Hi friends!

Last week I hosted dinner club (note: I’ll share more about what this is in the future!) and made a new dish for my girlfriends to try. The best part about this recipe is that you only need one big pan to cook with. This is a major plus for me since my kitchen is … “cozy.”

Another thing I love about this recipe is that it encompasses all the main food groups – carbs, protein and vegetables – into one dish, making for a well-rounded, easy dinner option. You don’t really need a side dish or anything else if you make this. I came up with my one-pan pasta concoction with a mix of inspiration from similar pasta recipes and a little experimentation.

Ingredients:

• salt
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 large white onion
• 16 oz. chicken sausage
• 8 oz. orecchiette pasta
• 3 oz. baby arugula (can be substituted for baby spinach)
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Steps:

1. Heat pan with olive oil and throw in chopped up onion, adding salt to taste. Let onions cook for a few minutes.
2. Mash up chicken sausage and add it into the pan, mixing it with onions and olive oil.
3. Once ingredients in the pan are incorporated and have cooked for a few minutes, add in the chicken broth.
4. Once the broth has begun to boil mix in the pasta and let it cook for 15 minutes.
5. As the pasta finishes cooking, lower the heat and mix in the baby arugula until it wilts.
6. Serve and top your dish with parmesan cheese to taste.

Serves: 4            Prep Time: 10 minutes            Cook time: 25 minutes

This meal can be easily adjusted to your liking by substituting different types of pasta or greens. You can even add in chopped cherry tomatoes or pine nuts, if you’d like an extra something in there. My proportions are also heavier on the meat than the pasta, so you may want to adjust that if you’d like more pasta than meat.

In general, this recipe is pretty forgiving. Over the weekend I had some leftover ingredients and was able to easily eyeball a similar dish using baby spinach and a different type of pasta. Hopefully, if you are looking for an easy dish during the cold, wintery months ahead, you’ll find that this is an easy option to throw together a hearty meal.

Do you have similar recipes that are simple and easy to make? I’d love to hear about them if so.

Here’s to a lovely holiday week–cheers!

SC