Satisfy your carb cravings with this healthy pasta dish filled with flavor-packed Italian sausage, eggplant and kale.
Last week I gave you a glimpse inside a typical Door to Door Organics order so today I’m sharing a quick and easy recipe that uses a few items from our box. After chatting with several friends, I quickly learned that my family probably eats more fruits and vegetables than the typical American family. Trust me, I get it.
So, I figured that if I was going to take the time to recommend signing up for a weekly produce delivery service, it only makes sense that I also show you HOW to use up all of those gorgeous fruits and vegetables. After all, the key to being able to maintain long term healthy eating habits is having the tools and knowledge to put those good intentions into actions.
Today’s recipe is more of a method than a specific guideline. As always, I encourage you to mix and match with whatever you have on hand. We happened to order spicy organic pork sausage through Door to Door Organics but you are welcome to swap it out with chicken sausage, turkey sausage, you name it. Kale and eggplant work really well in this pasta but so would mushrooms, zucchini, or asparagus.
Make it your own and have fun getting in the kitchen.
Your fork is waiting.
Sausage, Eggplant and Kale Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 ounces whole wheat pasta (or pasta of choice)
- 12 ounces uncooked Italian pork sausage (or turkey/chicken sausage)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic (grated)
- 1 eggplant (skin on & cubed)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon chili flakes (optional)
- 4 cups torn kale (we used purple kale but any type works)
- ½ cup shredded parmesan
- ½ cup minced fresh parsley
Instructions
- Prepare pasta according to package instructions reserving 1 cup of starchy cooking liquid.
- Heat a large non-stick sauté pan over medium-high and spray with cooking spray. Add sausage and begin to break down with a wooden spoon while it browns, 8-10 minutes. Remove browned sausage from pan and set aside.
- To the warm pan, add olive oil and garlic. Heat for 30 seconds before adding eggplant. salt and chili flakes. Sauté eggplant until softened, 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add reserved pasta cooking liquid and use wooden spoon to scrape brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in kale and cook 2-3 minutes or until wilted.
- Return cooked sausage and pasta to the pan and cook until heated through, 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in parmesan and parsley before serving. Check for seasoning and adjust accordingly.
This is heavenly Liz – I’m totally digging the greens and pasta – that way I don’t have to feel guilty about my pasta obsession when it’s speckled with that gorgeous kale!
It’s like an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink pasta! I love how it’s so veggie-filled. Which is my favorite way to eat pasta!
We’re working on getting more fruits and veggies into our diets. Right now we’re starting our days with green shakes, which is helping a lot!
My family eats salad and fruits once daily..
We start the week off right with a lovely trip to the Farmer’s market down the road. Every meal we overload on veggies. Soups, juices, salads. You name it! The more, the merrier!
We try to incorporate fruits and veggies into our diet as much as possible. Whenever I can, I sneak it into the kids food (ground up very fine if I can).
We make green smoothies in our Vitamix every morning!
We very much like to incorporate fruits and vegetables into our meals and love to eat them for snacks as well, especially ones which we have grown ourselves!
I mix them into things to get my family to eat them…like fruit into yogurt, veggies into pasta, etc.
We eat either fruit or veggie with every meal and try to cook dinners with no meat pretty often. Our 12 month old eats steamed veggies of all sorts as part of every meal and usually that or fruit for snacks. I love how many things you can do with veggies, there are so many kinds.
I am able to add lots of fruits and veggies into meals. Like salads,pasta,casserols,pizza. If not smoothies and juices are always the best way to go :) That pasta looks delicious!
I usually eat a vegetarian diet during the week and a piece of fruit with every meal!
Hi I cant tell you how happy I am with door to door organics. After reading your post about it last week I became a customer. I recieved my first shipment , it was amazing, fresh and delicious. Cant wait for my next box to arrive. Thank you
We like to make smoothies with fruits and veggies
I make sure that all of my dinners are packed with lots of healthy vegetables.
We love having fruit and veggie smoothie daily
We try to use fruits and veggies that are in season and/or on sale when planning meals for the week. I add avocado and peppers to eggs and quesadillas, etc. to make our plates colorful and healthy.
My kids love smoothies so first thing in the morning they get their pumpkin and banana smoothie.
Love fruit on it’s own or adding it to my oatmeal. I have salad or shredded veggies with everymeal
raw veggies with hummus for lunch, roasted veggies with cheese for dinner!