Rotini with Swiss Chard & Sausage Ragu (Sara Foster’s Casual Cooking)

Rotini with Swiss Chard and Sausage, originally uploaded by shannon_turlington.

Please forgive me for posting this rich, hearty, warming pasta recipe in the middle of summer. Yes, this is truly a wintry dish, but it was so good that I couldn’t wait to share it with you.

This is the first recipe that I have tried from Sara Foster’s Casual Cooking, the follow-up to the wonderful cookbook Fresh Every Day. I have been loving Fresh Every Day so much that when I saw this new book in the store, I had to buy it. It is full of gorgeous food photos and easy, adaptable recipes for entertaining and family dinners. Like this one.

Some notes before I give you the recipe. The original recipe claims to serve 4-6, but the quantities were enormous. I cut down the quantities quite a bit, and I think it will still comfortably serve 4. Also, this pasta doesn’t reheat very well, I think because the sauce is so reduced — which makes it so thick and flavorful — that there isn’t enough liquid to facilitate reheating. So plan to eat it all when you make it.

And do make it, even if you have to bookmark this recipe until a more appropriate season. But with all the fresh greens and herbs, there’s no reason you can’t make it right now.

Rotini with Swiss Chard and Sausage Ragu

Yields: 4 servings
Time to make: ~45 minutes

What you need:

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• ½ onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Italian sausage links, sliced or crumbled (I used chicken sausage)
• 1 14.5-oz. can chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup chicken stock
• ½ lb. rotini or other large pasta shapes
• ½ bunch Swiss chard, stemmed and roughly chopped
• handful of basil leaves, sliced
• 1 tbsp. fresh oregano, chopped
• 1 15-oz. can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• salt and pepper to taste
• grated Parmesan to taste

1. Heat the olive oil over medium
2. Saute the onion until translucent, 4 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and saute 1 minute.
4. Add the sausage and brown about 5 minutes.
5. Add the tomatoes and stock.
6. Reduce the heat to low and simmer 30 minutes, until reduced and thickened, stirring occasionally.
7. Meanwhile, cook the pasta and reserve a cupful of the pasta cooking water.
8. Add the drained pasta to the tomato mixture along with the Swiss chard, herbs and beans.
9. Add enough reserved pasta cooking water to ensure that the sauce coats everything.
10. Cook until the chard wilts and the beans are warmed through, about 4 minutes.
11. Season and garnish with Parmesan.

Adapted from Sara Foster’s Casual Cooking.

This is my entry for Presto Pasta Nights, hosted this week by Chew on That.