Deep, white serving bowl filled with bow tie pasta with sausage, tomatoes, onions, and escarole, garnished with Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes

Bow Tie Pasta with Sausage & Escarole

5
Points®
Total Time
30 min
Prep
15 min
Cook
15 min
Serves
6
Difficulty
Easy
In the time it takes to cook the pasta, you can whip up this savory sauce with sausage and escarole, a type of endive with a mild, pleasingly bitter flavor. We love how the pasta shape cradles the meat, so you get a bite in every forkful. Spoon this sausage and escarole combo on top of cooked instant polenta, quinoa, farro—or any grain for that matter.

Ingredients

Uncooked pasta

6 oz, bowties (about 3 cups)

Table salt

¼ tsp, for cooking the pasta

Olive oil

1 tsp

Uncooked turkey sausage

8 oz, hot Italian variety, casings removed

Uncooked onion

1 small, chopped

Escarole

8 cup(s), roughly chopped in bite-size pieces (from about 1 head)

Chicken broth

¾ cup(s)

Garlic

4 clove(s), sliced

Canned diced tomatoes

14½ oz, fire-roasted

Crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp, or to taste

Grated Parmesan cheese

¼ cup(s), Parmigiano-Reggiano recommended

Instructions

  1. In a pot of lightly salted water, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain the pasta and return to the pot.
  2. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium-high. Add the sausages and onion and cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
  3. Add the escarole, stock, and garlic; cook, stirring often, until the escarole is tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and red pepper; cook, stirring, until heated through, about 1 minute.
  4. Spoon the sauce over the pasta and toss to coat. Sprinkle with the cheese.
  5. Serving size: 1½ cups pasta-vegetable mixture and 2 tsp cheese