This sausage and kale pasta which I call, broken noodles is a delicious and hearty dish that uses broken up lasagna noodles for the pasta. The flavors and textures of this kale and sausage pasta are amazing and it is a dish that will impress everyone. What is not to love about sausage, kale, mushrooms and pasta!
About this Sausage and Kale Pasta
This pasta with sausage, kale and mushrooms is a favorite pasta dish in my house and that says a lot since we eat a lot of pasta. The broken noodles part of this recipe is actually lasagna noodles broken in half and quarters.
The sausage, kale and mushrooms are the amazing flavor!
How to use up Leftover Lasagna Noodles
This Italian pasta with sausage and kale started as a way to use up multiple boxes of leftover lasagna noodles (you know when there was 2-3 sheets of lasagna noodles leftover in each box). Do you ever wonder what to do with broken or leftover lasagna noodles?
This recipe will help you with that! Break up those lasagna noodles and use them in pasta recipes like this one. The broken lasagna noodles give a nice toothsome bite and are so delicious.
If want more ideas than this recipe for using up those lasagna noodles, you can cook up those broken up leftover lasagna noodles and add them to a simple San Marzano sauce or bolognese sauce for a delicious pasta.
The texture of the thick broken lasagna noodles mixed with the salty bites of sausage and then mixing in mushrooms and kale, makes this sausage kale pasta so amazing . It is such a great combination of ingredients.
Here are the ingredients you will need to make this sausage and kale pasta:
- Dried lasagna noodles
- Italian sausage
- Onion
- Kale
- Mushrooms
- Olive oil
- Balsamic vinegar
- Thyme
- Butter
All very simple but very delicious ingredients!
Honestly, what is not to love about sausage, kale and mushrooms with large pieces of pasta to go with them. The lasagna noodles in this dish add that smooth buttery texture to each bite.
It almost reminds me of egg noodles or expensive homemade pasta!
Best Kale for this sausage and kale pasta
Any type of kale would work fine for this pasta dish. If you prefer a fluffy kale that is ruffled on the edges than that will work great.
If you prefer the kale texture to be smooth than the lacinato kale is a great choice. Uses whatever you have access to or prefer.
How to make
- Cook your lasagna noodles.
- Brown your sausage, mushrooms, garlic and onions.
- Reduce your balsamic and add your herbs
- Cook your kale in the sausage and herb mixture.
- Now add cooked lasagna noodles to sausage mixture.
- Top with fresh Parmesan (optional but highly recommended!)
All of the steps are very simple. I actually now buy whole boxes of lasagna noodles just to make this dish because I don't have the patience to wait until I have enough leftover noodles in the pantry.
Tips to make this recipe with lasagna noodles even more amazing:
- When cooking the sausage, let it cook on medium heat for a long time to get the sausage nice and crispy!
- Add wine instead of vinegar to deglaze the pan. It will add a wonderful flavor to the pasta. You could even use vermouth or a sweet cooking wine.
- Serve with Parmesan cheese. The more the merrier.
This sausage and kale pasta really makes for great leftovers too. Depending on how much your crew eats, you may want to plan to make extra of this dish if you want leftovers.
Unfortunately, there are never leftovers of this in our house. It gets eaten up in one setting.
Pairing Ideas
If you are looking for some ideas of what to serve with this sausage an kale pasta, here are some ideas:
More recipes with sausage
If you love this lasagna noodles with sausage and kale, you may also like these:
For more pasta recipe ideas:
- Cajun Chicken Pasta
- Italian Meatballs
- Spaghetti with Pork Bolognese
- Pasta with Tomatoes and Anchovy Butter and Pasta with Capers
- Pasta with Chickpeas
- Traditional Bolognese
- Pasta with Burst Cherry Tomatoes
- Sausage with Peppers and Onions
- Pan Fried Gnocchi with Kale
- Spaghetti with Zucchini
- Pasta with Broccoli and truffle sauce
Give this sausage and kale pasta a try and I am sure you will love it!
Broken Noodles with Sausage, Kale and Mushrooms
Tried the Recipe? We Would Love To Hear From You In The Comments Below!
Ingredients
- 1 package of lasagna noodles broken into chunky pieces do not use the pre-cooked lasagna noodles
- 4 Italian sausage links with the casings removed to remove casings, just take a sharp knife and gently cut along the long side of the sausage to create a cut line. From here you should be able to pull the casing off of the sausage meat. Discard the casings.
- 2 small bunches of kale leaves with the leafy part cut off of the stems and then cut thin (discard stems since they are tough)
- 1 small pint of baby bella mushrooms or button mushrooms
- 1 shallot diced or small onion
- ¼ cup of balsamic vinegar dry vermouth or white wine
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 4 tablespoon of olive oil
- 3 tablespoon butter
- ½ teaspoon of dried thyme or 1 ½ teaspoon of fresh thyme
- big pinch of coarse salt
- Parmesan for serving optional but recommended
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. This is for your pasta.
- Now grab a large heavy bottom saute pan, add 2 tablespoon of your olive oil and heat over medium heat.
- When pan is heated add your sausage and brown them while breaking them up into little bits.
- Once browned, remove the sausage from the pan on to a large plate covered with aluminum foil until later.
- With the same pan that you cooked the sausages in, add your mushrooms and shallots and saute for about 4- 5 minutes letting them soak up all of those yummy drippings from the sausage, about 4-5 minutes.
- Now add your kale and saute for about 5-6 minutes until you start to see the kale soften and break down.
- Once the kale cooks down, go ahead and add your garlic and saute for another couple minutes so the garlic can release it's flavor but not burn.
- Once this is all cooked remove the veggies from the pan, add it to the plate with your sausage and return the pan to the burner.
- Melt your butter on medium heat.
- Once butter is melted, add your balsamic vinegar and thyme and with a whisk or with a fork stir it around and scrape up all of the yummy brown bits in the pan. Do this for about 3-5 minutes or until you see the balsamic reducing being careful to stand back a bit since cooking vinegar can clear those sinuses 🙂 You want to cook out the acidity of the balsamic a bit and bring out it's sweetness.
- Now go ahead and add back to the pan the sausage and veggies and toss it well so all of the sauce coats it evenly. Cover and turn heat to lowest setting to keep warm.
- Now your pasta water should be boiling so add your broken lasagna noodles and cook until al dente from your pasta's directions.
- When they are nice and al dente, take a mug and scoop out some of that pasta water (in case your sauce needs thinning later) and then drain your pasta.
- Add your pasta back into the pasta pot after it's drained and add the remaining 2 tablespoon of olive oil so your noodles do not stick!
- Now add your sausage, veggies and sauce to that pot too, tossing it all together. If your pasta looks to dry just add a ¼ cup or so of your reserved pasta water.
- To serve:
- Pour your pasta into a large serving platter making sure to get all of the bits out of the pot. Serve it with some freshly grated parmesan on top and at the table and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition Values are estimates only.
See full nutrition disclaimer here
LW says
Why won't oven-ready noodles work in this recipe?
Melissa says
Hi. Thanks for reaching out. Oven ready noodles could work in the recipe but you will have to adjust the cooking time in the recipe for the pasta. Generally, 3-4 minutes are all the oven ready noodles need to cook since they are already partially pre-cooked. I hope this helps 🙂
Alie says
Came out AMAZING! Used Sherry instead of the balsamic and it was so good. This is our new got to recipe to use up those extra lasagna noodles sitting in our pantry 🙂 Such a great idea!
Steph says
This came out great. Love the texture from the lasagna noodles