Spinach Pappardelle with Chard & Italian Sausage

I'm back! We have been traveling the last couple of weekends - to NYC to catch up with a dear friend, and to Boston to celebrate my brother's engagement and to visit my Dad. In between, we've both been pretty consumed with work-related things: abstract deadlines, and thinking about what to do after I finish fellowship this year. It's getting real.  

I should also mention that we blazed through the 14 hour Roosevelt series on PBS - hands down, one of the best documentaries we've seen, and definitely partly to blame for long absence from here.  If you haven't seen the series, or don't even really have an interest in American history that much, watch it anyway. The upbringings and the various psychological hurdles that TR, FDR, and Eleanor had to face are worth it alone, purely from a humanistic aspect. One of my favorite quotes by TR (who essentially spent a lifetime outrunning childhood illness, "depressive tendencies" and awful twists of fate (he lost is mother and young wife on the same day): 

"Get action. Do things; be sane, don't fritter away your time; create, act, take a place wherever you are and be somebody; get action."

You can't beat that. 

We've also been busy planning our vacations for this year - starting with a visit to Zion and Bryce Canyon in November (in combination with Thanksgiving at home). Possibly Australia in March?? Lots and lots of planning - thankfully all for a good things. All of this has meant ultra simple meals (throwing canned salmon into a stir fry, slow cooker chicken galore....), and little energy to document the results. So instead, I'll go back in time a bit. This pappardelle dish is one I've been wanting to share for quite some time now. It popped into my head this morning when the Fall morning cold nipped me in the butt: Swiss chard, a classic winter vegetables. Our spinach pappardelle was a gift from my in-laws. You can probably find it in a lot of specialty pasta / olive oil stores, but if you can't, regular pappardelle should work just fine too. This recipe is so simple, so I'll just leave you with a loose outline here: 

Spinach Pappardelle with Chard & Italian Sausage

makes as much or as little as you like

Ingredients

Pappardelle (spinach or regular)

Italian sausage (a few links, depending on how much you want to make)

Small bunch of swiss chard, chopped

Olive oil

Parmigiano reggiano cheese

Directions

1. Heat a salted pot of water to a boil. Cook pappardelle according to instructions, until al dente. Drain and toss with olive oil.

2. While water is heating, broil or cook sausage until done (I think mine took 15 minutes stove top)

3. Remove sausage from pan and cut into bite sized pieces. Add a bit of olive oil to the pan, return to heat, and add chard. Cook until wilted

4.  Combine pappardelle, sausage, and chard. Top with a dusting of parmigiano and enjoy! 

Thanks for reading - I hope you're enjoying Fall so far! 

-R