We had to do a bit of cleaning out the fridge this week, so we used ingredients that we already had. This included a huge bunch of Swiss chard, extra béchamel sauce, pork sausage from the butcher, and fresh creamy ricotta cheese to create a quick hearty sausage pasta. The rich and creamy sauce paired with the tender Swiss chard was the perfect weeknight dinner.
If you’re looking for a Swiss chard recipe, this is the perfect way to use it all up. If you don’t have chard, you can always use different greens like spinach or kale. For the ricotta cheese, you’ll want to get the best ricotta you can find that’s full fat. The goal is a velvety creamy cheese sauce, so you’ll want to skip the part-skim or low-fat ricotta.
Looking for other quick pasta dinners? Here are some of our favorites:
Spaghetti with anchovies and capers
Ristorante La Fontelina’s pasta with tomatoes and arugula
Italian Sausage and Pepper Orecchiette Pasta
Creamy Swiss Chard, Ricotta, Sausage Pasta
Ingredients
Instructions
- Prepare the Swiss chard by rinsing and folding each leaf in half lengthwise and cutting the stem away from the leaf. Cut the leaf sections into approximately 1 inch slices and slice the stems very finely.
- Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a low pan over medium heat. Remove the sausage casing. Crumble the sausage into the pan and cook until it begins to break up. Add the Swiss chard and cook until the slices of stems are tender, then add the garlic and season with salt and red pepper. Depending on the heat level, it could take 10 minutes or more to soften the Swiss chard stems.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook 2-4 servings of dried pasta (80-100 g per serving) two minutes less than indicated on the package.
- Meanwhile, add the ricotta cheese and béchamel sauce to the sausage and Swiss chard mixture and stir to combine. Keep warm and when the pasta is cooked, reserve a cup of pasta water, then strain and add the pasta to the sauce mixture.
- Increase the heat slightly, add a splash of pasta water, and stir until well combined. Plate and top with a generous handfull of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.