I can’t believe it’s been nearly two years since I’ve become a Cal-O Creator. The folks at Cal-Organic Farms have spoiled me with boxes upon boxes of fresh produce over the past 21 months – and I’ve had so much fun experimenting with the ingredients.
Case in point: A recent delivery included a head of iceberg lettuce (which I sliced and topped with roast chicken, grapes and peaches) and a bunch of red chard. As you can probably guess, I was inspired by the latter and turned out this farfalle with sausage and chard dish.
It’s a quick and comforting meal with a unique flavor profile, thanks to the addition of piquant peppadews, salty anchovies and, of course, bitter leafy greens. Feel free to spice it up by using hot versus sweet Italian sausage. Bon appétit!
Recipe adapted from Milk Street.
- 8 ounces farfalle or other short pasta
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ⅓ pound sweet Italian sausage, removed from its casing
- 3 tablespoons finely diced peppadew or cherry peppers (reserve brine)
- 2 anchovy fillets in oil, removed from oil and minced
- 1 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
- 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 pound red chard, stalks diced and leaves roughly chopped
- ½ cup chicken broth, divided
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid, and transfer to a large bowl.
- In the same pot used to cook the pasta, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add sausage and brown, breaking it into bite-size pieces with a spoon. Once sausage is browned, transfer to bowl with pasta and toss to combine.
- Remove all but 1 tablespoon of fat from pot. Add peppadews, anchovies and fennel seeds and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add garlic and chard stalks and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add ¼ cup chicken broth and scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated, 1-2 minutes.
- Add chard leaves and remaining ¼ cup chicken broth and cook, stirring occasionally, until chard is just barely wilted, about 2 minutes.
- Add cooked pasta and sausage and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and toss gently to combine. If necessary, add some of the reserved cooking liquid to loosen the sauce.
- Add 2 teaspoons reserved peppadew brine and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with additional Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and serve immediately.
