Cavatappi with Sausage and Spinach

I'm a big lover of spaghetti and meat sauce. It's a comfort food that I could (and probably do) eat at least once a week. I love this recipe, because it is like a jazzed up version! I had never heard of cavatappi before making this recipe, but it wasn't hard to find in the pasta isle at all.


Cavatappi with Sausage and Spinach (source)
Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 small onion, peeled and diced
• 1/2 lb spicy Italian sausage
• 1/2 lb fresh spinach leaves coarsely chopped
• 1/2 lb dried cavatappi, cavatelli or gemelli pasta
• 28 oz can whole tomatoes in puree
• 1/3 cup half & half (heavy cream works fine too, it's all I had so it's what I used)
• 1 oz finely grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a 12-inch cast iron skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then cook onion & garlic a couple minutes, stirring well so that garlic doesn’t burn. Add sausage, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until browned, 5 to 7 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a large pot, bring salted cooking water to a boil, then cook pasta uncovered until al dente.
3. While pasta cooks, add spinach and 1/4 cup water to sausage in skillet and sauté, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes until the spinach is tender and wilting. Drain off a couple tablespoons of tomato purée from the can, then add entire can of tomatoes, breaking up w/ back of spoon so the tomatoes are in large chunky pieces. Simmer for a few minutes. Add a few swirls of cream and stir into sauce. Add pasta to skillet, tossing until well-combined. Season with salt & pepper and top with grated parmesan.

My new favorite comfort food. The recipe stated it served 4, but I got 6 servings out of it. Perfect for a snow day!

~Naomi