Brown Rice Pasta with Italian Turkey Sausage & Spinach Ragu

Brown rice pasta is a great alternative when there is a concern about gluten because it is gluten free. The key with brown rice pasta is not to overcook it and allow it to cook some more in the sauce, which provides superb texture and flavor. For this recipe I used elbows because they hold their texutre well for leftovers. Italian turkey sausage is another healthy alternative instead of beef and this dish comes together quickly on a busy weeknight or when you want something healthy but short on time. Here’s how to make it:

Start by bringing a large pot of salted water to a boil. Next, make the sauce before adding the pasta to the water.

Take a 20 oz. package of sweet or hot Italian turkey sausage and remove the meat from the casings. Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray. Add the sausage and cook over medium-high heat breaking up the meat as it cooks. Continue to cook the sausage until it starts to brown,

Once meat is browned and broken up into pieces, add to the pan 1-28 oz. can of ground or crushed tomatoes and 1-14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes.

To the sauce add 1/2 cup dry red whine, 2 Tbl. olive oil, 1 tsp. dried thyme, 1 tsp. granulated garlic, 1 tsp. oregano, a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg, and a pinch of red pepper flakes.

Stir to combine and bring to a boil then, reduce the heat and simmer for t

10 minutes. Now is the time to drop the pasta into the boiling water. Stir well so that it does not stick and cook according to package instructions. Check the pasta often so that it does not overcook. Pasta should be al dente because it will cook a little longer in the sauce.

After the sauce has cooked for 10 minutes, add in 8 oz. of fresh baby spinach. It looks like a lot but it will cook down. Raise the heat to medium and cook the sauce stirring often until the spinach has wilted down and is incorporated into the sauce.

Once the spinach has wilted, remove the sauce from the heat and stir in 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese. Add in the drained pasta making sure to reserve some of the pasta water to thin the sauce if necessary.

Toss the pasta gently into the sauce until well coated. Add in some of the reserved pasta water if needed.

Serve the pasta topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese and perhaps a glass of your favorite red wine. Enjoy and happy cooking!

Prep Time: 15 min.

Cooking Time: about 30-40 min. total

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

20 oz. pkg. Sweet or hot Italian turkey sausage, casings removed.

1 18 oz. Pkg. Brown Rice Pasta (I used elbows for this recipe)

1 28 oz. can ground or crushed tomato sauce

1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup dry red wine

2 Tbl. olive oil

1 tsp. granulated onion

1 tsp. granulated garlic

1 tsp. oregano

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

pinch of red pepper flakes

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese plus more for garnish

8 oz. fresh baby spinach

sea salt & black pepper

Cooking spray

1 cup reserved pasta water