No, no, no. I can't channel Don Corleone this early in the morning. That's more for a late night, after Peter Clemenza says, "leave the gun, take the cannoli." After all the noise in my life has subsided, the world can devolve from its current 21st Century complexity and become simpler and sepia toned.
My faith in the simple is reaffirmed every time I attempt to watch a Food Network show that pits chef against chef, going mano a mano with a panoply of exotic ingredients and over the top techniques. I gnash my teeth and start fingering the remote to fund something more useful for my brain to consume.
Sure, I get that these programs are really a sort of culinary fantasy; that it's really a window into an alternative, foodie-themed universe. I fully buy into the willing suspension of disbelief that I, with the right tools and ingredients, can transform stuff brought home in plastic bags from the grocery into high art. And I can do it with the same élan in which I channel The Don: "I'll make him an offer he can't refuse".But alas, such culinary excursions rarely happen and it usually comes down to one salient fact: it's too much trouble. Sure, I probably could do it, but I just don't want to. I want simple, as much for mental clarity as for ease of preparation. There is enough noise in my life and I just don't want to work that hard for a plate of food.
The magic number in this dish is seven. It's so simple one can watch a movie and still pull it off.
Ingredients
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- Three cloves garlic, minced
- 2 bags pre-washed spinach
- 1 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage – I like sweet sausage, but you can do what you like. Turkey sausage would work as well.
- 1 cup chicken stock
- Parmesan cheese to taste
- 2 cups dried short pasta – farfalle or orecchiette works nicely
In a large pot, boil your pasta to al dente. When it's done, drain it. That's it.
In a large skillet (with a lid), sauté your onion with a bit of olive oil (yeah, I know, it's not listed in the ingredients but come on). When they're soft – maybe five minutes later – add your sausage and cook until brown, about 10 minutes. When they're done, remove and set aside to cool. At this point, add the spinach and the garlic, toss a bit to mix things up, then drop a lid on it and let it go for about five minutes. While it's wilting, cut your sausages into small, bite size pieces, maybe as thick as your little finger. Add them back to the spinach mixture, then stir in you chicken stock and let it reduce for a couple of minutes. Next, remove the pan from the heat and add the pasta to the spinach / sausage mixture. Toss with a bit of Parmesan and your favorite Italian herbs – I like the Cantanzaro Blend from The Savory Spice Shop – and drop the lid one more time for a couple of minutes to let everything get happy, then plate.
Net result: dinner for four, with two dirty pans and zero exotic ingredients or techniques. It's as simple as leaving the gun and taking the cannoli.
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