Spinach and White Bean Pasta

I love quick pasta recipes.  Especially quick pasta recipes that are essentially: chop a couple things, open a couple cans, boil water.  How much easier can it get, right?  I wouldn’t have had time to make dinner yesterday, what with track practice after school and Tuesday night trivia at 8, if it wasn’t for this recipe.  Simply and tasty, perfect for a weeknight dinner when you’re crunched for time but don’t want to pick up take out or eat pre-prepared food.

Ingredients (serves 4):

8 oz pasta (I used penne, but only because it’s my fav and what I had on hand)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

1 (14.5 oz) can Italian diced tomatoes

1 (14.5 oz) can white beans (like Cannellini or Great Northern), drained and rinsed

1/4 cup white wine

5 cups spinach, chopped

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

 

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. Saute garlic and mushrooms in olive oil over medium heat for 3-4 minutes.  Stir in tomatoes, beans, and white wine and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Add spinach and continue to simmer until wilted, about 2 minutes.  Spoon bean and spinach mixture over pasta and top with Parmesan cheese to serve.

Sausage, Spinach, and White Bean Soup

Today’s recipe was supposed to be a pot roast.  I cut up all my vegetables, prepared the roast, and put everything in my crock pot last night so it would be ready in the morning.  I took it out of the fridge this morning and then I went to school.  In the middle of tutoring this afternoon as I was thinking about texting the folks I wanted to invite over for dinner, I realized…I never turned the crock pot on.  Damn.  I was pretty pissed.  Not only would dinner not be ready when I got home, but I’d wasted all that food.  I wasn’t happy.

The only redeeming quality about this whole incident is that it gave me an excuse to make this soup today instead of on Thursday.  I love soups with spinach, I have another really great one with potatoes, cream, and spicy sausage.  I’ll have to make that one sometime soon as well.  This was the first time I’ve made this soup, but it turned out really delicious, and it’s pretty healthy to boot!  The sausage really makes this soup, I like to use turkey sausage, but of course that’s all personal preference.  If you’re a vegetarian, I’m sure this soup would be good sans sausage (but if you aren’t a veggie you should definitely keep it in!).

Ingredients (serves 8):

1 lb pre-cooked sausage, sliced

1 onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tbsp olive oil

4 cups chicken broth

2 (14.5oz) cans white beans, undrained

1 (9oz) package spinach, thawed and drained

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup grated parmigian0-reggiano cheese

 

Directions:

1. In a large pot, saute onions, garlic, and sausage in olive oil over medium heat until sausage has browned and onions are transparent.  Add chicken broth, beans and spinach.  Season with bay leaf, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low.  Simmer for 30 minutes.  Top each bowl of soup with parmigian0-reggiano before serving.