Italian Sausage Pasta - 30-Minute Meal

• servings: 4 servings
• active time: 10 minutes
• total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

12 oz pasta (farfalle, bow tie or penne)

1 tablespoon olive oil

8 oz mushrooms (crimini, sliced)

15 oz Italian sausage (mild, crumbled)

4 cloves garlic (minced)

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning (or Herbs from Provence)

red pepper flakes (to taste)

13 oz tomato sauce (such as tomato pasta sauce or marinara)

6 oz spinach (fresh)

salt and coarsely ground black pepper (to taste)

Directions

Bring a pot of water to boil. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. While the pasta cooks, proceed with the recipe below.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on medium heat in a large, high-sided skillet.

Add sliced mushrooms and cook for 3 or 5 minutes until they are cooked through but not overcooked. Remove mushrooms from the skillet.

To the same, now empty, skillet, add crumbled sausage and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes or until the sausage is cooked. Drain excess fat.

To the same skillet with sausage, add minced garlic, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, tomato pasta sauce, and fresh spinach. Bring to a boil on medium heat and stir everything well. Cook on medium heat, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes until the spinach wilts to your liking.

Add cooked and drained pasta to the sauce. Reheat.

Mix everything well. Remove from heat.

Season with salt, freshly ground coarse black pepper, and red pepper flakes, if you like. Top with cooked sliced mushrooms.

Tip: use your best judgment about the salt. If the sausage is salty enough, you might not need to add any extra salt.

Nutrition

• Calories: 764 kcal
• Total Fat: 39 g
• Saturated Fat: 13 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 23 g
• Cholesterol: 81 mg
• Sodium: 1256 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 74 g
• Dietary Fiber: 6 g
• Total Sugars: 7 g
• Protein: 31 g