheese.