Print the recipe card! skillet penne with sausage and spinach
This meal is a fast one to put together and everyone likes it!
It’s based off a favorite one dish meal, this time made over using food storage ingredients. The pine nuts are definitely optional, it’s good with or without them.
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups freeze dried sausage crumbles (rehydrated using 2 cups warm water)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 (16 oz.) box penne pasta
1 (14 oz.) can chicken broth
1 (6.5 oz.) jar sun dried tomatoes, 1/2 jar chopped fine (*see note)
1/3 cup freeze dried spinach (rehydrated using 1/4 cup water)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 – 1/2 cup pine nuts, optional
Instructions:
Rehydrate sausage crumbles according to package directions and drain reserving liquid in a measuring cup. To the reserved liquid add water to measure 2 1/4 cups. In a skillet over high heat, add sausage crumbles, chicken broth, sun dried tomatoes, measured liquid, penne pasta and 1/2 tsp. salt. Stir to combine, covering the pasta as much as possible with the liquid. Cover the pot and cook, lifting the pot’s lid every so often to stir until penne is tender, about 15 minutes. Turn off heat and add rehydrated spinach, parmesan cheese and nuts. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
***
Rehydrate the sausage crumbles and add ingredients to the skillet.
Rehydrate the spinach just before adding into the skillet.
Add last three ingredients…
Serve!
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Notes:
- Cooking the pasta in this meal is the same as in the Italian Chicken recipe. It may not seem like the liquid called for will be enough to cook the pasta but it will be, I promise! Keep the lid on the skillet as it cooks, just lifting the lid to stir the pasta around off and on until the penne is tender.
- I only use about half of the small jar of sun dried tomatoes here, the rest could be used to flavor up a bread recipe or if you really like them you could try using more in the dish itself.
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Holy Cheeseballs batman! We made it per the recipe, and my kids LURVE it!
Yay!
I found Chicken with Sun Dried Tomatoes at Aldi the other day- I may try this with it next week to see it “two ways.”
Cool! I drove by one of those stores recently, I’ve never stopped in one though. I ought to see what else they have, I guess!
I love Aldi. I go once a week when I am in the “big town” for my sons physical therapy. They have great deals, and I love their organic line. 🙂
This is an awesome base recipe and I recommend it in anyone’s pantry cookbook because there are numerous ways to alter the recipe and get equally scrumptious variations. More bang for your buck 🙂
You can add/swap smoked sun-dried tomatoes, capers, black olives, roasted red pepper, mushrooms, or bacon bits; and you can also sub out the spinach for freeze-dried asparagus or zucchini. You can swap out the freeze-dried sausage crumbles for seasoned FD ground beef, or the Provident Pantry FD meatballs.
Adding a couple teaspoons of tomato powder will give you a richer tomato sauce. It’s also really easy to turn this into a creamy sauce by either adding a few tablespoons of powdered milk to the broth, or subbing all/some of the broth with a can of evap. And you can then turn it into Alfredo by also adding a 1/2 cup of rehydrated freeze-dried shredded mozzarella. MMMMM molto bene!!
Great ideas!