Orecchiette with Sausage, Asparagus and Spinach

I made a great pasta dish on Wednesday night that I wanted to share.  It is not a dish that calls for a heavy sauce, so if you don't enjoy pasta without the alfredo or marinara poured on thick, then this probably isn't going to be for you.

1 pound orecchiette
4 sweet Italian sausages (about 1 pound), casing removed and crumbled
Small bunch of asparagus, trimmed into 1 inch pieces
1 pound spinach, washed, trimmed, and cut into pieces
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup organic chicken broth
1 teaspoon organic butter
Garlic to taste
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Place sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown for about 8-10 minutes, transfer to a bowl.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente, 8-10 minutes; drain, reserving about ½ cup of the cooking water.

In the same skillet that you cooked the sausage in (don’t wash it out) add the olive oil and garlic and once hot, sauté the asparagus until almost tender, then add the spinach and continue sautéing until wilted.

Add sausage mixture to sautéed spinach and asparagus and mix together.

Add the orecchiette to the mixture. Stir to combine, adding chicken broth plus the cooking liquid if pasta seems too dry; add the teaspoon of butter, sprinkle with cheese, salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve immediately.

Bon Appetit!