There are a lot of things coming up over the horizon that have left me haggard, beleaguered and running around. There’s a quick trip to Austin for Staple! The usual work stuff and a super top-secret project. With all that’s going on, resorting to eating out all the time is bad for my wallet and also my waistline. But there are a few standby dishes I cook up on the weekend that leave me free to do other things during the week.
This pasta dish was my standby as a singleton and I’ve brought it over into married life. Other standby dishes include the ever-versatile eggs, some errant meat and veggie rice dish and our “healthy” salad. But I always tend to always go back to pasta.
In more recent incarnations, I’ve replaced standard pasta with whole wheat and infused olive oil with a whole head of garlic for a punch. And based on what I feel like or what I have on hand, I add mushrooms, chopped olives, crumbled chicken sausage, tomatoes and copious amounts of grated parmesan cheese. Really the choice is up to you.
In this version, I incorporated olives, chicken sausage and kale that was lightly softened in the garlic infused olive oil before adding in the pasta. This one pot dish lasts up to three days — if you’re lucky.
Much like the frittata recipe, putting this recipe to paper took some thought — even more so to give it a name — but so easy to alter to your own taste.
Insert Title Pasta
Serves 6-8
1 lb. bag whole wheat fusilli pasta
1 lb. chicken sausage, casings removed
1/2 cup olive oil
1 whole head of garlic, peeled and minced
1 (4.24 oz.) can chopped black olives
1 small bunch of kale, washed with stems removed and torn into small pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
Cook pasta in a large pot according to directions in salted water. Rinse under cool water and drain.
In the same large pot, crumbled the chicken sausage over medium heat and heat until cooked throughly. Remove from pot and set aside.
Heat oil in pot over medium heat. When oil is heated, add garlic and cook until golden brown. Add kale tossing lightly in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and cover to cook until kale is slightly wilted. Remove from heat.
Add cooked pasta, black olives, chicken, parmesan and toss. Add additional salt and olive oil if necessary.
My Burning Kitchen 
Looks great darlene! Love fusili and somehow never cared for penne…
Thanks, Dennis! I always thought penne never held olive oil very well.
I really have to try kale one of these days. This looks like a good recipe for first-timers. Big fan of fusili too — lots of surface area the shredded cheese can stick to.